RWBY: Biohazard
by Cosmic Sky
Summary: War gives birth to weapons. Some of them marvelous and others horrifying. Some say soldiers are the best. Others would disagree. Sadly the students of Beacon are about to learn sometimes the best weapons aren't the ones you can fire or swing. Sometimes they're the ones you can't touch or even expect. Like a friend... or a virus.
1. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

Any readers out there got a working time machine? Volume Three seriously can't get here fast enough so here I am writing this humble piece of fanfiction. That and after seeing all the other stories people have written I thought why not give it a shot. This story takes place immediately after Episode Seven of Volume Two.

I do not own anything. RWBY belongs to Rooster Tooth.

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening**

"_The simple rule about weapons is that if they can be built, they will be built." _

_-Robert Cringely_

* * *

"_YANG! YANG! YANG! YANG!" _

_Yang's blood boiled with excitement as the crowd continued chairing. Not for any of the other racers but for her alone. They wanted her to win. They wanted her to be the one to cross the finish line. She didn't plan on disappointing them. _

_Bumblebee soared past the other bikes as nothing but a yellow blur leaving all the other racers with shocked expressions on their faces. How the hell were they losing!? They were professionals! They've been racing for years yet somehow they were losing to their young, hot newcomer. It was unreal! _

"_I'll see you guys in the winner's circle!" Yang shouted over the roar of engines and the crowd. Whatever the other racers shouted was lost, not that Yang cared about what they had to say either way. _

_Another turn and she was right behind the leader. For the briefest second he glanced behind to him see Yang's brilliant yellow motorcycle coming up behind him at an alarming speed. Even through his helmet Yang could see the fear. In return she only grinned before hitting the throttle on Bumblebee. The distance between them seemed to vanish in a span of seconds. Soon it was ten feet, then six, and at last they were side by side. The rider sneered at the blond through his helmet muttering some incomprehensible words. In return Yang gave him one of the biggest grins she could muster. _

_She was in front of the pack with the crowd practically falling out of their seats for him. Their cheering nearly drove her deaf however it spurred her onward towards the finish line which had come into sight. _

"_YANG! YANG! YANG! YANG!" _

_Almost there. She thought. Just a little closer. Just a little more… _

_How she was able to tell she wasn't sure but somehow Yang had noticed a change in the cheering. It wasn't filled with joy and excitement. It sounded more like fear and panic. _

"_YANG! YANG! YANG! YANG! YANG! YANG!" _

"_Huh?" Easying up Yang allowed her concentration to turn to the spectators. The stands seemed so far away when she took her eyes off the road. Stranger, she noticed the absence of her fellow racers. Surely she hadn't left them that far behind had she? _

"_YANG! WAKE UP! YANG!" _

_Bringing her attention back to her front a sharp gasp escaped her lips when she saw the ground split apart right before her eyes. There was no time to stop or turn around. All she could do was stare in open eyed horror as she speed towards the ever growing drop. She braced herself for the impact. When it came she didn't feel any pain. _

_Instead all she saw was a swift wave darkness rush forward then all her senses went dull._

* * *

The first thing Yang saw when she opened her eyes were Blake's amber irises widened in sheer fear and panic. "Blake! What is it!? What's going on!?" Her partner's figure was shaking, scratch that Yang could feel herself shaking like someone was rocking their bed back and forth.

"EARTHQUAKE!" She heard Ruby's fear-laced voice scream.

"WHAT!?"

Without a word Blake grabbed Yang's harm and hulled her aside as their bed collapse into a mass of wood, and mattress sheets. Hitting the floor Yang discovered much to her horror the entire room was shaking. Bookshelves and desks were falling to the floor, cracks were rapidly forming in the widow along with some parts of the floor. Frantically she searched the room to find her teammates grabbing anything they could before making a bee-line for the door. Now fully awake Yang took the lead and broke the door down using her shoulder as a battering ram.

Beyond their dorm room team RWBY saw their normally quiet hallway was now filled with countless students stumbling into the hallway with similar expressions on their faces. There was barely any room left as every student was either pushing for room or squished against the crumbling walls. Pieces of stone, plaster, lights, and pieces of metal pelted the amassed students causing them to scream even louder.

"What the hell do we do!?" One student shrieked followed by countless others voicing their fear.

In the midst of the chaos the four girls caught team JNPR attempting to push through the masses. Pyrrha pushed aside enough students to the point she was able to stand just a peak above the chaos to speak. "EVERYONE TO THE DINING HALL NOW!"

Immediately the chaotic mass regained some form of order and began heading for the nearest exit. This wasn't easy as pieces of the ceiling continued to fall. Some students took a few blows to the head while others in less vital spots, either way they were quite a few Hunters and Huntresses in training dropping to the floor. Those that fell were either trampled by their fellow students who were too scared to help them or received minimal aid from any who did try to help them. Calls for help blurred together with screams of fear creating a scene of utter despair for almost everyone within the vicinity. Briefly Yang thought about pushing through the crowd to help but then she realized that meant abandoning her own teammates. She was the one leading the way for them with Weiss dragging Ruby and Blake along.

"Oh shit!"

The loudest cracking Yang had heard in the few minutes she'd been awake hit her ears. Turning her attention towards the ceiling she saw a large piece of the ceiling begin to come down on top of the masses. Yang cursed herself wishing she'd had Ember Celia with her to blast apart the piece of rumble. Instead all she and her teams could do was watch it come tumbling down like a hammer on their classmates.

The girls heard a swift gasp roll through the crowd that seemed to quell the chaos a little. In the dim darkness Blake peered forward expecting to see a large slap of the ceiling having smashed her classmates into past. Instead she got something she never expected to see.

Strain clearly written on his face was Cardin Winchester holding up the slab. "Move it! Do any of you idiots want to get crushed?!" He yelled attempting to push the slap to the side so the others could get there.

As quickly as the shock had disappeared it returned in the fear filled teenagers surging forward. Ruby picked a side by the wall and ushered people through while her teammates did the same. It was hectic to say the least as the four girls were nearly smushed into the wall by the fleeing crowd. Once enough had passed through team RWBY along with Cardin dashed forward to catch up the rest of the group. To their surprise they found parts of the ceiling had stopped falling, suspended in midair.

"Professor Goodwitch!?" Ruby called believing it to be the work of their strict but fair teacher.

"Forget it Ruby! Just keep moving!" Weiss barked grabbing her hand and pushing forward.

It was speculated the dining hall was never meant to hold the entire body of Beacon at the same time. That turned out to be true when teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL made it to the dining hall to find it just as packed as the halls were. Students were asking for directions from their teachers who were just as confused and panic-stricken as they were. Not only that but almost everyone is sight were still in their pajamas, including the headmaster.

"Everyone get under the tables or anything that's bolted to the ground!" Headmaster Ozpin declared as the chamber was hit by another quake.

If RWBY thought the hallways were packed then that was nothing compared to what they had to endure that moment. While true they were countless tables to hide under each table had to shield at least thirteen people each. There was grunting and cursing as the hundreds of students struggled to make room for each other as the whole academy seemed to be coming down on top of them.

Besides her Yang heard Blake grunt in disapproval as various bodies pushed against hers, some in her face and others in more…private areas. Yang felt sorry for her partner, she never was one for physical contact and this situation was practically the worst thing that could happen to her. In the darkness she could make out Ruby's confused face as she experienced a similar predicament. If Blake wasn't a peoples person than Ruby didn't have a lick of social grace in her body. She wasn't faring any better having some many unknown faces and body parts pushed against her. As Yang expected Weiss handled it the best, only showing minor discomfort at having her personal space invaded, what surprised her was when she reached over and grasped Ruby's hand to let her know she was right there with her.

"Well at least when all this is over we'll be able to say this mess brought us all closer together right guys?" She quipped.

"Oh God!"

"Really Xiao Long! At a time like this!"

"Yang please!"

"Now's not the time for your bad puns blondie!"

"She's got a point though. I definitely feel closer to everyone here."

Despite the situation Yang couldn't hold the laugh building in her throat when she heard someone agree with her. "Thanks!"

Yang searched the darkness for the face of the person that had responded to her comment. Sadly since she didn't have the same night vision Blake did so all the blond brawler could do was listen.

Everyone was scared. She heard whispers of reassurance as well as prayers coming from all sides. Yang wasn't the time for the former but she certainly understood the later.

"Beacon is reinforced to withstand earthquakes right?" A male voice asked.

"It should be. Top school for training Hunters and Huntresses, it'd be a crime it if it wasn't." A female voice answered.

"God I hope Grainia is okay." Another male voice whimpered, this one containing a noticeable amount of fear.

"I'm sure she's fine Neil. Besides she's been through worse, remember that time when-"

"No, I'd rather not Izaak. I'm already stressed out enough. The hell I'd want to remember what that bastard did to her."

Yang had to admit her interest had been peaked listening to the exchange. Whoever this person was they certainly doing their best to keep it together.

_**RUMBLE! **_

…

Twenty minutes someone had said. That's how long the earthquake and its aftershocks had lasted. All the chattering had died down replaced by a collective silence that seemed suffocating. At least that's what it felt like for Yang. Silence was never her forte but this, this was slowly becoming _torture_.

…

"I-Is it over yet?" Jaune's quiet voice broke the silence.

"Possibly!" One of the voices Yang heard earlier responded.

"How the hell do you know?" A student sneered.

"Trust me pal, he's good at this stuff." Another of the voices called. "Anyone here with advanced hearing or vibration sensing?"

Yang turned to face Blake. "Well?"

Blake seemed just as surprised as she was. "The hairs on my back aren't standing on end so…yeah, I think it's over."

Even after the confirmation nobody dared make a move nor did anyone speak a word. Well to be honest that wasn't entirely true. To her left Yang heard what she could positively identify as humming.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dove Bronzewing questioned.

"Takes your mind off the silence right?"

_Who is this guy? _Yang thought wishing for some light and clarity.

More whispers began to prevail through the silence much to Yang's joy. "Finally we can come move again."

Just as she began to push through a sudden quake rocked the lobby…again.

_**RUMBLE!** _

Yang and several others cursed before retreating back to safety.

"Wait a minute," Blake started her eyes widening. "This is coming from outside."

Blake was right. Various students looked around realizing not the the shaking was coming from a specific direction. it was coming from the direction of the doors.

First the teachers went out followed by the students. For the most part the sky was still dark with only small rays of sunlight peeking out over the horizon. The courtyard wasn't in pretty shape: small cracks had opened in the ground, all the statues lay in broken hemps, and most disturbingly several large sinkholes had appeared all over the courtyard.

"Umm are those natural?" Jaune questioned while clenching Crocea Mors.

"No…" One of the professors whispered terrified.

Several sights of eyes widen as they recognized what had created the ten feet wide holes. "Shit! Everyone get back!"

Too late.

For half a second Yang could feel the vibrations under her bare feet then they were gone. In the same time she heard the startled cries of students and the sound of the earth splitting up right behind her.

_SWOOSH! _

Doing a three-sixty Yang had to jump back once her eyes caught sight of the eight tall mole-like creature standing just before her. Blood dripped down its bone white claws and was splattered across its forearms. It roared then took another swipe a still shocked group of students giving Yang and her team a good luck at is face. A bone white mask with amber colored orbs for and red designs snaked along its masked face and snout.

"Subterra!"

Another set of students went down, splattering their classmates with their blood.

Rage replaced whatever drowsiness Yang may have had. Snarling in fury she launched a powerful right cross at the Grimm's turned backside. Her fist sank into its dark body causing it to howl in pain. Another two caused it to turn its attention towards her. Just as Yang braced herself for the Subterra's assault its body went rigid. A sharpened blade protruded from behind it before moving upward, splitting the Grimm in half. Standing before Yang was a very pissed off mint green haired female just a little shorter than Yang holding a double-ended spear.

"DEFEND THE ACADEMY!" Professor Port cried.

And with that every student surged into battle against the emerging Subterra horde. By every student I mean those students that actually had their weapons _with _them.

It was laughable in a way. Beacon Academy students were trained to slay Grimm, any kind, anywhere, and at any given time they may appear. Or at least that's what everyone thinks. The problem was an overwhelming majority of the academy's residents weren't just in their pajamas, half of them had forgot to grab their weapons when they ran out of their dorms.

The Subterra didn't hold back, they swept their claws in wide, wild arcs that left at least one or two students dead on the pavement or on the ground screaming in pain. Those that weren't fast enough found themselves missing limbs or had twenty inch long claws taking a run through their bodies.

The courtyard, a once quiet and thriving place had become a scene of chaos and horror as dawn continued to break over the horizon. Students of all levels screamed and bellowed in both fear and rage as they pounced on the Grimm invading their home. Hundreds of multi-colored blades flashed as they cut through lumps of dark matter while cartridges and shell casings began to litter the ground. Flashes of muzzles lit up the darkness like dozens of fireworks going off at once, each illuminating the twisted faces of the combatants.

While the earthquake may have been over the ground continued shaking from the extensive digging being done by the Subterra. That was the primary strength of the mole-like species of Grimm, they could dig a mile long tunnel in less than a minute. Those that had studied this ability shouted it out to their comrades.

Some students were fast enough to avoid their underground attacks, others weren't so lucky. One minute a classmate was right with you and the next there was a shriek followed by sudden silence.

Those students lacking weapons fell back behind the doors of Beacon. No matter how skilled they may have been without their weapons all they would be is cannon fodder and a distraction to their classmates. No matter how veiled shame was written on each of their faces for not being able to help protect their home. All save for a few.

Yang was among the few who had forgotten their weapons in their dorms when the earthquake happened. It was a stupid mistake but she didn't let that stop her. Every time her fists met the ink black flesh of a Grimm they howled in pain. She didn't need Ember Celia to kill them, all she needed was the use of her fists. All the absence of her weapon meant was that she'd have to aim for their ugly faces. How hard could that have been?

"You disgusting monsters!" She yelled driving her fist directly into a Subterra's face. A second suffered a similar fate and a third lost its head to an upper cut. "Come and get me! I'll take you all on right here!"

_CRACK! _

Jumping to her left she watched a larger than average Subterra emerge from the ground, a dead student's limp body impaled on its right paw. Upon seeing Yang it quickly threw the corpse aside and began advancing towards her.

"You bastard." She snarled having watched the creature's heartless disposal of the body. When it lunged she jumped back then surged forward with a left jab bound for its face. The Subterra blocked her jab with the raising of its arm then followed with a downward swipe. Yang was fast enough to avoid having any strands of her hair cut off but that didn't make her any less mad. Throwing a right jab she watched the Subterra stumble backwards, clearly winded by her punch. _If I had my weapon all I'd have to do is punch this thing in the stomach and boom problem solved!_ She reflected releasing a barrage of blows onto the Grimm's abdomen. None of them were doing the exact amount of damage she was hoping for so she figured she'd have to aim at the area that would hurt the most; the face of course.

The Subterra dove underground leaving its brethren to attack Yang in a mass frenzy.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Yang recognized the flash of Gambol Shroud's muzzle anywhere. She saw Blake making her way towards her caring something in her palms. Just as she was about to make her way to her dark haired partner she felt the earth tremble beneath her feet. "Shit!"

The next thing Yang knew she was hanging upside down, staring into the face of a very pissed off Subterra. "Ah shit this is bad." Yang groveled struggling to break free.

Just as the Grimm raised its claws to deliver what Yang expected to be her death blow a piece of concrete slammed into its back. The moment it was in pain was all Yang needed to kick herself free.

Landing a crouched position then springing forward with an uppercut she heard a distinctive crack from its neck. It stood on its hind legs for about another half second before falling flat on its back dead.

"As pleasing as it would be to see you kill half these things bare handed I think things will be easier with these." Blake held up a familiar pair of yellow bracelets in her hand.

Not being able to contain the joy Yang felt she wrapped both her arms around her feline company. "Ah Blake! Where would I be without you watching my back?"

A small smile found its way to Blake's face. "Making incredibly lame puns nonstop with no one to control you?"

Still smiling Yang activated her beloved Ember Celia. _Now _she was awake. Now she was going to make the mammal-based Grimm pay in blood for giving her what was probably one of the worst mornings of her life.

* * *

Almost four hours had passed since Yang was awoken and now here she was tracking through the remains of what she was told was downtown Vale City. She'd spent almost an hour searching the runs of their room for something to wear, just barely managing to drag out her Huntress uniform. Now it was sullied with enough dirt and tears it made Yang wonder if she'd just have to get a new one. Sighing she stopped to glance in the direction of Beacon.

"_All students are to head out into the city and assist anywhere they can with search and rescue." The headmaster had_ _ordered. _

_Before him lay the shell-shocked, blood splattered, fear-ridden entirety of Beacon Academy. No one was unscathed, not even the headmaster himself. Pleading eyes looked at him with fear, anger, and uncertainty. Tearing his eyes away from the masses for a moment he spotted the smokey columns rising from city._

"_Every able-bodied man and woman will provide aid wherever they can. If you should come across a situation requiring serious assist relay it over the communications network on your Scroll. Any suspicious activity is to be reported as well. Armed retaliation against looters or attackers is fully authorized." His paused to look out at the thousands before him. Behind his thin glasses Ozpin's eyes seemed to gaze right into the heart of every person present. "The Vale City you all know is gone and it's up to each and every one of you to help restore it! Dismissed!" _

No one shouldn't have been surprised when they flew over the city yet a gasp could be heard from almost everyone on board the Bullheads including the pilots. Beacon was a well-fortified building, most of the structures in the city weren't.

Nearly every building lay in a collapsed hemp on the sides of broken, upturned roads. Cracks provided decent views into the sewer system below the city with countless objects lying in the dirty water. Some of them were car parts, some parts of buildings, many could spot bodies floating right alongside each of them.

Once the airships touched down every one literally broke off to do their part. Many teams flat out split up to cover more ground. That was how Yang found herself walking through the streets calling out for anyone who could use her help. When no one answered all she could do was grumble or take her frustration out on the nearest piece of rubble.

"Perfect! Just freakin perfect!" She yelled kicking a slap of concrete aside. To say her morning was awful would have been an understatement. _Wake up to an earthquake, have Grimm invade the Academy, watch a quarter of my classmates get killed, I don't get to do my hair or anything, and now I'm here searching through the rumble and it's not even ten yet! _She'd had worse mornings but this one was definitely giving it its best run for the position. "What else could go wrong?"

…

"…I guess not." Yang somewhat marveled looking around.

Yang didn't notice the rocks moving on their own until she saw them moving on their own. At first she didn't quit know what to make of it until they sailed over her head, hitting the side of a broken arch way. Pieces of wood, dust and concrete shaving came crashing over her head.

Footsteps followed the crash growing louder and louder until a young man no older than yang herself came into view. "Ah crap I'm sorry about that! Are you o…kay?" His voice grew quieter and quieter as he saw the look in Yang's eyes.

Nothing serious had fallen on the brawler's head though her hair was now covered in a layer of dust turning it from golden yellow into a somewhat ugly mustard yellow color. Her shoulders weren't spared either as they too had layers of dust and rock sprinkled all over them. Another crick resounding from the broken arch way as it totally collapsed right beside Yang, but not before raining down another small stream of debris on top her head.

"…"

"…I'm so sorry about that. I didn't see ya there."

"…"

"Um…you aren't hurt are you?"

Yang's eyes had grown to an unnatural proportion. For a split second the boy briefly wondered if the girl had stopped breathing given the stillness of her body. When he opened his mouth to speak again _then _erupted. "YOU'RE DEAD!"

Flames exploded from the brawler's body burning away all the debris that had landed on her. Ember Celia activated in a blink, rounds loaded in the chamber as Yang's fist sailed towards the boy's fear-ridden face.

Again, with her anger taking control Yang wasn't thinking. In her mind she simply saw the youth's face cringe in fear as her fist got closer and closer. Then…nothing.

"Huh?" Something was wrong. His face wasn't twisted in pain, he wasn't missing any teeth! Hell, he was still standing exactly where he was when she spotted him! Furiously she tried to push her fist forward only to find it wouldn't budge. She couldn't move a muscle in her body, speaking of which Yang felt like a set of light weights had been attached to her entire body, almost weighing her down.

The boy's face was no longer twisted in fear, instead it was focused in caution. He held up both his hands before speaking, "Before you pound me into a naturally made grave can I tell you from the bottom my heart I'm sorry and what happened was an accident?" When Yang snarled in return he bowed his head slightly. "Totally my fault. I can tell you've had a bad morning. I'm a total jerk for making it worse. I owe you something. Anything you want. On the grounds I get to keep my head and all my teeth. Deal?"

What Yang wanted to shout was "Screw that! I want your blood for ruining my hair!" but alas, her jaw muscles were just as paralyzed as the rest of her body.

"Seriously, anything you want I'll do it."

_Damn it I knew I shouldn't have said anything stupid! Guy's got me trapped so I might as well agree. _How she wasn't sure but somehow the boy understood her angry groan as a yes and thus released her. _What the hell was that anyway? His Semblance? _Yang briefly thought…right before taking a slug at him.

Her fist stopped inches before it could reach his face.

"Hunter-in-training's honor." He spoke with utmost seriousness on his face.

Normally Yang didn't let anyone get away with ruining her hair, not even Ruby yet, for this boy she'd make an exception on an account she had a job to do and she was too tired to give him a thrashing. "Fine. Apology accepted."

With his hold on her released Yang was able to give release an aggravated shout into the air. Her voice carried a good bit of volume to it as several splinters broke off the broken edges of buildings leaning on their sides.

In front of her the boy gave a nervous laugh before holding out his hand. "Again I'm sorry about your hair. I'm Izaak, Izaak Egilson."

Casting a glance in his direction Yang took notice of the boy's appearance. He was maybe at first glance about five-eleven with a lean but built body. His hair was odd as it was incredibly unruly and almost reached the bottom of his neck, completely covering his ears from view. Its color was a bronze-like brown that stood somewhat in contrast to her own golden colored hair. Looking into his hazel colored eyes Yang was somewhat taken back to see small traces of silver around the rim she easily dismissed as just a trick of looking too hard.

His attire didn't exactly scream adventurous nor was it some flashy set of armor. He wore dark brown colored pants with tawny colored hiking boots with a series of arrows running down the right leg. Two belt buckles cress crossed the around his waist, both held pouches. The high collar jacket was brown and gray with purple trims around the edges and collar, its sleeves topped at the elbows. On the sleeves was a circular symbol Yang guess to be his emblem while strapped to his back was a metallic object she knew as his weapon. Apparently he had a thing for circles, his entire shirt had various circular designs all over the front. He wore no combat gloves, just simple wrist bands, a purple one on his right and a black one on his left.

Sizing him up Yang was surprised she didn't sense any sort of over-blown masculinity or physical intensity. Instead she recognized the voice, it was the same one from the earlier morning. "Yang Xiao-Long." She finally answered begrudgingly shaking his head. "You were the guy humming during the earthquake this morning weren't you?"

"Yep. Didn't make you feel uncomfortable did it? Actually you don't seem like the kind of person to get unnerved by something like that are you?"

"A little tremor? No way. Now as for this…" She waved her arms around the destroyed area. "This is depressing! Last night I had an awesome time and then I wake up to this!"

"Could be worse." Izaak stated.

Fixing him with a glare Yang felt the urge to punch him return. "How do you figure that?"

He shrugged his shoulders with both hands in his pocket. "You could have not woken up at all."

"…Good point." Yang admitted lessening her glare. "How's your morning been?"

"Eh, so-so. This is actually my first official day at Beacon."

"You're a transfer?" Yang asked amazed.

"Yep, my team got here yesterday afternoon."

Now Yang felt a small enclave of pity towards Izaak. "That means you-"

_CRACK! _

Both teenagers jumped at the sound of the steel and concrete breaking a part in the distance. Being pulled out of their little conversation brought them both back to the reality they were standing in a disaster zone with lives likely hanging in the balance.

"Is it okay if I help you out? It'll make work faster." Izaak offered sending her a sideways glance.

In return Yang cast the boy something of a wolfish grin. "Just as long as you don't mess up my hair again."

* * *

Cranes. There were times when Jaune had taken the large machines for granted, thought them nothing more than simple pieces of machinery. Now he realized they could be life (and back) savers.

He'd lose count of the number of reports flying in about people trapped in buildings. When he first heard them a part of him gulped at the thought. While there were a lot of ways to go, he believed being buried alive was one of the worst. More so if you had to be sleeping while you died.

He and his team had already helped dig out several people who be fallen such fate, cursing himself for not arriving sooner.

Currently he, his team, Ruby, Weiss, and several other students were doing their best to dig out a dozen or so people trapped under the remains of a collapsed apartment building. To say it was back breaking work would have been an understatement. He could barely lift his own weight, what he was currently trying to lift might as well have been an eighteen wheeler.

His teammates were having similar trouble. Ren was built like Jaune, strength not being their strong suit. Nora was doing her best with her bare hands (after being told explicitly not to use Magnhild ). Several times he'd heard Pyrrha wishing her Semblance worked on wood, glass, and concrete. Weiss and Ruby had the best luck out of everyone, Weiss froze a few pieces of debris and Ruby cracked it apart with her scythe. The problem was they were moving at a snail's pace.

"Shouldn't we have something like air support for this sort of thing?" Jaune asked Ren sitting down to rest his back.

"As appealing as the idea is all the airships are being used for transportation. Besides," Ren stood up to straight out his back with a groan. "Even if we did have a crane where would we put it and how would we move it?"

Groaning Jaune looked down at his bloody and dust covered hands. Sighing he prepared himself for another round of futile struggling until he felt a hand on his shoulder. The next thing he knew he could have sworn he was looking a hawk or eagle right in the eye.

"You need a heavy lifter right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Consider it done."

Pulling back Jaune realized he wasn't looking a bird in the eye, he was looking a teenage boy, one a good deal taller than him in the eye.

Walking up to the rubble the boy pulled a strap loose from his jacket and two bird-like wings expanded from holes in his sleeveless jacket. Jaune wasn't the only one startled, many other students and workers stepped back in shock. Walking up to the rubble he planted both his hands on the pieces and began to pull. Almost effortlessly he lifted the chunks and hurled them far away, continuing the process with absolutely no interest in the countless eyes gocking at him.

"Well you did say you wanted a weight lifter." Weiss quipped with her arms crossed.

In just a few short minutes the mysterious Faunus had excavated a nice hole from which many of the trapped survivors began to crawl through. Some of them stopped in their tracks when they saw him overhead. Again he paid them no mind and simply turned to Jaune, giving him a wide grin and thumbs up. His figure was almost the opposite of Jaune's own physique: deeply tanned skin, well-developed muscles, scars over his torso, ink black hair with dyed multi-colored strips, and piercing orange eyes.

"I really wish he'd stop doing that." A new female groaned. "Does he want to get mobbed again?"

Turning their heads team JNPR, Ruby, and Weiss saw two teenagers heading their way. The girl had a shapely figure with olive green hair that reached just an inch past the bottom of her neck and gray-green eyes. The boy was just a tad taller than her with charcoal gray hair that spiked in the back then downwards towards the front. Even from a distance they could see two strands crossing on the bridge of his nose forming an x in between his gray-blue eyes. The girl's expression was slightly annoyed while the boy's was much more relaxed.

Walking up to Jaune the blond couldn't deny the girl had a shapely body. Tall, lean, and with olive skin Jaune had to pinch himself when she began talking.

"We're here to help out. The uptown area's collapsed and after we finish here we're to go there."

"G-Got it."

Turning her gaze the avian-Faunus she pointed towards the surrounding structures on the verge of collapse. "Chicahua!"

"Already on it Olivia!" He retorted flying off.

"Pretty bold teammate you guys have got." Weiss remarked watching the boy fly.

"He tends to do that. Frankly it saves us a lot of trouble." The gray haired boy said. "Name's Neil, this is Olivia, the other guy's Chicahua. We're new here."

"New? Then uh…Welcome to Beacon I guess." Jaune stammered.

The boy shrugged, crouching down he began offering his hand to those attempting to crawl out. "So are morning usually like this around here?"

* * *

**Author's note: How was the first chapter? Hopefully I've gotten things off to a decent start. While yes this story is going to be a romance It's going to be progressive one. Obviously it's going to diverge from the canon however certain events will play out albeit a little differently. **


	2. Chapter 2: Bandits in the Morning

**My OC's team's formal introduction. **

**I don't own anything, Rooster Tooth does.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Bandits in the Morning... **

"Do you think the Subterra are responsible for this?" Yang questioned side stepping a man hole.

Izaak paused for a moment to look back at the group of civilians they'd rescued. Eleven in total, four of which were kids. "Hard to say. Honestly I can't see the Grimm performing thinking that complex. At best this whole thing was just a matter of bad luck and bad timing. If anything I think the Grimm are just being opportunistic, they're good at that."

_**RUMBLE! **_

"Everyone down!" Yang screamed dropping to her knees with Izaak.

"I hate aftershocks." Izaak muttered. "Just when you think it's over."

Yang opened her mouth to reply when a shrill scream cut her. Both youths turned their heads to see terror consuming the faces their escorts. Above them the remains of a building were quickly breaking apart and beginning to fall at a rapid speed towards them.

Springing forward from his crouch Izaak stood in the middle of the group. His shoulders tensed and his expression became deadly serious. The air around him seemed to distort to onlookers, the same occurred to the chunks of debris which had stopped in midair.

_**CRACK! **_

"Izaak!" Without missing a beat Yang began blasting away at the chunks.

"Everyone move towards Yang as calmly as you can." Izaak spoke in a calm tone.

Still one eyed the survivors began to crawl forward, granted many of them felt like they were carrying a backpack or weight on their backs until they were at least ten feet away from the brunette. Izaak stayed exactly where he was in the same position even as more pieces of debris began piling upon him.

Watching him Yang had to admit she was impressed with the level of control and coolness he displayed. Even he practically had the entire structure on top of him he remained calm as if he'd done this before. Her expression turned into shock when she saw the debris shot forward in the opposite direction, sailing through the air like a beach ball.

"Is everyone okay?" He called as he began walking back.

Still wearing a surprised expression Yang gave him a thumbs up as he greeted her. "I take it that was your Semblance." He nodded. "What was that? It looked like telekinesis."

Rubbing the back of his head he smiled somewhat sheepishly at her. "It's called Gravitation, it allows me to control the gravity in my immediate area. It may not be super strength but I'd say it gets the job done when it comes to weight lifting huh?"

"Gets the job done? You've been holding out on me!" Yang exclaimed. "This is going to go _a lot _faster now."

Just before they'd departed for the city an emergency app had been downloaded into the scrolls of almost every student. For lack of a better name it was simply called the LifeSearch, once activated it scanned the area for any signs of life and reported it back. Despite how good it sounded the app was still new, under tested and it was doubtfully it would work if the life signature was too far away or buried too far deep.

Normally Yang was opposed to leaving the heavy lifting to someone else but in this case Izaak was as he put it much better at heavy lifting. She directed him in the direction and he wordlessly followed her instructions. It somewhat surprised her how easily he trusted her judgements despite how close she came to rearranging his face. The only thing that surprised her more was the level of control he showed in his Semblance. As they moved from place to place she observed how precise his manipulations were. To her it seemed as if it was almost second nature.

_**BANG! BANG!**_

While the civilians dropped to their knees in fear the two students got into combat positions.

"Around the corner." Izaak deduced reaching for the large object strapped to his back.

"I know that place." Yang said taking the lead. "It used to be a jewelry store."

All Yang had to do was kick the door in to get a look at the shop. "Clear."

Once Izaak stepped inside his face went from cautious to sadden. "Looters." He muttered looking at the dead body lying on the floor. Blood oozed from the bullet holes in his chest.

"It's been how long since the earthquake hit? Five hours?"

"Yes. If enough time has passed for relief to scramble then by all accounts the thieves and looters should be out." He cocked an eyebrow to the sky as if some new thought had entered his mind. "Think they're run into each other, kill each other or get trapped somewhere?"

"One to five. I just hope they don't get rescued on accident. Do you still want to keep doing the heavy lifting?"

"Yeah. Besides if I can stop a ton of concrete I can stop a few bullets fired off by some prick looking to score it big."

All things considered Yang was starting to like Izaak more and more.

Once their group had grown to nearly twenty five they called a Bullhead to air lift them to safety. Many of the children ranIzaak and Yang to hug them while their parents and adults bowed their heads in gratitude. As the Bullhead began to take off their Scrolls started beeping. Izaak withdrew his and read the message. He sighed once he finished while Yang looked like she was close to taking her frustration out on the nearest object.

"How far away is the high end district?" Izaak questioned looking around. "I know they sent us a map but I'd prefer having first hand advice."

"That way." Yang pointed east of their current direction. The road was broken in chunks meaning they'd be doing a lot of climbing and crawling to get through.

"Have you ever been to this high end district before?" Izaak questioned as they passed a large fissure that had stretched across an entire street.

"Well kind of, I've seen glimpses of it when I rode through there. Stupid Weiss never let me get a good look inside the place." Yang answered side stepping a crack. "If the people who live there are anything like Weiss then it's probably a good thing I never got a peek inside."

The closer the duo got to the upper end of the city the more dangerous the landscape seemed to become. Entire sections of the road were either missing or impassable via collapsed buildings. Several fires had broken out, no doubt due to some ruptured gas mane. Strangely many of the streets were deserted with little signs life or attempts at aid.

As a safety measure Yang made sure to stick as close to Izaak as possible whenever they crossed shaky ground. On several occasions he offered his hand in case she needed it. At every turn she politely turned him down and they simply continued on their way.

The fissure had cut a clear hole in the ground. By Izaak's estimate it was about fifty feet across and seemed too wide for them to go around. The drop was…unpleasant to say the least.

"How the hell are we supposed to get over this!" Yang shouted not bothering to hide her frustration. "Those guys never mentioned it! What do they expect us to grow wings and get us across!"

Izaak coughed once catching her attention. "I may not be able to sprout wings but I can get us across."

Yang went bug eyed. "You can? How?"

He smiled and pointed at himself with his thumbs. "Gravitation."

"Seriously? You can carry both of us over this stupid gap?" she asked with hands on her hips.

Still grinning he nodded his head. "This? I've flown through worse." His smile dropped from a moment. "You're not afraid of heights or flying are you?"

"Please," she buffed her chest out causing Izaak to blush a little. "I live for that kind of excitement!"

Wrapping his arm around Yang's waist Izaak focused on the other side of the fissure. "Hold on."

All things considered when Izaak took off it felt very much like Yang was back on Bumblebee. The wind whipping in her face and the rush that flew through her body, she loved it. Never in all her life had Yang felt so weightless, so free and unrestrained.

She'd heard the expression light as a feather but never had she realized what it felt like or how much fun it was.

Then it came to a sudden end when she felt her feet touch the ground and the feeling of lightness replaced by gravity moving back in. Pumping her arms into the air she faced Izaak with a grin, "That was awesome!"

In reply he gave her a well-meaning smile. "Glad you enjoyed it."

As they walked Yang's nerves were still on edge from their little experience. She knew it was childish but somehow she wondered if Izaak would be willing to fly her again. He did say he owed her so maybe she could have him pay her off through that.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! CLINK! BANG! **_

"Move it you stupid bitch!"

No words were said before both youths broke into mad dash past the gate and into the Upper Class of Vale City. Just from what they could see the area had been hit hard. Almost none of the lavish houses and buildings were left standing. Hopping over piles of garbage and rock they could hear gunshots and screaming growing closer and closer. Amongst the rows of former upscale homes were dozens of rogues and thugs greedily picking through the remains while the rich and better off were either screaming helplessly for them to stop or fighting to defend what was left of their property.

As she was activating Ember Celica Yang heard Izaak give something of a little whistle. "Gotta give them credit for at least fighting back." While running he'd activated his Semblance, this time using it to pick up stray pieces of rumble and junk off the ground.

None of the looters knew just how much trouble they were in until a few of them starting getting sniped by chunks of concrete, steel, car parts, and every other object lying on the ground.

"What the hell!" One of them screamed dropping his bag of loot.

"It's some of those b-"

Yang was far from pleased with the sight before her. Punches flew into the face or gut of every looter that came within her sight while her legs launched her from one spot to the next. It didn't matter if she crashed into a wall or two. She could take it. The looters…not so much.

"Shit man! Run!"

"Are you joking! They're only brats! We can-URG!"

Said scumbag found himself sailing through what used to be a window into a two feet deep fissure. "Don't you guys have something better to do then this?" Yang muttered advancing on another group while a rich family cowered in the corner.

As opposed to Yang's brute strength Izaak was much more calm and precise. That of course didn't mean he wasn't angry. Busting through the walls and using the chunks of debris the looters found very little mercy waiting in the youth's hazel eyes.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Bullets either bounced off the debris or flew off in different directions thanks to his gravity shield. For the better armed looters they went for a grenade or two strapped to either their belts or stashed in their backpacks.

Sighing Izaak remained unfazed. "Come on guys. It's still early in the morning and the city's a virtual wreck. Does any of that mean anything to you?"

_Boom! _

"Heh! Stupid kid. Alright boys let's get back to bus…" A shiver ran up the spine of all the looters as they turned to face Izaak. "What!?"

Izaak didn't waste time in reply, he simply launched his "missiles" at every one of them. Those that had once been carrying behind him ran forward to either grab their almost stolen items or give the near unconscious thugs a beat down of their own. Ordering the still frightened residents to stay put he advanced deeper into the district, the crackling of fire and pain filled grunts filling his ears.

A rather large explosion turned his attention to the east when he saw about five or six bodies go flying through the air with smoke trailing off their bodies. "Holy crap," he muttered. "She almost reminds me of Chicahua."

Knowing the blond would be able to handle herself Izaak ran straight into the crumbling remains of a lavish mansion. Through the dust he could smell the blood before his eyes caught sight of the bodies lying in the floor while the survivors wept over their corpses. Barging into one room after another Izaak withdrew his knives, a brief flash of silver flashing before the looters turned murdered knew what had hit them.

_Thunk! Thick! Boom! Thunk! _

There wasn't a contest on who would win. Besides his knives Izaak was much better trained at hand to hand then this opportunistic criminals. As he was driving his elbow or knives into their faces or guts he wondered how had they gotten to the upper class district so fast. Had they been planning heist the night before? As crazy as his first day had been he refused to believe fate had decided to be that cruel.

All the noise Yang was making must have alerted the looters their golden hour was up as many of them started fleeing on sight of Izaak. He wasn't willing to let them get away. While he held no love for the wealthy of the area he could understand the pain of losing what was important not to nature but to human greed. "Sorry guys but I'm not in that kind of mood anymore."

_THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! _

"Drop the stuff and I'll stop mowing you guys down!" he shouted over and over again moving further and further north.

Surprisingly a vast majority of the criminals did as he commanded. Apparently they finally got it into their heads it was better to escape with nothing than risk going to jail with a broken rib or jaw. _Jail? _Momentarily Izaak wondered where the Vale City police station was. _Oh man if that got hit then it's going to be a long time before anyone gets any sleep._

_CLINK! _

Izaak recognized the sounds an automatic rifle made when it was being loaded. Spinning around he let his first knife fly into the chest of another looter. His assault rifle howled into the sky.

_CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! _

The time for knives was over. Turning again he rushed toward the crowd of machine gun tooting looters while his hand reached over his shoulder. A black and gray blur was all they saw before they were either on the ground, missing an arm, or staring at the sky in wonder as blood gushed from wounds on their abdomens. The tough guy looks on their faces fell when they caught sight of the object that had wasted so many of their looters in arms.

Rust colored clothe wrapped around the axe's five foot handle. An ammo clip fit for a bazooka was attached to the left side with a cross bone on the front. At the end of the handle was a silver trident like tip that looked sharp enough to dig into stone if needed. Towards the other end the handle turned into a thick hexagon shaped bar with two gigantic axe blades on both ends. The blades were flat out heart stopping to look at; each at half past two feet in length, gray steel stained red with blood, and arcane runes running along the edges. A set of circular gears at both ends of each blade held them together. On both ends of the side Izaak's personal emblem was painted in its bronze brown coloring. Rounding out the fearsome weapon was a gun like muzzle that was sealed shut.

Hefting the axe onto his shoulder with little effort Izaak spoke in an oddly controlled and moderate voice. "If you don't want this thing cutting you down then run. Drop everything and run."

"How do we know we can trust your word?"

Once again Izaak held up one of his hands. "I'm not some hard core every criminal must die kind of guy. Leave and I won't come after you. If you don't…" he pointed with his thumb in Yang's direction. "Wanna take your chances with _her?_"

As if on cue Yang came blasting through the walls holding a looter by the throat. Her eyes with from Izaak to their enemies. When hazel met violet she had an idea what he was doing. Breaking out in something of a malicious grin she smashed her fist into an open palm sending a small series of embers to the ground.

"Odds are there are all kinds of people running around, scared out of their minds. Most of them probably won't hesitant to shot a guy on sight. Or worse you run into someone like her. Your choice."

Whatever morale the bandits had evaporated at the end of Izaak's threat.

Watching them high-tail it as fast as they could while trying to avoid the environmental damages Izaak and Yang were quiet. Once they were out of sight they shared a look then burst into mutual laughter. Those around them gave them strange looks, questioning if the teenagers had gone mad.

"I gotta say this you sure know how to talk." Yang complimented once she finished laughing.

"I've got a way with words. Besides sometimes you don't need to use violence, I'm not against talking things out."

A pair of slim arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Izaak's waist, much to his shock. Dirty yet soft skin was suddenly being rubbed against his cheeks.

"That was amazing! Oh than you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" A high pitched voice screamed into his ears.

While Izaak internal questioned if his hearing had been damaged Yang took a moment to examine the girl who'd latched onto the axe wielder's side. Ginger colored hair, dark green eyes, not much taller than Yang and dressed in a dirty night gown she knew would cost more than her allowance would be even after a year's worth of saving.

As politely as possibly Izaak tried to pry the girl off of him. "You're welcome miss. Now could you please um…let go?" She didn't. "Can you please let go? I've kind of got a job to do." Instead of letting go she continued screaming compliments in his ear while tightening her grip. "Can someone please help?"

_BOOM! _

Izaak was pretty sure he was going to have to have a doctor examine his ear when the screaming ended. At the sound of the explosion every citizen broke out in a fear ridden shriek. He knew that wasn't caused by an earthquake. The vibrations and feel weren't right. Ordering the citizens to remain where they were he floated about twenty feet into the air as Yang climbed a mountain of rubble to get a look at the direction of the explosion.

In the far distance they could see _gigantic _fire raging out of control. Overhead a series of storm clouds had gathered. Freezing rain pelted the flames like a hammer. What was strange was that despite the severity of the storm it was localized, never moving beyond the firestorm.

Nimbly landing beside Yang he kept his eyes focused on the sight. "What's over there?"

"The industrial district." Yang answered with a worried expression. "What the hell is up with that storm? They never said anything about rain."

"That's my brother's Semblance." He said catching Yang off guard. "Come on, first we gotta get these people out of here before they start having panic attacks."

* * *

Weiss had nearly existed her entire arsenal of ice-type Dust by the time she'd met up with Neil. When he'd said he'd go on ahead she didn't feel like stopping him but he did warn her.

"You're not afraid of getting wet are you?" He asked flexing his gloved figures.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at him. "What kind of question is that?"

"A normal question."

Groaning Weiss shook her head. "No I'm not afraid of getting wet. Now if you're going to do something I suggest you do it now!"

She heard the sound of clouds shifting and howling wind long before she felt the first drops of rain on her skin. A minute had passed and soon they were right in the middle of a full out rain storm with bone chilling winds.

"You never mentioned this!" Weiss yelled feeling her dirt and smog covered skin being frozen to the bone.

"I asked you if you didn't mind getting wet, you said no. This ought to be nothing compared to those dirt bags from earlier." Neil somewhat smirked. "Get going, I'll put down as much of the fire as possible but you'd better do your part too."

While she worked the rainstorm continued in all its ferocity and the wind continued howling. Her first impression of the gray haired youth wasn't flattering but she had to admit he knew how to get the job down. It had been at least two hours since they started and most of the fires had been contained albeit they were a few that were still raging. Those were the ones Weiss went after, summoning as much as ice as possible.

The river cutting into harbor was where she found her greatest challenge. They misjudged some of the damage; chunks of land and whole warehouses had apparently sunken into the water. Cursing she approached the sign, noting the number of workers which had gathered around the docks. To her right she noticed a folded up jacket and sword lying side by side.

Two heads burst through the surface, one of them was Neil's the other's was a dock worker. The other workers gathered up their colleague. Neil pulled himself out of the water then walked up to Weiss. "Some life savers would be nice."

"Anything else you'd like?" Weiss snorted.

The gray haired boy didn't give Weiss a reply, he just jumped back into the water. She had just enough Dust left to create a few life rafts for Neil to place the workers in. One she'd used up all her remaining Dust she simply stood by the shore waiting for him to return and help the survivors onto land.

_He's a good swimmer I'll give him that. _Weiss thought watching him. _Must have grown up around a lot of water. _Faintly she noticed the rainstorm had ended and was replaced the humming of Bullhead engines. Tearing her eyes away from the water she saw two airships fly over the area dropping payloads of water over everything below them. "They're a bit late for that."

In the water Neil poked his head up to see the water raining down over the factories and warehouses. "Glade they got here because I wasn't up for doing that again." He chuckled beginning toward the shore.

Weiss kept her face turned away as the gray haired boy began dressing himself though she kept a sideways glance on him. In her view he was a little on the cute side, even with the cross shaped scar below the right corner of his eye. His hair spiked towards the back then downwards leaving two bangs to frame his face.

It wasn't surprising to Weiss his overall attire was gray or some shade of it. Dark blue jeans, dark gray strapless sneakers, black combat gloves, and two gray coats over what she guessed was a t-shirt. The first coat was clearly a military coat with silver buttons, Celtic like designs on the sleeves and his personal emblem on the sides of both sleeves. The second was a simply charcoal gray jacket the same as his hair only zipped up. She had to lean over to get a good look at the complex holster he had around his waist. On his right hip she could see a short sword while strapped to his back was a much larger sword.

Apparently he hadn't been blind to her peeking while he was getting dressed. "See anything you like?" He asked with a grin.

With a snort Weiss began stomping away as Neil laughed quietly to himself.

* * *

It was close to four o'clock when the students were finally given a lunch break. It had been almost six hours since they'd started and needless to say all the Beacon teams were tired and waiting to be feed. Lines had formed around the food ships who handed out plastic box lunches to the hungry masses.

Most of the students had found places in the ruins or on the street to eat while they chatted and complained about how their day has gone. In one of this little spots in the ruins of a diner sat teams RWBY, JNPR, IONC, and CRDL barely ten feet away.

"Well it's not pancakes or sausage but hey, better than dust and concrete." Izaak mused before digging into his food. Said food was barely a step above microwavable meals.

"I'd say with the pouch we had last night it's a fair trade." Neil shrugged then turned to Pyrrha. "I gotta admit this isn't how we planned on seeing you again Pyrrha."

"Imagine my surprise seeing you three here than turning around to find Izaak practically leading an exodus with Yang." The red head chuckled.

"Soooo…" Yang started leaning forward. "Care to explain how you guys all know each other?"

"We all went to Sanctum together." Chicahua answered, pausing from his food. "And as soon as reconstruction is over," he grinned pointing his fork at her. "You and I are going to have a one on one."

There was a collective sweat drop around the students while Pyrrha gave something of a forced smile. "It's good to see you haven't changed either Chicahua."

Olivia wordlessly knocked the boy's fork out of his hand with a well-placed slap on the wrist. "Sadly yes Pyrrha." Catching the fork she planted it down in front of her partner who was giving her quit the sour look. "His brain stops working whenever a fight is involved." Now she paused in her eating to fix Pyrrha with a dark smile that made her team stand somewhat on edge. "You see he thinks he's going to be the first one to fight when it's really going to be me."

Pyrrha's smile grew even more crooked. "It's nice to see you too Olivia."

Having heard the little exchange Izaak started laughing lightly to himself earning him a playful glare from his olive haired teammate. "Well I guess it's only fair we give you guys our formal instructions. I'm Izaak Egilson, leader of team IONC."

Sitting upright Olivia's face changed into a kind hearted smile as she bowed her head. "Olivia Takeko, occasional second in command and the brains behind the three knuckle heads here." While visibly the shortest of the team she was still a good head or two taller than Ruby or Weiss. Her olive green hair reached to the middle of her back and had chin-length bangs framing her face. A few strands were tucked neatly behind her left ear while a few strands stuck up on the right side. Sunlight reflected off her silver tomoe necklace around her neck.

Like Weiss she projected the image of a "proper lady" in her clothing and posture. Unlike Izaak and Neil she wore sandals, low heel sandals that wouldn't impede her ability to run with light blue pants. Stylized near the top of her right leg was a green crest opposite of the same crest on her left shoulder. In contrast to the dark green of her hair she wore a short sleeve green blouse was much lighter with a matching light green vest. Possibly the only thing that stood out was the thick black belt she wore that held two bar-like objects behind her waist.

Neil burped after finishing off his soda. "Wow Liv, thanks for the introduction. Neil Liath."

Lastly the dark haired Faunas puffed up his chest. Placing both hands on his crossed knees he introduced himself with a grin, apparently not caring about Olivia's earlier comment. "Chicahua Valiente. I look forward to spending the next four years alongside all of you!"

Up close the other could now see what made some of the citizens as well as students slightly intimidated by Chicahua. He was a foot taller than Neil and was easily the most physically fit of the group with scars over his arms and a few on his neck. Out of the four transfers he was dressed in the lightest clothing; a sleeveless orange hoodie with shoulder pads and sand colored pants. Like Olivia he didn't wear shows, he opted for brown leather sandals. Arm guards covered both his arms, the left being more decorative than the right. Simple leather wrappings covered both his palms as he continued digging into his food.

As an avian Faunas his eyes were shaped slightly different from a normal human's. They were shaped like an eagle or falcon's, their orange color only adding to their intensity. On his cheeks were black bar-like marks the students immediately guessed to be some kind of tribal paint along with the dyed multi-color strands in his hair, and the two necklaces he wore around his neck.

"As happy as I am to see all four of you it would be nice to know how you all ended up at Beacon. You all should have graduated and gone to Haven Academy." Pyrrha stated.

Izaak's normally happy expression crumbled somewhat at Pyrrha's words.

Olivia coughed once telling Izaak to let her handle matters. "Some things happen, there was some bureaucracy involved and we ended up getting transferred. End of story." Her gray green eyes scanned the teens around them, locking with Blake and Weiss's. Clearly they knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. _Odds are they're two of the smarter lot. I'll have to keep an eye on them. Which one is the question though. Weiss is obviously haughty while Blake seems to be much more of the lie and wait type. Odds are she's the one who'll…_ "Neil, what are you doing?"

Her gray haired teammate was currently gulping down an entire bottle of water, followed, by half a glass of fruit juice, and ended by a carton of almost empty chocolate milk taken from Ren. Her eyes darted to his plate then she went bug eyed.

"This stuff isn't mashed potatoes," Neil muttered looking somewhat sickly. "It's…it's mashed bugs! Taste it!"

Jaune, Yang, and Ruby had mashed potatoes as well on their plates. Only Jaune scooped up a spoonful and put it in his mouth. His expression turned the same as Neil's.

Spotting Ruby's three remaining strawberries he made a reach for them. "Ruby? Do you mind?"

In a flash the four new students saw Ruby's cherry expression replaced with a feral sneer. "MINE!" She slapped his hand with such force it left a red mark.

"Word to the wise," Yang started. "Don't _ever _come between Ruby and strawberries, or chocolate chip cookies for that matter."

"Well Neil you walked right into that one." Izaak laughed as his partner nursed his sore hand. "Bad dish too Russel?"

All their heads turned to find the Mohawk haired member of team CRDL standing nervously before them. His posture was awkward and his eyes darted back and forth between the rest of the restaurant and the three assembled teams. His forehead was rapidly becoming caked in sweat. In between his hands his plate trembled constantly.

"Uh, any of you guys willing to trade?" he meekly asked.

"Oh great what did you get?" Neil moaned.

What Russel held up in his hands seemed to some fish sticks. Nora screamed French fries jumping in her seat. Olivia muttered bruscile sprouts under her breath. Ruby cringed in horror, grabbing her strawberries and holding them closer than before.

"I hate to say it guys but it looks like we're going to have to make do with what we've got. Whatever kitchens or cooks that are still around are what we're stuck with for the time being." Blake stated quietly.

"That's easy for you to say!" Yang cried throwing her arms up. "I want my cheeseburgers! I want my chocolate sundae! I want my spa back!"

"Tell me about it," Ruby cried. "The bakery…it's…it's…" Ruby couldn't finish. Instead she broke down crying on Weiss's shoulder much to the heiress's anger.

A solemn silence fell over the youths as they realized with perfect clarity that their city would never be the same again. Their favorite post school activities would be put on halt for what was probably going to be at least three months.

"I finally get to dance with a girl and the next day an earthquake happens." Sky moaned biting into his ham and cheese sandwich. "Am I cursed or something? Does nature have it out for me?"

"You got to dance with her, that's good for something so focus on that." Izaak called out. "Odds are there were a lot of guys and girls who for last night it was their first major dance. You're not alone."

A half-smile half grimace formed on Sky's face at Izaak's words. Truthfully it did make him feel a little better.

"One of the school's professors has telekinesis right? Odds are she's out now fixing things up now." He offered hoping it would lighten the mood.

"That's perfect!" Ruby suddenly shot up! "Remember when we had that awesome food fight, totally racked the lunch hall, and she fixed all of it in less than a minute?" Her smile grew when she saw the puzzled looks on team IONC's faces. "It was awesome! We fought with apples, cans, begets, sword fish, watermelons, sausage, and turkies! Then Professor Goodwitch showed. Heh, she fixed the entire place in no time. I'm sure she's out there working to-"

"GRIMM!"


	3. Chapter 3:and Grimm in the Evening

**THE FIGHT! **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 3:…And Grimm in the Evening **

"GRIMM!"

It wasn't hard to imagine Chicahua shouting. He certainly seemed like the kind of guy who'd shout at the first sign of importance. It was just how unprepared and loud the youths heard him. Naturally his teammates reacted first. The other three teams were still in a state of shock.

Then they heard explosions, roaring, and lastly screaming.

In a mad rush the sixteen youths sprang out of the dinner just as a fireball collided with the roof bringing the entire structure down. Soon more followed, flattening whatever buildings were still standing. All around them they could hear the snarls and howls of Grimm moving forward, cutting down anyone foolish enough to be caught in their path.

Due to their speed and noises the Beowolves were the first to appear. Leaping over buildings and sinking their teeth into whatever flesh they could. Claws tore through flesh easily splattering half eaten meals with crimson blood. From its position on top a mountain of concrete and stone a lone Beowolf howled into the clear skies.

_BOOM! _

Three Beowolves exploded in showers of black flesh and red blood. Two more found themselves bisected at the waist, soon they were joined by three more of their brethren. A large blur of gray and black cleaved each monster into pieces, even the rubble the few who attempted to shield themselves with, were cleaved in two.

Izaak liked dogs, he wasn't afraid to show he had a fondness for canines. That fondness to a degree extended to Beowolves since they seemed so much like the werewolves of old legend and stories. If he were to ever pick a type of Grimm he enjoyed fighting it would have to have been the Beowolves. Never mind they were incredibly easy to dispatch, he simply liked the way his beloved Umkriesung easily separated them in one swift swing.

Drawing his axe back with both hands he ran straight into the fray, twisting his body are first contact. In one complete spin he decimated five Beowolves. With speed that was unnatural for one wielding such a heavy weapon he swung the blade in three more swift arcs, elimination another set of Grimm from the battle. He continued running, continued swinging alongside his fellow students.

When a few Beowolves attempted to use the high ground he threw up his semblance. Like so many others the Beowolves seemed shocked at being caught in mid-air by an unseen force. Still not taking his eyes off his front Izaak reverse the pull of gravity, sending sky high with a crushing amount of force.

A larger than average Beowolf came leaping at the front line. Still with his G-Field up Izaak prepared to meet it in the midair clash he knew was coming. It took a running start before bouncing at the group, fangs dripping with blood and saliva. Izaak rocked forward swinging Storrdetta's counter clockwise.

The Grimm was split in half yet Izaak remained in the air. A series of clicks came from his axe, the blades regressed into the shaft, and a pair of handles pooped out. In their place the muzzle at the end of the axe slide out. Taking aim Izaak fired two rockets, both of them at least a foot in length.

Chunks of black flesh and debris exploded from where the rockets made impact. More followed blowing howls in the advancing Grimm ranks. Suspended in the air Izaak remained until he saw Ursa plowing their way through the battlefield. They were his new targets. It took a direct hit to bring an Ursa down with one of his rockets. It took a direct blow to bring them down with Storrdetta's axe form.

Switching back to axe form Izaak let out a war cry as he reverse his G-Field. The Ursa seemed puzzled at the strange brown object plummeting towards it. By the time it realized it was a human it was already too late.

Besides the splitting of the Ursa the impact released a powerful shock wave knocking the other Grimm off their feet. Propelling himself forward Izaak made sure the rest of the Grimm met the same fate as the Ursa. Beowolves, Creeps, Ursa, and Subterras converged on Izaak.

The students around him stared in horror and alarm as the mass of black fur piled on top of him then their horror changed to confusion when they heard the monsters' surprised grunts. Their bodies went rigid, then were suddenly flattened like someone had dropped a massive hammer on each of them. Izaak was unharmed, unhampered in his advances.

The students watching the bronze haired boy could tell he was a brute-type fighter from the way he swung his axe with such skill yet such savage strength. Once he swung; he simply let go with one arm and let the laws of physics do the rest. When he struck with two hands even the largest of Grimm were half the monsters they used to be.

Boarbatusks weren't Izaak's favorite Grimm, but they made great projectiles. Since his first encounter with them he'd developed a little habit when fighting them.

Tucked in their ball form they came at him, spinning at break neck speeds. Other students either fell back or knocked them aside with their freakishly large weapons. Izaak used them as dodge balls.

Stopping three or four with his Semblance he hung back as the horde advanced. Once he saw a target he fired the boar-like Grimm with enough speed to match a cannonball.

Several students laughed at the sound the Boarbatusks made when they sailed through the air then collided with their fellow monsters. Both Grimm either exploded in a shower of black and bone or flew back even further into their brethren. If it was possible some of the Grimm actually looked angered at seeing their kin used against them in such a destructive way.

In response to the growling Izaak laughed switching Storrdetta back into its RPG form. Remaining stationary along with a few others Izaak continued his barrage of rockets and Grimm. Even a few Ursa found themselves unlikely ammunition if they found themselves too close to him.

"Holy crap," A student muttered watching Izaak work. "Is there anything you can't lift or throw?"

Keeping his eyes forward Izaak answered in a surprisingly calm voice. "As long as nothing's disrupting my gravity field or my target's its vulnerable." Reloading he glanced over the battlefield noticing the battle wasn't lightening in intensity, it was increasing. Not only that, but the ground was shaking more than it should have even with all the combat. His brows arching he began to ponder what could have caused the shaking, it wasn't like the Subterras.

"All students form two defensive lines! Heavy hitters to the front and-GGRRRH!"

Izaak couldn't hear the students scream the professor's name when he was killed by the Gigadeath. He was completely caught off guard just like everyone else.

A second passed before he could tear his eyes away from the lower half of the professor's body to the crawling, armored, insectoid Grimm burrowing underneath the ground. Terror laden shrieks erupted. Sensing the fear the Grimm began, biting, clawing, and tearing at every student they could get their claws or jaws on.

"Enough!" Pyrrha barked leaping over an Ursa Major then spearing it through the stomach. Switching Milo back into rifle form she began firing at the Creeps, and Beowolves attempting to devour any downed students they caught. "Form a defensive line and get the wounded out! Watch out for attacks from below!"

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" A female student cried scrambling away.

"The same way we deal with Subterras! Watch the ground for vibrations!" Jaune yelled hacking away at Subterra that had sprung up from his rear. "If you can aim for the eyes because hitting its armor won't do a thing!"

As good as the advice was it was hard to do while fighting to avoid being killed the Grimm amassing around them. Auras were kept active not at half-power but at full power.

Not bothering to levitate even a few feet off the ground the young Viking kept his eyes trained on his front and rear. His odds of being attacked were one in a million but the thought didn't scare him, what scared him was having to watch his new classmates being bisected by the rampaging Gigadeaths. Most of the students didn't have an Aura strong enough to fend off the demonic centipede's jaws ending in a short scream of tear.

Izaak hated how even in the aftermath of an earthquake the bastards could still move underground. Alas, all he could do was take that anger out with a rocket whenever he was fast enough to catch sight of one of them. Seeing for himself small pieces of their boney hide flick off gave him some relief but what he really wanted was to bury his axe in their skulls.

If the Gigadeaths could sense the rage boiling in Izaak then they could practically taste the fear and distress rolling off of Jaune. Admittedly the blond was handling himself well, Grimm masks and vanishing bones lay at his feet with more joining the pile due to his hectic strategy of slash, roll, and block.

_CRICK! _

"Heads up Jaune!" He cried propelling himself towards the blond. The rush of air told him he'd made it in time. Landing with a thump he spun onto his side, Storrdetta changed into rocket form as he rolled over onto his back. "Jaune cover your eyes!" He pulled the trigger moments before the saw-like set of jaws made a lunge for him.

_Always aim for the mouth. _

Neither boy felt the pieces of bony armor hit their chests thanks to Izaak's gravitational shield. Beside him Jaune released a less than manly scream causing Izaak to groan. "How many people are going to scream in my ear today?"

Springing back up his eyes locked with a Gigadeath towering over a wounded student. "HEY!" That caught his attention.

Upon seeing him its twin pincer blades clicked at the sight a tastier, stronger meal. All fifteen feet of the centipede Grimm stood up to howl at Izaak. Two sets of amber-red eyes, one large and one small, glared down on him.

While Jaune scrambled away Izaak hefted his axe to the side preparing for the lunge that followed.

_CRINCH! _

In the tens seconds the Gigadeath was caught by Izaak's G-Field he destroyed its head two more burrowed up from both his left and right. Diverting the flow of gravity into his axe he performed his favored three-sixty spin, taking the first three feet off of each of their necks.

_CLING! _

Completing his rotation he spun to his three o'clock to see Jaune body check a Gigadeath about to lung at him. The blond's aura was flaring at a level he'd only seen with Neil surprising Izaak. Obliviously the Grimm wasn't expecting the blow as it struggled to flip itself over. Not wasting a moment he scrambled over and stabbed the monster as far as he could in one of its eyes.

Watching the Grimm go still Jaune shot Izaak a nervous but somewhat relieved smile he returned.

"That has been one hell of a first full day." He mused take aim.

* * *

To the east the battle wasn't fearing quite as well. The bodies of at least twenty students lay dead or the ground while their comrades fought to avenge their deaths at the hands of the Grimm. Elemental shots, blades, and plain or steel cleaved into ebony fur with every passing second. High above the battle firing off feathers or swiping in low.

"Heads up! Wyverns at three o'clock!" A student shouted making every fighter turn to the sky and curse.

Due to their reptilian body and wings it would have been easy to mistake Wyverns for dragons. The closer on got to them the more the difference became clear. Most average Wyverns were only between five to seven meters in height with a wingspan of at least two and half meters each. The top parts of their dragon-like faces were masks with flame like designs snaking alongside the side, a set of ridges or spikes usually ran down their spines down to their spiked tails, while their wings possessed bone like armor that had red designs as well.

Every Hunter knew Wyverns were not Grimm to be taken likely. They were powerful, aggressive, and most of all master flyers. It wasn't just the fact they could breathe fireballs capable of leveling a house, it was the fact they were also poisonous, their tails being a prime tool they used to deliver it.

At least thirty of the flying bastards now covered the skies alongside the Nevermores blocking out some of the sunlight.

From where Olivia was standing she knew there was going to be no well thought out plan to win the battle. It was simple; kill as many of the bastards as she could. Reaching behind her she gripped her beloved tonfa, Bishamon, were aimed at the Grimm filled skies.

A few eyes wondered to the green haired girl's masterful crafted weapons. Beautifully crafted green and gray metal made up each of the three feet look tonfa with artistic wave like designs running along the sides. Kanji of various meanings were inscribed on them, extending even to the ammo clips rapidly being depleting. The gun muzzles at the end of each weapon flashed with green and orange light. On the opposite ends were blades that were no doubt used for close combat.

Multicolored shots slammed into the flying Grimm either bringing them crashing to the ground or angering them enough to swipe down to take a piece out of the Hunters and Huntresses in training.

_SWIPE! SWEEP! CLUNK! _

"So there are blades attached to the other end." Blake mused watching the severed halves of a Nevermore and Wyvern hit the ground.

Returning to her firing Olivia could see the Grimm were no disoriented enough for her to move in. She spotted a large Nevermore just barely standing in the air due to its damaged right wing. Perfect.

For those looking at her all they saw was a green flash of light then she was gone. In the air the Nevermore howled as its hand was pulverized with a swift blow from Olivia's tonfa. In another flash she was floating in front of a Wyvern, one of her blades entering its right eye.

From the ground the students could see the green flashes, everywhere they appeared either a Grimm went down or it left itself open to attack.

It was a surprise to Blade when Olivia teleported next to her while she was reloading. "Ever done mid-air combat?"

Reading her eyes Blake had an idea what she was planning. "I've managed."

Olivia's smile was the same as before though Blake could see an honest light of affection in them. "Then just hold onto my shoulder. From there just bring as many of them down as possible."

Placing a hand on her shoulder Blake prepared herself for the teleportation. As she'd guessed it was instantaneous, a gust of wind hit her, nearly all her senses went black, then she was dropping onto the back of Wyvern. She didn't waste time in putting a bullet through its head before jumping to another.

It was almost pitiful how much confusion Olivia was causing amongst the Grimm. Naturally they realized she was the threat that needed to be eliminated. The problem was she was simply too fast, too wily for them to catch. She'd appear on the back of one of them, they'd lung or launch a fireball, she'd teleported, and friendly fire would put the Grimm out of business. Or worse Olivia would wait for a Wyvern to swing its tail.

She didn't just leave the battle to chance, no, she swung Bishamon in furious arcs while at the same time squeezing the trigger. It was hard to say which of the three hurt the Grimm more, her bullets, Bishamon's blunt ends, or the blades slicing through their bodies. The larger Wyverns and Nevermores would definitely say the blunt damage hurt more. That was what Olivia used to kill.

The head, neck, or even the abdomen, those are the places Olivia slammed her tonfa with such force you could hear the bones crack beneath the black fur and scales. If she went for the belly then she followed up with the head. She didn't care she was getting a few cuts or Grimm blood or her, seeing them go down was enough to bring a ghost of a smile to her face.

Teleporting to a random spot the green haired girl simply allowed herself to freefall so she could catch her breath. Seeing her "helpless" the Grimm rushed in.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! _

They'd forgotten Blake was still in the air as well, causing just as much havoc as Olivia. Briefly she wondered what Olivia's plan was, watching her from the corner of her amber eyes. It almost appeared as if she was waiting for something.

Even as she fell through the air Olivia was quite aware of the battle unfolding around her. At last her target came into view; a Nevermore much larger than the rest, easily big enough cover an entire block of the street was coming right at her. Clearly it'd taken a pounding and was now expecting an easy catch. It was in for a rude surprise.

A green aura flared around Olivia's body which instantly sprang into a crouching position.

The Nevermore opened its beak wide the closer it got to Olivia. Watching from the back of Wyvern Blake had to bite back the urge to move in but her intuition told her not to. She knew from the dinner Olivia was never one to act without a plan unlike Ruby or Yang.

_SWISH! _

All onlookers saw was a green blur then the Nevermore was missing the upper part of its peak. In Olivia's hands wasn't a set of tonfa but instead a two meter long dual _naginata _gleaming with Grimm blood.

"Blake! Ready to go down?" She called.

"Actually yeah! I'm kind of starting to miss the ground!"

Pulling her in close with Gambol Shroud's Blake was relieved when she feet on solid ground again. "You do that often when you comes to flying Grimm?"

Winking at her Olivia got back into a combat position. "As a matter of fact yes. It's quite fun even if it's not full scale flying like my teammates. Since cats usually don't go for heights I was worried you wouldn't enjoy it but I can see that you did."

Blake's mouth was agape at her statement. How did she know? When did she find out? They'd barely know each other five hours!

* * *

Cardin made a mental note not to piss Neil off when they started fighting off Grimm. The first time he saw him was when everyone was leaving the dance last night. He didn't strike him as a hostile or aggressive person based on the laid back look on his face and in his posture. At one point he briefly wondered if the guy could throw a decent punch.

That perception changed when he saw him wordlessly charge into the Beowolf pack advancing through the holes and tops of buildings. In the time it took Cardin to take town five of the canine Grimm he'd taken down nine with his dual swords. Beside him he heard Russel whisper something about being the coolest looking swords he'd ever seen. Watching him fight Cardin begrudgingly agreed, they weren't just cool, he could see Neil knew how to use them.

In his left hand was a single edged short sword that looked more like a hunting knife. The blade was at most four feet long and all blacken gray. Indented lines ran up the blade with what Cardin assumed to be some Celtic runes near the bottom. Just at the tip of the backside breached off to form the top of a trapezoid then connected to the tip like a regular diamond tipped sword. The guard was hard to describe; on the bottom it looked like an elongated octagon possible seven inches long with an arrow shaped bar stretching from the right side connecting to one side of the blade and one half of a flat ended trapezoid capping off the top left end connecting the other end of the sword.

In contrast the sword in his right hand was a longsword that looked even more impressive. Naturally the blade was five feet long compared to the other with an acute diamond shaped tip. Near the bottom where it met the guard three exhaust vents where arranged diagonally near the center. Unlike the other sword the handle was long enough for two hands with a hand guard connecting the bottom of the hilt to the guard. Said guard was made of two circular gears, one larger noticeable larger than the other. What looked like an ammo clip with a cloud design was on the forward facing side above a two ridges. On the back a trio of rectangular blocks barely an inch each were nailed into the guard.

Probably the only thing the two swords shared in common besides color was the way they both glowed with an electric blue light as Neil swung them in multiple swift arcs. The indented lines on the short sword blazed like fire while on the long sword only a line running from the tip half-way down shined.

There was no hesitation in his attacks, simply a quick swing and that was the end of it. Speed carried Neil through the battlefield, his swords becoming nothing but bluish-gray blurs cleaving through Grimm with immense ease and precision. Even the mighty Ursa fell with one swipe to the abdomen or head. The bone like armor that covered their bones was like a saw to paper with how effortless they cut through.

His arms were always moving, no, Neil's entire body was constantly moving. Twisting and turning, spinning and thrusting like at every black shape that came towards him. Taking heed of this quite a number of students chose to hang back and just follow the path he cleared. Cardin was ashamed to admit he was one of them but he couldn't deny the gray-haired knight was obviously the better fighter. He faintly reminded Cardin of Pyrrha with his level of skill.

The more he fought the more rage he could feel boiling in his blood. _There's no way I'm losing out to a new kid! _Raising his mace then slamming it down he sent a line of explosions forward that decimated a group of Beowolves.

Neil momentarily paused his attack to glance him. Looking him in the eye the mace-wielder felt something of a cold chill rush down his spine. His eyes were hard, series, like a storm cloud's. There wasn't a hint of the joy or laziness he'd seen when they were eating.

"You good with fire?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah, it's my specialty."

"Then we can work together to clear some of these bastards out." He replied gripping both swords.

When he swung his swords in a three-sixty spin two light blue projectiles flew from his blades directly into two charging Beowolves. Around him various students gasped and cheered while Cardin narrowed his eyes. He knew energy attacks when he saw them and what Neil just projected wasn't energy. It was wind.

"How come you haven't learned how to do that?" He sneered as he and Russel engaged a trio of Subterras.

Jumping back and forth between blind spots the Mohawk haired student sank his daggers into the throats of two of the monsters. "Are you kidding me? It'd take me _months _to learn how to do that!" Switching the chambers in his daggers Russel blasted a cross of fire into an Ursa. "Besides blasting fire, lightning, and ice is so much cooler than just wind."

Truthfully both boys were expecting Neil to make some kind of witty counter; instead they only heard the continued sounds of Grimm howling in blade and metal slicing through air. It seemed whenever he didn't want to move close he simply fired off more of the blade-shaped wind blasts which were fully capable of cutting through most Grimm.

What appeared next wasn't most Grimm. It was something that caused every student and even a few teachers to curse.

They rammed through everything in their path with the force of a tank. If left unchecked their speed they could reach thirty miles per hour. If they saw a human or Faunus they would instantly charge it without a second thought. Possessing a thick armored hind over their jet black fur nothing short of an artillery shell would stop them. This Grimm was a Qilin.

"Oh boy." Russel whimpered. Watching them advance he began to slowly back away with trembling legs. "Um, I think I'm going to leave this one to you guys? Sound cool?"

Snarling Cardin grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back up to the front. "The hell you are! You remember Professor Port's lesson right?"

"Either slow their momentum or hit them with stronger force." Neil muttered still with the same deadly expression on his face. "We'll do both. Russel just wait for an opening then go for the eye or a vital spot."

Russel looked relieved at Neil's words until he heard the clicking and clocking of various fire arms. Only then did he notice anyone whose weapon could function as a rocket launcher, bazooka, mini-gun, or even just something that flat out caused a ton of damage had stepped to the front. No one gave the order to fire, one person shot first and the rest just simply followed.

Most of the Qilin didn't stop until either their masks were broken or the ground they were running on exploded knocking them off their feet. Those that kept going found themselves the target of a few well-placed sniper rounds or were met with an extreme amount of force crushing their skulls.

When the rhino-like Grimm got too close Cardin swung his mace with wild abandon. In opposite Neil had stopped using wind and switched to lightning. Moralltach and Beagalltach hummed with electricity while the arcs of blue lightning jumped around their edges. It could be said his Electro blades didn't have enough power to kill the Qilin outright but they did have the power to at least stop them in their tracks while he moved in for direct combat. As Cardin's mace turned the Grimm into chunks of bone and flesh while Neil's electrified swords practically burnt their way through the flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

In contrast to the two power houses Russel moved swiftly and quietly on their trail. True to Neil's words he waited and attacked whichever Grimm were incapacitated putting a swift end to their misery.

A few students noticed clouds had begun to gather over the front lines, soon lightning was arcing between their bodies. Without warning eight bolts of lightning came down, striking not at random but at the largest Grimm present either killing them or bringing them to their knees.

Still sticking low Neil made a bee line for a Death Stalker he saw crawling over the rubble. It was much bigger than the others, easily towering over the other Grimm. Calling down three bolts of lightning to strike its tail not even its prized armor could protect it from the pain. Howling in rage and pain it focused its six eyes on the approaching knight only to get a face full of highly concentrated plasma.

On Moralltach the middle rectangular guard piece pooped up forming a targeting scope as a section of the blade's lower half slide out to reveal blue grip. On Beagalltach the handle slide from its normal position into a diagonal position with a targeting scope popping up on the backside of the guard. Both blades split apart to reveal a sizzling hot gun barrel from which streams of blue plasma erupted.

One could almost pity the amount of pain the Death Stalker was in with its tail gone its face practically being melted off. It was totally immobilized leaving it nothing but a beast wailing to be put out of its misery.

Neil planned on doing just that.

Creating a small whirlwind around his feet he used it as a spring board to jump higher into the air. His eyes never left the Death Stalker's even when he began a spinning cartwheel towards its exposed back. Moralltach and Beagalltach changed back into their sword forms moments before he plunged them into the Death Stalker's back.

Instantly it collapsed onto the ground, not a sound coming from its mangled jaws.

* * *

It is a well-known fact that avian Faunus tended to fight differently than normal human beings or most Faunus given their gift of flight. Stories panted them as brave and fierce warriors dive bombing or of the sky or swooping leaving death in their wake. These would have been debunked as fantasy if not for eye witness accounts.

Many eye witnesses were made near the remains of the CCT. Without a doubt it was plain to see Chicahua was the truth of every story that had ever been told about avian Faunus.

Sword and shield in hand he heedlessly charged into everything he deemed an enemy, be they an Ursa, a Beowulf, or even a stampeding Qilin.

A snake like blur of orange zipped through the bodies of Grimm tearing them apart in bloody showers. Constant clinging bouncing off a shield that hummed with savage glee as it tore in flesh just as well as the sword did.

Watching the eagle Faunus at work Weiss couldn't keep something of a sneer off her face. "Why did I have to be stuck here fighting with them?"

To Weiss it was a fair question. Between the tears in the ground and crumbling structures overhead she didn't things could get worse until she realized she was fighting alongside Ruby, Ren, Nora, and Chicahua. Ruby she'd learned to deal with and Ren was one of the few she could stand to be around. Nora was…Nora. As it turned out Chicahua, to say the least, a lunatic.

"Not bad Nora!" Chicahua called watching her flatten a Subterra. "I'll admit I'm impressed but what do you say to a friendly contest?"

Turning to him with a grin she placed her hammer on the ground. "I'm listening! What'd ya' say? First one to kill fifty wins?"

"Deal!" He shouted decapitating an Ursa Major.

It spoke volumes when the whip sword he wielded tightly wrapped around a Qilin's neck with no visible strain and when he effortlessly began using it as a frail. The Grimm cried helplessly with every impact until Chicahua decided to let it go, hurling it right into Nevermore's chest. Darting off from the ground the sound of blades tearing through flesh followed the orange-eyed warrior everywhere he went.

A web of cracks formed where he landed before he sprinted towards a towering Subterra. It struck at him with its claws only to receive a shock when its claws bounced off his shield. Its confusion was ended when Chicahua split it from hip to shoulder.

Drops of crimson blood dripped off the Eagle Knight's weapons just as they stained his shoulders and some parts of his face. "I was beginning to wonder when better prey would show up." He chuckled spotted the lumbering dark shape from almost three miles away. "Heads up everyone! The Goliaths have arrived!"

Two things terrified the students; one was the warning and the other was the tone in which Chicahua had spoken. There was no fear in his voice. He sounded excited.

Ruby switched out her ammo clips for her special Cross bullets. Beside her Weiss muttered a series of curses as she stomped up beside Chicahua. "How in the hell are you happy about this? We can't handle those things!"

"No Weiss, we can. We just have to be extremely careful. Bullets will only irritate them, a bullet to the eye though," He turned to Ruby and smiled. "That'll really piss them off. If not the eye then aim for the legs! Goliaths may be powerful but if they can't move then they're sitting ducks!"

Placing both feet apart he held his shield in front and his sword raised up high. It wasn't wrong to say a few students were a little offset with his choice of weapons while Weiss wanted to ask the boy if he was just plain stupid. Ruby's eyes lit up drinking in the details of the sword and shield combo, true they weren't high-tech but she'd seen them in action and their artistic beauty wasn't just show.

Five feet of black and orange metal with black blades sticking out of both sides were stained crimson. An Aztec style pattern ran up the base. The eleven inch handle was red with dark green wrappings and a ring at the end of the hilt. Everyone had seen the three foot shield spring out of his left wrist guard. Emblazed on the center was his personal emblem, the eagle wings flapping out behind a stylized sun. Like the sword obsidian blades occupied the edges of the shield, occasionally firing up turning the shield into a buzz saw.

Several students had backed away from Chicahua both out of fear and out of self-preservation deciding there was something wrong with the boy if he was excited by the appearance of a Goliath. "What do you think Nora? I'd say one Goliath counts for at least ten of the small fry."

"Definitely! Though it's not like I need it since I'm winning right Ren?"

"How about we decide who won when we're not about to be run over?" Ren pleaded opening fire as the demonic elephant made a mad charge for them.

Weiss jumped aside while Nora and Ruby began firing. All fire was focused on the head, damage becoming visibly by the time Chicahua moved in for the kill.

_CLUNK! _

Chicahua smiled devilishly when Sprekelia sunk deep into the Grimm's mask. Pulling his sword out he moved on to the other rampaging Goliaths. With eyesight he prided himself off he swung his shield back and forth.

At first none of them paid the knives attention until they felt the sharp pain of their entrance and for some, the explosive power of their denotation.

Shrieks of pain and confusion went up as the angered beasts turned their eyes to the sky. Giving an eagle like screech he dive bombed back into the battlefield, Sprekelia glowing with orange-red energy and Xolotl screaming for blood.

Lesser Grimm were either torn a apart while the stronger Grimm were nursing broken masks or howling at the rivers of blood now flowing from their faces, arms, or shoulders. Even the tougher Goliaths knew taking the eagle Faunus was going to be harder than they thought. Then of course there were the dozens of other students now throwing everything they had at them.

One particular problem the Grimm faced was a hammer/grenade launcher touting girl laughing as she painted the pavement with their blood. Nora couldn't fly but she did have power on her side, raw power she was able to put behind her hammer, enough to make even the Goliaths see stars.

Ruby had forewent Crescent Rose's sniper form for her scythe. She wanted to be in the melee with the others. Like the evening tides the black and red scythe rose and fell resulting in a mass of severed limbs. To Ruby's ire the legs of the Goliath were still too thick for Crescent Rose to completely cut through.

Making a run for a stumbling Goliath Ruby was sure she'd be able to land a solid blow on its mutilated face. Using her ground shot as a boost she brought her beloved scythe downward. The blade sank into the boney mask with only one problem; it was literal stunk there.

"Uh-oh." Ruby whimpered trying to pull her scythe free.

The Goliath was not amused having the fifteen year old stuck on its forehead and started roaring in fury to shake her off. With no choice Ruby held on while still trying to pull Crescent Rose free.

"You are such a clutz sometimes!" Weiss yelled springing towards the charging Goliath. A white Glyph materialized before her just as she swung Myrtenaster. "Nora now!"

Stopping in its tracks due to its legs being frozen the Goliath roared again giving Ruby the chance to jump back. Nora aimed Magnhild directly at the crack Ruby had made grinning wickedly.

"Saw Ah!"

Cheers went up when the Goliath's head exploded in a shower of black and pink smoke.

"Of all the people I get stuck with first it's that stupid weather-man and now three battle-crazy lunatics!" Weiss screamed stabbing and slashing. "Damn it Ruby keep your eyes open!"

"Hey my eyes are always open! You can't expect me to keep track of all of this!" Ruby shot back stepping on a speed Glyph.

"Hey Chicahua! I'm winning!" Nora screamed over the chaos.

"Not for long!" What he was doing now was just ludicrous to onlookers. Chicahua had wrapped Sprekelia around a fairly large Goliath's neck. His face twisted in concentration as the Goliath's was morphed into s fury laced grimace. Despite the effort the Grimm put off the eagle knight did not give.

_SNAP! _

"I'll certainly give him points for guts and strength." Ren complimented unloading bullets into an Ursa Major.

Searing thirty feet into the air the sword and shield wielder's face changed from joy to harden seriousness. Seeing the city gates open told him exactly what he feared; they were going to be in for a long fight. With his keen eyesight he counted at least forty-Grimm pouring through the crumbling walls every two minutes. Elsewhere the battle was slowly turning into a stalemate with neither side able to gain ground, figuratively or literally. The Grimm seemed angered that their advance was being halted by an army of teenagers that had been dragged out of bed by a freak act of the Goliaths, the older breed, were avoiding heavy contact with the defenders.

Scanning the battlefield a smile momentarily returned to the teenager's face. His new classmates were fighting well. There were fatalities but that wasn't stopping them nor was it stopping any law enforcement officers present.

Turning to the red hot sun Chicahua closed his eyes and allowed the evening air to brush over him. The warmth form the sun's light grew hotter and more intense. His muscles lit up like fire with every ray that hit his body. His wings, spread wide began to glow red, orange, and yellow. "About twenty-five minutes until night fall."

Some of the Grimm looked up to see what they could only describe as a bird-shaped mass of heat and light jetting towards them.

_SWOOSH! SWASH! SLISH! _

"So that's your Semblance." Ruby said watching the orange light zip from one enemy to another.

It was doubtful if he heard her. A silvery-red object rocketed off of Chicahua's left arm, his shield no doubt, began a deadly journey through the Grimm wave. In sudden fear Goliaths backed up and stumbled around unsure of what to do. With their enhanced eyesight the Wyverns tried blasting the infernal weapon out of the sky but the shield either zipped past their shots or cut straight through their fireballs. Now infuriated by the young warrior they dove to the ground not caring if they hit the Goliaths or any other Grimm by accident.

"Now would be a good time to start blowing their wings off!" Chicahua screamed swinging his empowered macuahuitl to counter the fireballs. Even as he stabbed, kicked, twisted, and slashed at the snapping jaws and barbed tails Chicahua found himself laughing.

_BOOM! BOOM! BANG! CLING! CLING! CLING! BOOM! SLISH! SLISH! CLING! _

Somehow he was on one knee, his Semblance still burning as evident by his glowing tribal markings and fire pumping through his blood, then again, maybe that was just the thrill of battle.

"I see you've been having fun." A female voice half-joked half mocked.

"Of course I have, Goliaths, beasts of might and intelligence, I couldn't have asked for a better challenge." He laughed even though he was still trying to catch his breath. "Gather yourselves, the fight is far from over."

Rolling her shoulders Olivia groaned, "How many?"

"At this rate hundreds unless we can get that breach closed and prove to these things attacking isn't in their best interest." He answered getting back into fighting position as Xolotl returned to him.

"Oh well that isn't going to be a problem. That is if you've still got some fight left you." Olivia laughed.

Expectantly he shot off like a rocket causing Olivia to throw her head back in laughter.

"Please tell me not everyone on your team is crazy!" Weiss wheezed slaying a Subterra.

Swinging Bishamon at Grimm skulls Olivia shot the heiress a cool smirk. "I wouldn't say crazy but we are an odd bunch."

* * *

If it were a normal night in Vale city at eight o'clock night life would have been in full swing. People strolling down the street, bright lights over the city, cars zipping by, music blaring from night clubs, and some citizens watching the stars overhead.

Judging from the aftermath of the "Breach Battle" it would be a long time before the people would be able to enjoy such pleasantries.

Night had been both the best and worse relief to the defenders, be they students of Beacon, teachers, regular law enforcement, or just the average citizen who'd gotten tired and decided to get even with the world for one horrible day.

The Grimm wave had leveled a good chunk of the city, in some areas they'd advanced deep while in others they'd been stopped dead in their tracks. Regardless the fallout of the battle was evident in the landscape. The dead lay either on the up turned pavement or in sewer tunnels while the living, stained with black and crimson blood were huddled against a wall, prone on their backs, and wheezing in a arms out spread in every direction.

_Thank God for gunships, w_as the collective thought in everyone's minds at the moment. It was no secret the Grimm would grow empowered by the night. True to form they did when the sun finally set on the devastated city the soulless monsters fought harder with a renewed fury. The defensive line began falling faster than it could be reinforced, at least twenty Grimm took the place of every five killed.

Evening the odds were the arrival of the gunships; blessed gray-hulled angels with blue halos in the growing darkness of the night. Just as fireballs and razor feathers cascaded from the sky in the afternoon and evening rockets, missiles, and high-velocity rounds salted the earth.

In a ten minute display of air power the Grimm backed down. They'd achieved a good chunk of their goal; make the situation worse than what it already was.

Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and IONC were burnt out just like the countless other teams. Even the most energetic like Ruby, Nora, and Chicahua were breathing hard, each breath a strain for their lungs. Sweat covered their brows, even in the cool night air pieces of armor and clothing felt like fur coats in a desert, and limbs that once were full of energy were lead blocks.

Cut up, bleeding, and practically covered head to toe in sweat Jaune groaned at the sight of the moon. "Somebody please tell me we're done for the day…night…whatever."

"Shut-up Arc before a Nevermore flies by." Cardin snarled trying to pull himself up only to fail miserable.

"How about both of you idiots shut up." Weiss sneered. Everything in her body was hurting from her head, her knees (she narrowly dodged a Wyvern's fireball to both of them), to her toes. She wanted a warm shower and a soft bed, not two of her least favorite people babbling in her ear.

Trying to giggle a little Ruby instead ended up coughing her lungs out. "So guys, who won?"

"Honestly Ruby," Ren groaned hoping in the pain and wounds on his arm would heal if he kept totally still.

"I WON!" Nora joyously yelled. It amazed everyone how despite being just as visibly tired as the rest of them she still had the energy to shout.

Chuckling painfully Chicahua raised a torn piece of with cloth. "I concede this one to you Nora Valkyrie. You truly are a worthy opponent. But I won't lose next time!"

"Bring it!" Nora laughed. "I'll take you on anytime, anywhere!"

"Can you guys wait until the end of the week, or next week? Hell, wait until the city isn't under attack!" Dove screeched.

Like his Faunus teammate Izaak released a pain-filled chuckle as he pushed himself up against a slab of stone. "Heh, Vale has officially impressed me. What about you guys?"

"Definitely!" Chicahua shouted grinning.

"I third that." Olivia said with a small smirk.

Frankly everyone thought Neil had fallen asleep beside Izaak. Then he spoke up, "Best first day of school I've ever had."

"At least we impressed the transfers." Ruby giggled.

"Blew away is more like it." Yang corrected.

* * *

**AND FINISH! Originally this and Chapter 2 were supposed to be one chapter but hey, splitting them up seems better now. Each member of Team IONC got to show their fighting abilities. How were they?**

**Team IONC (Pronounced Ionic) Theme: Cultural warriors of myth and legend. A possible side theme is all their names in some way donate to their personalities.**

**Izaak Egilson**

**Culture: Vikings**

**Based on… Egil Skallagrimsson, the main character of the Icelandic epic _Egil's Saga_.**

**Weapon: Storrdetta (Nordic for great/huge drop or fall) A double sided war axe that doubles as a rocket launcher and Silverbane; explosive combat knives.**

**Semblance: Gravitation, the ability to control his personal gravitational field or any neighboring field.**

**Color: Rust Brown**

**Naming: His first name in German meaning "he will laugh"**

**Emblem: Three bronze colored circles with two over lapping rings making it look like an atom.**

**Olivia Takeko**

**Culture: Onna-bugeisha (female samurai)**

**Based on…Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War and Nakano Takeko, a Mejii-Era onna-bugeisha.**

**Weapon: Bishamon, a set of tonfa that function as sub-machine guns and can unit to form a double-ended _naginata_.**

**Semblance: Blink, the ability to teleport.**

**Color: Green.**

**Naming: Her first name comes from olives which is a symbol of Athena and her last name comes from Nakano Takeko.**

**Emblem: A green circle with a cross hair in the center surrounded by five tomoe.**

**Neil Liath**

**Culture: Knight**

**Based on…Irish hero Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (or as you might know him Lancer from Fate/Zero).**

**Weapon: Moralltach (Big Fury) and Beagalltach (Little Fury) a longsword and a short sword that can transform into plasma rifles.**

**Semblance: Gale, weather manipulation.**

**Color: Gray**

**Naming: His first name has two possibly meanings; cloud and champion**

**Emblem: A gray cloud with two lightning bolts crossing forming an x.**

**Chicahua Valiente**

**Culture: Aztec Eagle Knight**

**Based on…Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of war and the sun.**

**Weapon: Sprekelia, A macauahuitl or saw-tooth sword that can act as whip sword and Xolotl, a "razor shield" that can be thrown or used like a buzz saw and project an energy shield.**

**Semblance: Brave Bird, Chicahua's able to absorb any nearby source of energy (light and heat specifically) and use it to energize his body giving him increased strength, speed, and durability.**

**Color: Red-orange**

**Naming: His first name is a Nahautl name meaning "strong" while his last name is Spanish for brave. **

**Grimm: **

**Gigadeath-Gigantic centipede-like Grimm with pincer blades capable of slicing through steel.**

**Qilin-Rhino Grimm named after the mythological Chinese beast.**

**Emblem: Orange Aztec style sun with a pair of eagle wings on both sides.**


	4. Chapter 4: A Day on the Job

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: A Day on the Job**

* * *

_Two and a half weeks after the last chapter…_

* * *

"So Rubes, any suggestions for vomit boy once he's out of the nurse's office?" Yang chuckled as team RWBY continued walking towards their rebuilt dorm. Leering her eyes at her sister she broke out in laughter again. "Maybe you two could go shopping, help get him out of all that bulky armor and-"

"Yang!" Ruby shouted burying her face in a pillow.

"In all fairness it was your fault for jumping after him." Weiss said not bothering to look Ruby in the eye. "Restraint, common sense, any of these things mean anything to you?"

"Weiss not you too! Blake, please you understand right!"

The dark haired girl shook her head disappointedly when her leader turned to her for help. "I'm sorry Ruby but they're right. If you hadn't jumped you wouldn't have seen Jaune…" She bristled at the thought. "Next time just leave me to do the acrobatics."

"It was an accident," Ruby cried cartoon tears falling from her eyes. "I was just trying to make sure he hadn't broken anything or gotten hurt! Besides he didn't mean to…to…" her face turned as bright red as her cloak.

"Flash you? I think if this was like, hundreds of years ago you two would be required to get married now." Yang snickered watching Ruby's face grow redder. "I bet you wish he had a little more muscle though, vomit boy could definitely use it."

Shrieking in embarrassment Ruby jetted her way through the cramped hallway leaving a trail of rose pelts in her wake. Poking their heads out many students questioned what had the scythe wielder so flustered she'd risk running down the still in-repair hallway at break neck speeds. Yang's laughter gave some an idea while making them almost pity the girl.

"Great, now we're going to have to spend weeks waiting for those to tow even talk to each other again." Weiss said already picturing the torture she'd be going through.

"Aw Weiss, it almost sounds like you want Ruby and Jaune talking to each other." Yang leered. "You're not afraid of losing vomit boy's affections?"

Twisting her face in protest and making gestures with her hands Weiss looked like she was close to breathing fire out of her mouth. "If it'll make Jaune stop chasing after me I'll pay for their wedding."

Upon opening the door the three girls each were met with a pillow to the face courtesy of one rosy-haired reaper. Yang laughed while Weiss just rolled her eyes and marched off to bed. Blake took a moment to admire the fact that they finally two real bunk beds.

"Bet you're real glad your bed isn't suspended in the air by ropes now huh?" Yang spoke putting her arm around her partner.

"Provided there's not another earthquake yeah," Blake smiled climbing up.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! _

"Who's knocking at this hour?" Weiss questioned.

"I'll get it!" Ruby called jumping from the bed. Truthfully she half-hoped it was some member of team JNPR to tell her Jaune was alright. Her face became a mask of confusion when she opened it, "Um, hi. Can I help you?"

All the girls poked their heads forward to see Izaak standing at the door, a shopping bag held in his left hand.

Scratching his head he shyly held up the bang. "Sorry to bother you guys but I wanted to give this to Yang as soon as I could. First part of my apology."

While her teammates stepped aside Yang took the bang and peeked inside. Inside were wash cloths, body lotion, hair spray, and shampoo."

"I seriously had no idea what to do so I just went for the basics." He wasn't sure what to expect but a bone crushing hug followed by a series thank yous wasn't what he was planning on. "A simple thanks would have been fine but, hey, whatever floats your boat."

"Okay Izaak you're halfway at my forgiveness." Yang said smiling.

Once she let go he wished the four girls goodnight then began heading down towards his team's room. Before entering he turned his head to the door adjacent of theirs noting how quiet it was.

"Must be totally drained." Izaak mused then turned the knob on the door.

"Leader-sama, have you made peace with Yang yet?" Olivia snickered. Like everyone else she was dressed in her sleep are, hers being a green nightgown. "I'm not going to have to go to her in the morning and explain things am I?"

"No but I think it'd be awesome if you woke up early and got your fearless leader an extra waffle or two." Izaak joked changing into his pajamas.

"Yeeeah, no. Remember we have the eight o'clock shift." Olivia chided.

Popping his head up from his pillow Neil gave him a dispassionate yet still focused stare. "First friend? Girlfriend?"

Groaning the young Viking puffed walked around the room turning off the remaining lights. "To answer your question Neil a friend. What about you and Weiss? From what I've seen she's been giving you the look ever since the breach." Crossing his arms he stared trimuptly at his partner. When he groaned and put his head back against his pillow Izaak made his way into the covers. It felt nice finally being able to sleep on a bed instead of a sleeping mat. Instead of blood or chemicals all he could smell were the various shampoos of his teammates or the occasional aroma that came through their vent.

* * *

By the time the alarm went off all four teenagers were already up and getting ready for the day. Very little was said between them as they dressed out and made their way down the hallway. Other students and teachers buzzed by while some repairmen continued working. The further they went the more crowded it became, they weren't the only ones who'd woken up early to another day of repair work. Using a Scroll they moved into a classroom that had been converted into something resembling a dispatch office.

Walking up to the desk Izaak spoke to the teacher heading out orders, "Team IONC reporting."

It took him a second to find their team name then he typed something the lab top by his side. A series of pings went off from each of their scrolls. "You guys are going to Industrial Sector. Guard the workers, help the medics where you can, and help get the power generators back on got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, dismissed."

They were almost out the door towards the airships when they heard a shrill voice cry, "Hold on a second!"

Turning around they saw a sandy-haired student running towards them holding a clip board with multiple sheets of paper. The kid had glasses over his light green eyes, was covered in dirt and sweat, and from the strong smell of fertilizer he'd probably just come back from the agricultural sector.

"I know you guys are new here but I wanted all of you to sign this." He wheezed holding up the clipboard.

Taking it Izaak quickly ran down the list, a puzzled expression consuming his face. "Uh, not to be rude, but are you sure the Headmaster's going to allow a student lounge?"

"What? The teachers get one, why don't students? Besides around here some of the professors complain about how we never make it back in time whenever we go into town."

"What kind of lounge are we talking about here?" Olivia asked raising an eyebrow at the student.

Seemingly flustered he took a few steps back. "Well we've put together some ideas, a few flat screens, an arcade or a game room."

"I'm in." Chicahua proclaimed grabbing the board and signing his name. Looking at Olivia he pushed it into her hands. "That was a dumb question. You know it's not going to be grand scale but it'll be ours."

"Let me know when you're taking suggestions." Olivia stated swiftly signing her name.

"If we're talking an arcade then sure, why not." Neil signed his name then passed it to Izaak.

Finishing the list Izaak noted there were at least five sheets of paper stacked together, all of them filled with various signatures. He wasn't exactly sure how many students there were but he was sure at least a quarter of them had signed the petition. "I'm kind of hoping this thing gets passed."

"Thanks guys and good luck with your shift!"

"Remind me though, were are the funds for building a student lounge going to come from?" Neil questioned.

"The government gave us one hell of a budget for repairs," Izaak answered reading through the information on his scroll. "Even if all the damage is repaired there'll probably still be some money left over. Use what's left over."

Stepping into the airship the team buckled down as it began to take off. Izaak and Olivia continued examining their scrolls while Chicahua laid his head against the wall and silently hummed to himself while Neil simply stared at the clouds.

For a time there was silence until they came over Vale City. The Breach was less than three weeks ago yet the damage was already looking like it was at least partially fixed. Fifty percent of the roads had been cleared enough for trucks and construction vehicles to move through, cranes and wrecking balls delivered the crouq de grace to any building that was just barely standing so it wouldn't be a problem in the future. Even miles in the air the melody of jackhammers, explosions, and concrete cracking under massive pressure. A handful of smoke columns bubbled up from the ground, softly dancing in the morning wind.

Mining equipment such as tank-sized drills and heavy lifters had been brought in, no doubt on council request. Workers dressed in gray and blue overalls overran the streets rather than innocent people preparing to start their day. The air once a cacophony of voices was now a blurred whirlpool of breaking, metallic screeching, and human barking.

"On the bright-side the city may be able to expand when all this of over. Real-estate' probably going to go through the roof." Izaak mused. "Remodeling and all that."

"More like it's probably already happening, in some office miles away from this place." His green haired teammate spoke up crossing her legs. "At this rate it'll take about eight months for the city to be back where it originally was. By that time odds are a quarter or so of the businesses will either close or move elsewhere since there's not going to be much to salvage. Those places that can afford it are probably going to go out and buy insurance." She grinned somewhat sheepishly as a rather odd image crossed into her mind. "Said insurance companies earning more in a few weeks than ever."

"Thanks for ruining Izaak's little declaration of hope Liv." Neil muttered still not taking his eyes off the clouds.

Shrugging off his partner's prediction Chicahua hung his head somewhat sadden at the reconstruction effort. "The Headmaster goes through all that trouble to get us a transfer and this happens."

"Let's just make the time we have at Beacon worth it." Izaak stated.

"We're right above the drop site, prepare to disembark."

The four teens gathered their items and began to prepare as the airship began to descend lower and lower towards the ground. In his head Izaak kept repeating one simple phrase, _"Easy and simple job. Easy and simple." _

Work on the city generator had already begun in earnest by the time Team IONC made their way to it. APCs that had been converted into ambulances sped past others carrying tools and pieces of machinery. Not surprisingly some of the workers were walking around in hazmat suits. Various cables the size of fire hydrants ran from one building into another then into the backs of some of the parked APCs.

"Chicahua, heavy lifting." Izaak ordered walking towards one of the trunks to get a hazmat suit. "Neil make power, Olivia head over to the controls, help get some of the control systems back online."

Giving him a mock salute the Eagle Knight spread his wings and took off. Neil and Olivia nodded then took off

Izaak wasn't deaf or blind to the looks the workers were giving his teammate. Several of them stopped working, much to the chargin of their boss or overseer.

"T-T-That was a-a…a…"

"My teammate." The bronze haired teenager grounded out with harden eyes. He didn't care if these men were twice his age, better skilled, or could crush his head like a grape. If he had to defend his teammate than he would do so. "He' going to be the aerial support, handling whatever the airships can't."

In exchange he got several nasty looks from the workers. He didn't blame them. Even if he was a Beacon student he was still just a seventeen year-old kid that was going to be giving some of them orders for the next five hours. The looks he could stand, them looking up every five seconds fearing something clawing their face off, he couldn't. He needed them to be focused on their job. Once he was fully dressed in his hazmat suit he made his way over the hole that'd been dug out at the base of the central power plant.

"You're the engineer they sent over?" One of the lead workers asked.

"Yeah. I'm here to fix the pipelines and get the cool down system back online."

"Good then follow these guys. If anything serious happens let us know."

Manual labor wasn't alien to Izaak. Working with at least fifteen other broly guys twice his age though did make him feel a little nervous. Wielding torch and tool box in hand he made his way along with the group to what he assumed to be an energy reactor half the size of a sporting dome.

Silence as usual was the norm as the men worked though chatter seemed to rise and fall like the tides on a beach. Most of it seemed to be centered on Chicahua. Keeping his mind on the pipeline in front of him Izaak briefly wondered what life was like for Faunus in Vale. He hadn't seen enough but he assumed it had to be better compared to some of what he'd seen in Mistral. Or at least he hoped so.

* * *

"Well this sucks ass!" Russel moaned struggling to push the crate filled with debris forward. "I signed up to fight Grimm not do construction!"

'Shut up and keep pushing Russel." Cardin barked helping him push the cart into the airship now filled to maximum capacity with rubble. "It's in the job description. Besides would you rather be doing this or trying to avoid getting killed?"

"Or dancing with a girl." Sky cracked dragging and elderly man by the shoulders into an ambulance.

Almost everyone around them, including some of the injured burst into laughter while Russel foamed in anger. Taking some space he started kicking the rubble shouting about how it wasn't his fault he never learned how to dance.

Once he'd finished watching his partner blow off some steam Cardin returned to his job of picking up and carrying whoever was unable to walk. Children, elderly, and those that were just unable to move on their own.

Rescue duty, it was an odd thing, something Cardin would have never thought his team would end up.

He was glade they hadn't been assigned the high end district, he couldn't stand the rich snobs that lived there even if by certain standards he was one. If anything he'd probably lose his temper and accidentally bring some mansion crashing down and get an ear full from the owner or one of his superiors. That was the last thing he wanted.

The Residential District had been reduced to, for lack of a better description, a field of crumbled stone and wood. Even a week after the damage hadn't done much to reduce the destruction.

More times than they'd care to admit team CRDL had dug through the remains only to find they had come too late. It wasn't a pretty sight, it was worse if there was a friend of relative with them, then it fell to whoever was closest to keep them from breaking down completely and moving them away.

Within the first five minutes Cardin had grown tired of stepping on the remains of some child's toy or article of clothing. His teammates voiced similar complaints as they rummaged through the remains of apartments and houses calling for survivors.

None of the four boys had ever seen a person so disheveled or with eyes so starved for hope they seemed endless.

The looks made Cardin feel uncomfortable. He didn't know why but the way they looked at him with such admiration made his stomach crawl in ways he didn't feel like describing. Watching a few families reunite almost made him want to throw himself back into the search effort.

His behavior didn't go unnoticed by his teammates. Each of them had pulled him over twice to reassure him. Normally he would have told them to butt out but deep down he was happy they noticed his distress and acted on it.

"Never thought we would have ended up playing rescue." Dove muttered watching an airlift. "Granted here's better than the hospital." He shivered. "Must be a nightmare over there."

"What? You mean the hundreds if not thousands of patients pouring in by the minute, the countless people screaming in pain about missing an arm or something?" Sky sneered. "Dude at least we're making sure these people make to the damn hospital."

"True," Russel agreed. Like his teammates almost every inch of his body was covered in dust or shavings. "Besides," At first his smile started out small then grew as he looked back and forth at his teammates. "It felt kind of nice to, you know, have people thanking us instead of…"

An invisible cloud descended over the bird-themed team, each of their faces fell or wondered off to the side with a regretful expression.

"Had to bring it up Russel." Dove grumbled.

"It's not like we're going to be remembered for being the greatest heroes Beacon has ever spit out." Sky countered watching the on-site medics get to work. "Oh and in case you forgot, at least seventy percent of the school still hates our guts."

"Not to mention the entire Faunus population." Russel added.

Starting low a scowl worked burned through Cardin's withdrawn expression. Some took a glance at the orange haired leader and wisely backed off but his teammates were used to it. It wasn't the image of studying next a Faunus that made him angry, it was the thought of being called out by those who were just as racist as he was. A few choice words played in his head with all the flashbacks started rolling in his head.

"_Yeah sure, call me out when everyone's watching you. Then once we're away from everyone you're just as bad, if not, worse than me." _He worked to keep his expression neutral when they got back to work. In his team's defense ever since Forever Falls they hadn't bullied one student, human or Faunus. A few of the professors had pointed it out to him though Cardin always shrugged it off.

Maybe it was their latent sense of morality kicking in or in Cardin's case, it was puzzlement. _"Why did he save me?" _

That blond haired dunce Jaune Arc, had saved his life. In the nights since Cardin thanked God and Oum no one had spoken of the incident nor had it reached ears outside of Beacon. From time to time the number of alternate endings to the whole event had kept him up at night. Those times he did go to sleep those endings became nightmares he woke up from in a cold sweat or in a sour mood.

As Sky called it, he woke up as "Pissy-Winchester". He'd thrown a pillow at his head when he coined the nick name.

"_Of all the people in the freakin' world it had to be an Arc." _

Since the time of the incident Cardin had gone over every conceivable reason Jaune would have to save him. None of them made any sense. Of course he'd never confronted Jaune since said incident.

Nearly all his responses were automatous, a little gesture or a few words before hustling people on their way. Anything to keep them from looking at him with those eyes filled with admiration.

_Being a hunter means more than just fighting mister Winchester, it means standing up for those who are unable to stand on their own. Even your family holds onto that principle. _

"I swear if what Headmaster Ozpin said comes back to bite me I'll…" The mace-wielder let the thought trail off. He hated clichés. "Are we all done here?"

"Yep." The aid worker replied. "All the injured have been successfully-"

"Help!"

Hearing the child's voice Cardin spun around to see a boy no older than ten or nine practically latching himself onto his legs. Now that he was closer he could see a pair of deer-like antlers sticking out of his light brown hair.

For most people that knew Cardin Winchester they would say the child was about to have their hopes painfully crushed. That didn't happen. He simply remained frozen to the spot with the boy's teary eyes shooting holes through his skull.

"Please! My mommy! She's trapped in our house and no one's strong enough to get her out! Please!"

Tearing his eyes away from the child he glared at the aid worker. Clearly he'd been keeping certain pieces of information from him. Not just him but several other workers grew uncomfortable along with some civilians. Even though he didn't want to he looked back at the young boy staining his already dirty pant legs with his tears.

Cardin hated looking into those teary eyes so much he'd thought he was going to break something.

"Dove, Sky go with them then come back to help me and Russel." As gently as he could he pushed the Faunus child off his left then kneeled down so they were eye-level. "Take me to where your parents are and I'll see what I can do."

The halberd wielder and swordsman promised they'd be right back as the airship took off. Grabbing Cardin's hand the child started leading them further and further down towards the small river that cut through Vale City. Russel kept pace not saying a word about the situation.

The closer they got and the more run down things became he began to piece together where they were. Kicking himself for being so stupid he grunted, Russel had probably figured it out before him.

The Kettle. Animal Square. The Flee Factory.

It went by many names but the bottom line was a sizable patch of the city that had been unofficially given to the Faunus population. Of course it was arguably one of the most run-down parts of the city, or at least it used to be. Word was in the past six years the locals had done their best to turn it into something more than just ghetto.

Walking down the street the two boys saw whatever work had been had gone to waste as everything was in ruins. No sign of support or attempted reconstruction. Barely a handful of buildings stood above three floors while the rest were nothing but piles of brick and steel. In truth that's pretty much all Cardin and Russel could see stretching even over the other side of the river.

Neither was really surprised the area hadn't received immediate care. It was very likely the Faunus populated area was next to bottom on the list, if it was even on the list at all.

Something ugly and sour began to rise in Cardin's chest with every step he took down the street. He'd never set one solid foot in the Kettle. Sure he'd stood on the outskirts once or twice but that was the end of it. He knew people threw rocks, bottles, junk, and all around avoided the area, but he never thought it would be flat out abandoned.

"_So much for helping all those in desperate need." _

"Right over there!" The boy spoke coming up to a mound of bricks that the boys assumed used to be a house. "She's trapped under there and no one can get her out! You guys are Hunters right? You can save her can't you?"

It wasn't just the little boy staring at them, it was a collection of elderly and young that had probably all tried their best to lift the stone slab before them. Taking a few steps closer they saw the boy's mother, her antlers noticeable broken and her face twisted in pain.

Over half her body was covered in debris sitting on top what was probably a wall. Looking at it the two were silently amazed the woman had the strength to endure through all that pain yet at the same time angered no one had come to help her.

Grunting Cardin turned to Russel. "I'll lift you drag her."

Nodding his head Russel got into position taking the woman's arms. Her skin was deathly pale but still warm enough for Russel not to start freaking out. "Just hang on kid we're going to have your mom out in a second." He told the boy who was staring at him.

The proud strength the Winchester carried in his muscles didn't fail him when he lifted. Granted it took a little more effort than he originally thought he could feel the slab moving and hear the junk sliding off. "Russel get her out!"

Russel was as gentle as possible dragging the deer Faunus aside. By the look of her legs he knew she wasn't going to be walking for probably a few months. Once she was safely away Cardin pushed with his full strength turning the slab on its side.

"Please go help the others." The woman managed to cough as Russel cradled her.

"What others?" The big boy questioned. Seeing the looks of the bystanders told Cardin his answer. "Wonderful."

By the time Cardin and Russel had finished a crowd of nearly thirty Faunus had gathered around them, thanking them. Russel took it all in stride, shaking clasped hands and returning their smiles. Cardin merely stood like a statue in the center of it.

What had he just done?

"_It's not like I did anything wrong. I was just doing my job." _A voice told Cardin. Strangely he didn't feel anything resembling malice towards these people. What was there to hate? Instead all he had for them was pity at how they'd just lost everything and seemingly no one had cared.

The boy from earlier had returned to hugging his leg. "Um, yeah, you're all…welcome." He managed to say. _"Do any of them know I'm a Winchester?" _ The old men and women probably knew as they were looking at him with something almost resembling approval besides sheer thanks. _"Did no one really care if these people lived or died in here? If this kid had become an orphan?" _That thought made Cardin bristle with a slight rage before he stopped himself.

In the skies an airship was fast approaching with Sky and Dove hanging out of the side.

Watching the medics get to work Cardin realized they were going to need more help. He'd have to make a call.

"_Am I really no different from those guys?" _Images of the aid workers came to mind. Seeing the situation made him angry that they would leave these people to whatever fate had planned for them rather than doing their job. _"Part of the job huh? This is what Hunters do right Headmaster?"_

* * *

There were certain things Jaune thought he'd never see when he arrived at Beacon. He could go down a whole list of things but out of all of them the CCT in repair was not one of them. He certainly didn't expect to be one of the ones repairing it.

Like everything standing in the shadow of the Continental Cross Transmit made Jaune feel small, incredibly small. Standing amongst the workers doing their best made him feel like a grain of sand in a desert. He supposed in a way that's what he was. He was gratefully for that.

Given its importance the CCT had been built to withstand a fair amount of damage, tornadoes and maybe missiles barred from the list of course. According to records the designers took an earthquake in mind and made the building quake-proof with extra reinforced steel beams anchored it almost twenty feet into the earth. Whatever scale the previous quake was hadn't been enough to bring it crashing down much to relief of the entire academy and the government. Problem was a large amount of the interior and exterior had decided to go solo from the main structure.

"We're going to be at this for months." Jaune moaned struggling to pull aside a slab of steel out of a crater. Pushing it into the waiting truck left his arms feeling like they'd been injected with cement.

Of course his words went totally unnoticed in the bee hive of work his team had found themselves in. The minute they stepped off the ship each of them were assigned and place and sent to work. Nora handled the entire thing with no problem, easily lifting chunks of glass or blasting off any pieces waiting to fall. Pyrrha was in the hair, on a scaffolding, using her Semblance. It didn't take much to realize their partners were the ones who were really needed despite what others had said to the contrary.

Jaune and Ren were stuck on the ground, rolling stone, steel, glass, and whatever had had fallen into carts headed for who knows where. Inside they were ordered to tear out what couldn't be fixed and throw it with the rest of the debris.

"_Garbage men," _Jaune realized miserably. _"Can this day get any worse?" _First he goes to bed and the entire thing falls through the floor, _tearing half his pajamas off_. Then Ruby saw him. Momentarily pausing he shuddered at the memory.

"_Jaune! Jaune!" Ruby's panicked voice shook him from his day dream of pain. "Oh my God Jaune are you alright!?" _

_The blond was still too dazed to see her clearly or even register how far he'd fallen through the floor. For the moment all he saw was a black blur scrambling down the hole towards him. He wanted to tell her he was fine and that she shouldn't be doing something so dangerous but his head was ringing like a bell. _

_It continued ringing when the leader of team RWBY stopped dead in her tracks, her face quickly turning cherry. Twisting form concern to embarrassed horror she hung a good four feet above him. _

_Wondering what the problem was he looked at himself expecting to see some wooden stake sticking through his abdomen. There was no such thing save for about ten cuts and bruises on his bare body. _

_Wait a second, bare body? _

_With his vision clearing Jaune realized just how cold his body was. It was because he was barely wearing a thing. Glancing up he saw his pajamas were hanging on a broken splinter in tethers. If his pajamas were up there than what was he… _

_Mimicking Ruby's shriek the blonde's arms shot out to cover himself. Damn the pain! Damn the bruises! He was in nothing but his underwear in front of Ruby Rose! _

"_Holy shit!" _

"_Damn!" _

"_My bed!" _

_His bed? Forget the bed I just lost my dignity! Jaune screamed in his head. _

"How am I ever going to face her again after that?" Jaune comically cried hanging his head against a pillar.

Ren's brow was almost totally covered in sweat. He'd come to love Jaune like a brother but he wasn't going to let his leader continue to moop around the rest of the morning with over a thousand tons of steel that could come down on top of them. "You could, maybe talk to her. After all, you got to talk to her about almost everything when none of us aren't options. Anyway I think you'd be more happy that you survived our bed _falling through the floor_ and you surviving it without any major injuries."

"It's not that easy Ren!" He cried completely ignoring everything he'd said beyond talking to her. "I freakin flashed her! Flashed her! It's a miracle Yang hasn't broken every bone in my body on top of lighting me on fire!" The thought of facing Ruby's blonde haired older sister terrified Jaune as much as it did facing her directly. For all he knew Yang was just waiting for the right moment to let him have it.

Ren wasn't stopped pushing and leaned on the cart. "She had several chances when you were in the nurse's office."

Screwing up his face Jaune got back to work with anime tears still raining from his eyes. Sighing Ren began pushing as well. "You know I'm sure Ruby's more worried about if you're hurt or not than flashing her. She asked us if you were alright the first minute she saw us."

Thankfully that seemed to be enough to snap Jaune out of his runt enough for them to get back to focusing on work. After emptying their bins carts they advanced into some of the lower levels of the CCT terminal, noting how a majority of it had been caved in. Around them magnets the size of shopping carts were being used to carefully remove most of the debris.

"How come they haven't been using those things around town?' Jaune asked. "If we had those clean up would be going a whole lot faster."

"Word is those things are still experimental," Ren answered somewhat sharing his marvel and hidden resentment. "At best those things are fresh out of the factory and with a limited number in stock they're not going to risk losing them helping the city."

Hoping it wasn't showing Jaune felt a ping of anger rise up. Watching the machines work he knew there had to be more, they were simply being hidden away. The fact that they were being used to repair the CCT instead of being used to help any injured people irked him deeply. Beyond that, the fact his team was stuck trying to get the place up and running instead of doing rescue work had somewhat been weighing on him since they left Beacon. Sure getting the Cross Continental Transmission was important to the state of the city and even nation but Jaune didn't see it as important as saving those that could be dying. He told no one of these thoughts though he suspected his team had an inkling of what he was thinking.

To pass time the two boys joked how they were at least getting a decent work out from their jobs. One thing that had made Jaune and Ren bond quickly was among their many similarities, both didn't radiate pure "manliness" as some would say. They were both average height for their ages but had very little muscle. Ren was perfectly fine with it ninety-nine percent of the time, Jaune wasn't. Naturally he'd tried going to the weight room a number of times, instead he often ended up…sidetracked. In a way it almost seemed some kind of cosmic justice now he was forced to do that weight lifting in a screwed up manner.

"_My ancestors get to go off on dangerous quests, fight in big battles and make themselves famous but I'm stuck here doing grunt work. How am I related to any of those people again?" _Jaune mentally whimpered pushing forward. Truthfully he'd expected to be in a blow for blow training arena with students and professors alike marveling at his (nonsexist) level of skill. _"Did the universe just decided to blindside us for the fun of it?" _

_Grrrrrinnnnch…. _

"What the hell?"

Simultaneously the entire room stopped to stare at the epicenter of the noise; a caved in hallway from which a vast amount of water was leaking out. At least two inches of water had now poured through the wall striking many of the workers as odd.

"It there a pipe behind there?" Ren asked getting a bad feeling in his gut.

"Ya' know there is," one of the workers stated moving forward. "I don't think the damage should be this ba-"

_CRUNCH! _

In a span of thirty seconds Jaune's heart screamed then bolted to his legs, making him move without even realizing it. He'd just watch a man get _eaten _in front of him!

Knocking Ren to the ground he felt a swoosh of air pass over his head followed by a white and black blur making a dent in the wall.

"Lockjaw!" Someone screamed.

Grabbing his teammate the blonde started running down the hallway alongside the rest of the workers, pushing and shoving them aside. A across between a hiss and primal roar gave him the strength to push through the crowd, dragging a bewildered Ren with him.

Behind them the newly emerged Grimm continued wrecking everything in its path, using its five-foot jaws to kill whoever wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Terrified screams blocked out all other sound erupting from the hallway save for Ren's Storm Flower. Jaune knew the heroic thing to do would be to stand his ground and fight, but while the wannabe hero shouted for him to do this the wiser, more rational side of his brain told him doing so would only end in his own, and likely Ren's, death. If they were going to kill the crocodilian Grimm they were going to need open air.

And Nora's Magnhild.

"How did that thing get in here!?" Someone shouted running for his life alongside the boys.

"Who cares! Just run for the exit!"

From the chorus behind them the Lockjaw was growing more irate having to tear through tons of steel, ruined terminals, and annoying humans too foolish to realize all they were doing was punching out their life tickets.

Jaune tried to block out the screaming. _"Get it into the open! Just get it into the open!" _he prayed the lord above wouldn't view his retreat as cowardly.

Turning to the lobby he saw apparently word had already gotten out about the Grimm infestation as several soldiers were lining up with their guns aimed right at their direction. "Get out of the way!"

Jaune and Ren threw themselves to the side, moments late the head of the Lockjaw poked itself out of the shadows. Blood was shimmered all over its jaws. Volleys of bullets and lasers pelted its hide doing nothing but angering it. The beast lunged forward, snapping and thrashing with the upper portion of its body.

Still by the side Ren and Jaune tried to make their way towards the door while watching the futile attempt to repel the beast. Ren couldn't get a clear shot at the Grimm's eyes and Jaune doubted he'd be able to do.

"Break feast time!"

The grenade nearly missed the Lockjaw's snout but still left a good sized burn on its boney plate.

Brushing aside Nora marched into the control room wearing her usual grin. "There's room for seconds and thirds right?" she asked taking aim.

Now that the terror had ceased Jaune could see the Lockjaw was freakin _huge._ Only about thirty-percent of its body was visible from the hallway. On its boney masks, forearms, and upper armor there were feint scars. That meant this Grimm was old. Old enough to know when to cut its losses.

After giving a mean-spirited roar it spun around, faster than its size and the space provided what have allowed and high-tailed back down towards the hallways.

Three squads of soldiers including Nora followed the Grimm down the now destroyed hallway, weapons blazing every step of the way. From the front more workers rushed in and began tending to the wounded, many calling for a medic. Pyrrha bursts forward scanning the area for her teammates.

"Damn it I should have gotten here faster! Are you guys okay? Any broken bones or wounds?" Pyrrha asked examining the two of them much like a mother would expect a child after seeing them fall from a swing.

Ren just shook his head, stood up and ran after Nora. Jaune remained where he was sitting on the floor looking like an idiot. "No, we're fine. Just give me a minute to catch my breath." _"Reclaim some more lost dignity."_

* * *

Like all things Ruby learned seeing something with your own eyes was incredibly different from seeing it in a book or watching it on the TV. She always used Beacon as her prime example. She thought she was ready for it in some small corner of her mind. She wasn't.

She'd seen news footage of post-disaster zones, of rows of emergency medical beds set up. In the past it was always felt somewhat distant to her. It was a sad scene but she couldn't connect with it since she wasn't there in person.

The view of the hospital from the inside of the Bullhead brought the feeling she was lacking home. They must have been some thirty feet in the air and even from there they could see the _miles _of make-shift beds stretching for as long as the eye could see. From the air it was without a doubt a fact true everything within six blocks of the hospital had been converted into a medical center.

There was something oddly awe-inspiring and despair inducing about the whole scene. Every bed was being attended by at least one person; that was the awe. The despair was…well it doesn't really need explaining.

The smell bombarded her nostrils as heavily as the scenery assaulted her brain. Just the overwhelming amount of blood nearly made her freeze when the aircraft began landing. It was thick; it felt like all she had to do was reach out and touch it. It was…metallic, dingy.

"Ruby?" The scythe wielder was faintly aware of her partner calling her name but the scene before her seemed to hold more attention. "Ruby, come on. We said we'd help move these people."

Turning away from the scene didn't make it leave Ruby's mind, especially since she was going to be adding to the pile. Stepping onto one end of a gurney she had to keep telling herself to just keep moving.

In the medical field she felt a strange sensation come over her. Seeing all the dead being wrapped up and cared out sent chills down her spine and seeing the wounded either moaning in pain or screaming made her nerves more jittery than ever. Doctors zoomed past her carrying trays, blankets, syringes, and even organs.

Ruby felt like she was going to hurl.

"Okay good, good, set 'em down right here. And stay with him!" The medic who'd been escorting them ordered before running off.

As gentle as possibly they set the stretcher down and placed the man onto the makeshift bed. He groaned out a thank you then closed his eyes. Looking up from him Ruby and Weiss felt somewhat out of place in the field. Their other two teammates, Blake and Yang, were the opposite. They almost seemed natural, kneeling down, whispering words of encouragement, and even helping when one of the doctors asked for assistance.

"You guys might want to put these on." A masculine voice drew the girls' attention to the right. "If you don't want to join the rest of these people take some gloves too."

Quietly they accepted the gloves and surgical mask from the doctor. Despite the age gape both girls had to admit he was handsome, early to mid-twenties, dark green hair and caramel eyes. Sympathy and pain swam in those orbs as he peered back and forth between Ruby and Weiss.

"What happened?" Ruby asked feeling someone confused. She could understand not wanting to catch anything but now that she looked around she noticed over half of the doctors were wearing masks and glove, even those that were only stitching up wounds.

Running a hand through his hair the man looked out towards his colleges. "We've been having a lot of sick, almost just as many wounded. Some of them minor, way too many serious. The worst part is the hospital took a ton of damage so we're stuck out here where God knows what is passing into wounds and what not."

"But that's crazy!" Ruby shouted. "The hospital should be one of the first things getting attention but it you guys are overwhelmed, understaffed and-"

"Most of the manpower is going towards rebuilding the CCT." Weiss cut in having figured things out. "You guys are second on the list, some of these people are second on the list."

"That's what it seems to look like Miss Weiss. Half of the hospital collapsed and even if it didn't we don't have enough doctors to treat almost the entire city." He shot a glance at the fleet of bullheads approaching overhead. "Or those that keep coming in. We're happy for all the volunteers but it's not enough. What's the situation like in the city?"

Silver and light blue met in a sorrow stricken journey. Team RWBY had just come back from rescuing civilians in the Agricultural district. Weiss had known from the miles of upturned earth that things were going to be a lot worse in the next few months while Ruby came to the same conclusion. On the way they'd passed the eastern portion of Vale City.

"We're doing our best." Weiss spoke again answering before Ruby could.

Getting the sense Weiss was trying to cover for her she made a mental note to thank her later. Doing their best was all they could do. Not for the first time did Ruby wish she had a weapon or Semblance that could be used to help clean up the city. Maybe the power to manipulate trash, create golems out of rock, or telekinesis, or any other power that might have been used to alter the landscape.

"Verde! We need your help over here!"

Shaking his head the man known as Verde waved them goodbye. "Take care of yourselves out there!"

"I'll say this about that guy, he sure knows how to keep a straight face. Ruby come-on, let's go grab…"

In some ways Weiss wasn't surprised to find Ruby kneeling by one of the patients, following a doctor's instructs word for word. Both her hands were placed on a wounded person's gut, a white pad in hand while a doctor readies a pair of cutters. Not having the stomach for it Weiss looked away and somehow she could sense Ruby wanted to do the same but forced herself to keep eyes on the patient lest something go wrong.

About three minutes passed before the doctor told Ruby she'd done a good job and could let go. She was trembling naturally, a new, bewildered expression on her face. This was the first time she'd ever had human blood on her hands, _real_ human blood. Someone else's blood. It was…sticky, wet, and felted warm.

Nodding her thanks she stood up out for the way for the next patient to come through. Surprisingly she felt a pair of arms steady her before guiding her away from the scene.

"Look Ruby, I know how much you want to help these people but other people need you. The people out there," She turned her head to the row of buildings that lay just beyond the landscape. "And us too."

Hearing Weiss say those words brought back Ruby's usual smile moments before she embraced her partner in a hug. Despite the groan she knew Weiss was smiling. After catching up with Yang and Blake and disposing of their gloves and masks they made their way back to the Bullhead.

This probably was the first time Ruby had ever been presented with a scene of pure misery and despair. Even as they flew away the scene continued to persist in her mind. Somehow she knew she'd likely see it again one day.

* * *

**You know it's almost laughable, Last week I finish a vast majority of my end of the year testing and the following weekend I get sick! Ha! This chapter would have came out sooner but hey, what are you going to do? Anyways while this one may seem a little unimportant its going to become important later on, trust me.**


	5. Chapter 5: Beware the Night

**For all those who have favorited and chosen to follow this story I'd like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. In this chapter we'll see some plot development and foreshadowing (pay attention to who shows up). **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Beware the Night**

* * *

From the skies the city was a sea of traffic lights. That operated the same way, red meaning severe, yellow having military and emergency work and green of course meaning it was like the earthquake never happened (minor a few hiccups). A mass of red and yellow intermingled around the industrial and upper class district. The colors snaked their way up and down the coast line before burrowing deeper into the city where the red began to fade and the yellow grew thicker. Going towards east and southeast green seemed to overtake yellow providing the sense that the day hadn't been an entire waste of time and effort.

Bit by bit yellow and green were steadily overtaking the red. It still held dominion over a good chunk of Vale City but there was hope; at least if everyone continued with the current work ethic.

Slumping against the hull of the Bullhead Izaak let his shoulders relax. Beside him Neil had dozed off while Olivia and Chicahua were speaking to each other in hushed voices like they always did whenever they were having a private conversation. He could have heard them if he focused his hearing but he had no desire to hear what they were saying. He just wanted time to relax from a hard day's work like Neil.

Like his hands his face was smeared in grease and dust despite having his head protected at nearly all times during his repair work. Both his hands had deep lines running over his red skin from gripping and pulling at things all day through protective gloves. The numbness had long since faded from them almost ten minutes after he was released from his shift. The same went for his legs. He didn't need any of the pilots or his teammates telling him he stuck, obviously they all did but somehow he seemed to attract more filth than any of his comrades.

"Maybe I should have bought some shampoo for myself." He measly joked preparing to nod off like his partner.

His eyelids had barely closed when a frantic transmission came over the radio. "Hello!? This is Team SPRL requesting back up at Temptations Plaza! I repeat this is t-team SPRL requesting back-up at-shit! Every one down!"

The transmission cut off leaving the now fully awake teenagers staring at each other. The choice had been made and unanimously agreed on.

Leaning forward he knocked against the hull to catch the pilots attach. "Hey guys."

"We already now kid. We'll be there in about five minutes."

"Thanks."

From the air the four could see the shopping mall had withstand most the damage, one half had collapsed while the other was still standing. Its large rectangular shape stood out amongst the other buildings via the succession of lights still flickering along the rooftops, signs, and the explosions lighting up the front parking light.

"Mechs," Chicahua reported peering downward with a sour expression. "Where in the hell did this looting bastards get a hold of at least six mechs?"

"Doesn't really matter where they came from, what matters is dismantling them." Neil said internally debating to use his Semblance or not.

With a sudden jerk the aircraft veered to the left, a missile just barely missing them before exploding. Following it came a stream of artillery shells and machine gun fire that made the ship's occupants collectively curse.

"Anti-air weapons. Just what we needed to finish the night." Neil groaned.

The shots continued coming until they were out of reach and close enough to the ground for the teenagers to jump down. Over their heads bullets and rockets sailed over their heads leaving craters and holes in the ground. Soon enough they saw a barricade had been set up with Teams RWBY, JNPR, and the police pinned behind the protective make shift walls. Crawling their way upward they pecked through the eye-holes to find the rest of the parking lot had become no man's land.

"Let me guess, hostage situation?" In response he got several nods. "How many and where's team SPRL?"

Ren ducked back under the barricade after firing off a few rounds into the darkness. "They're inside with about twenty-six other hostages. They've got snipers on the roof and they're carrying too much firepower for us to charge in." he paused to peek at the rooftops to find the snipers still had their sights trained on them. "Plus they've stated if we come in they'll start killing all the hostages."

Olivia snorted, "I'll say these guys certainly managed to keep themselves organized during this little tragedy. Are they from some local gang or something?"

"Hell if we know." One of the officers answered back reloading his gunblade. "Whoever they are they're skilled, that's all we know. And smart too, they've got half a dozen high-profile hostages in there."

"Such as?" Chicahua questioned eying the snipers.

"A our captain, load of doctors, head of the Vale City Central Hospital, the mayor's daughter, a whole slew of rich bastards, a couple of you Beacon students, Cheryl Auriga-"

"What!?" Weiss spoke up suddenly cutting off the officer. Everyone's eyes turned to the white haired heiress to find she had a true look of concern and shock on her face.

Taking Weiss's reaction with his own common knowledge Izaak spoke his next question in a slow, almost bored tone. "As in heiress to Auriga Shipping and Transport?" he asked receiving many nods in return. "…Awesome." He shook his head and clenching his axe. _I ask for a simple day and this is what I get. _

Concentrated bursts of automatic fire boomed from the far left then continued over until hitting the barricade. Several of the officers broke out to return fire with the attackers, screaming profanities at them.

Besides the three teams a certain blond haired Faunus scrambled to their side, breathing hard. "Neptune's in there too."

"Sun?" Team IONC collectively questioned.

Taking note of the four other teenagers Sun was able to crack a small smile. "Oh, hey guys. I heard you transferred from Haven but uhh, you don't mind helping an old friend out do ya?

The thirteen teenagers glared at the shopping mall turned warzone, each thinking of a way to get inside without getting themselves or those inside killed.

Clapping his hands together Jaune brought everyone's attention towards him. In a somewhat shaky yet cool voice he began carving an image of the area using a shard of pavement. "If we can't got for a frontal assault what about having someone sneak in. The tunnels underneath the mall are still intact so if someone were to go through them and find a way inside they could take out all the hostages then report back to us it's safe for an all-out charge."

Chicahua whistled at the plan then flashed Jaune a grin. "Sound plan."

"Agreed." Olivia said loading Bishamon. "I think we all know whose going to have to do the sneaking and crawling through sewers though."

Blake nodded but before she could move Sun grabbed her arm. "Things will be _safer_ and faster if I go with her."

"Great, the more the merrier, just hurry up and do it!" One of the officers yelled.

"There should be a sewer a little ways up, we'll stay here and buy you guys some time." Pyrrha stated moments before joining the other officers in the shoot-out.

As they were leaving Blake caught Yang flashing her something of a toothy grin while pointing at Sun. Shaking her head she double checked to make sure both she and Sun had their Scrolls on them. She had the feeling it was going to be an interesting night to say the least.

* * *

"So tell me," Blake questioned running through the sewers side by side with Sun. "Did you agree to come with me so you could flirt or because you really wanted to help."

Leaping over the rubble Sun didn't miss a bit. "Both! My partner's in there and there's no way I'm letting you walk in there with no one watching your back. Besides it'll be better with the two of us working together!"

"Do me a favor and try not to piss any of these guys off okay?"

"Me? People love my charm." He chuckled.

Despite the severity of the situation Blake couldn't help but smile nor could she hide it from Sun. _Yeah, hopefully we'll be able to have this whole mess wrapped up by midnight._

* * *

Between the armed thugs holding him hostage and the police chief bleeding out in front of him Neptune didn't know if the night could get worse.

"We're going to need more bandages." Cheryl spoke up, her brow arched in worry and frustration. "I'll go up this time."

Neptune shook his head. "Not happening. I'll go."

It probably annoyed the men how whenever Neptune walked up to them he wasn't afraid of them, even when they pointed their rifles at him. They wanted him to fear them just like everyone else they held captive did. Once or twice he'd pretend to be scared, make it look like he couldn't take them. That made getting supplies just the tiniest bit easier

"We need some more blankets." He said trying to keep his voice as controlled as possible. "If we don't get any the captain's going to bleed out. Some anti-biotic would be nice too."

The three men regarded Neptune with arrogant expressions. "We'll talk with the boss about it." One of them said. "Now get back in line and try to keep the old man quiet."

Marching back to the group of twelve scared people empty handed wasn't how Neptune wanted to look in front of Cheryl.

Looking up at him she could see the disappointment in his eyes meaning he'd failed. Huffing her cheeks she ushered him over. "No go huh?"

"Nope." Neptune was hard pressed to admit failing Cheryl made him just as sad as it did for the police captain. The truth was he found her to be quit the beautiful woman even if she was at least six years his senior. Her hair was a yellowish orange tied in a ponytail yet strands still fell over her chestnut colored eyes. Besides the sweat and blood there wasn't a flaw on her olive toned skin.

Like him she had been stripped down to nothing but an undershirt, shoes, and pants, all of which contained at least one stain of blood or tears.

Placing both her hands over captain Engberg's chest she regarded Neptune. "I'll true pumping some more of my Aura to help him heal. Go check on everyone else."

That was another trait Neptune had come to admire about her in the short five hours they'd gotten to know each other. She didn't lose her head even when she was forced to stare down the barrel of a gun or forced into performing emergency first aid.

Of all the twelve hostages they'd been couped up with he was happy none of them were children, mostly middle-aged people whose names carried some weight. All of them had been brutalized in some way but nothing serious.

What was serious was the fact Halsten Engberg, captain of the Vale City police was bleeding out before them thanks to a few gunshots to the shoulder and leg and there was very little they could do about it.

The dirty blond in his late forties seemed to be constantly drifting in and out of consciousness. Those few times he was able to open his green eyes it was mostly to curse out the guards for being pussies and himself for being caught off guard. His skin was growing increasingly pale with every passing second despite the best efforts of the two watching over him. The fact his Aura was constantly being suppressed didn't help either, only add to the sense of dread already strangling the captives.

There were four guards blocking the only way in or out of the jewelry store they'd been horded into. Down the hallway to the left was another room filled with what Neptune assumed to be some ten or eleven people. From what he'd observed that's how the men had divided everyone when they stormed the place. He'd deduced they'd rounded up most of the Beacon students and placed them on the lower levels, guarded by the mechs and most heavily armed gunmen.

All in all, they were in a pinch unless they could contact the outside.

"Neptune," the whisper drew him back over the Cheryl. "Listen, I've got an idea but I need you to cover for me. Make it look like you're operating on him or something. Just give me some cover."

Casting a glance back over at the guardians he saw they were too distracted talking to each other to notice them. Breathing in and out Neptune proceeded to readjust the captain's bandages for what was probably the sixth time. His nerves were tightened and his senses were alert to the smallest sounds. If one of the gunmen turned around he'd hear it and hopefully be able to shift his body so it looked like nothing shady was going on.

For a brief second he flashed an eye towards Cheryl to see her reaching deep within her shoe for something. Squinting he saw her pull out a small metallic object that couldn't have been bigger than a coat button. Pressing a button she quietly slid it into her pocket then nodded her head towards him.

"What was that?" He whispered.

"A transmitter." She answered. "Well, I guess you could also say a miniature radar if you want the whole truth."

Making sure to keep his chuckling down Neptune turned back to face the guards. Soon enough they weren't going to be laughing. Soon he was going to be able to teach them you _don't _take away his weapon then insult his hairdo without consequences.

* * *

Both Sun and Blake were puzzled when their Scrolls started beeping like they'd just received messages. On both them of them was a rough layout of the mall's several floors occupied by colored dots.

"Neptune?" Blake asked.

"I, I really don't know." He answered. "He's never told me about some secret gadget that could do this, but I'm not complaining. So…I'm guessing all the people grouped together are the hostages."

Rotating the map Blake let a small smirk appear when the view of the rooftop speared. "I'm sending this back to the others. In the meantime follow my lead."

Watching her take off Sun chuckled. _Anywhere you want Blake,__ just tell me where._

* * *

Something was happening outside. Judging from the hushed, now panicked tones the gunmen were speaking in. On top of that they could feel the vibrations shaking the store in short intervals.

Turning to grin at her Neptune began cracking his knuckles. "Nice gadget."

"Thank my fiancée, he built it for me." Casting a glare at the men she shuffled somewhat uncomfortably. "Are you sure you can take all those guns down?"

"Don't worry. A teammate of my makes it his personal mission to make sure we have as much hand-to-hand training as possible."

The others seemed to catch wind of what was about to happen and wisely began backing up. Captain Engberg trying pushing himself up only to fall back down miserably.

"Leave this to us, old timer." Neptune said.

When the four gunmen turned around they were quite surprised to find the kid with the "stupid" hairdo charging them alongside what they assumed to be the helpless little girl they'd been guarding for the past three hours.

Neptune took the first two down with simple jabs to the gut followed by sweep kicks. Once they were down he ran straight for the third, upper cutting him while kicking the last one to the ground. Cheryl moved immediately towards the downed gunmen, jamming her fingers into specific spots on their necks. They groaned then went still as statues.

"Pressure points?"

"Yep. Personally taught to me by my mother. Always said it could come in handy."

_BOOM! _

Everyone froze until the building stopped rocking. Now gunshots and shouting was filling the once empty shopping mall like it was an end of the year sale. New footsteps reached Neptune's ears causing him to shoo everyone back inside the store. Grabbing one of the rifles his captors had been holding he rounded the corner, fully prepared to pull the trigger.

"Hey! Woah there! Neptune, buddy!"

Seeing the familiar blond hair Neptune collapsed onto one knee, letting the rifle slide to the floor. "We're never staying this late at the mall ever again okay?"

"Not even for Holiday shopping?"

In the following shoot out Sun never got an answer to his question.

* * *

Of the forty-one gunmen twenty-four were now dead when the bullets stopped flying. Now sitting in front of the mall the teenagers knew without a doubt it was going to be completely torn down when the moment presented itself. One half of it had collapsed and the other half had blood splattered everyone, holes in the wall, and oh of course, the damages done would have bankrupted anyone dump enough to try fixing it.

A damn shame indeed, as Izaak had remarked when the last of the gunmen surrounded.

"Just another building on the list Izaak." Olivia countered sitting cross legged beside him. "If it makes you feel better it was already half-dead, we just put it out of its misery."

"That sounds way too much like an excuse for unwarranted property damage." Weiss muttered casting a glance at Nora and Yang.

"You sound like you wouldn't take advantage of it." Neil chuckled.

Her temper now having flared the heiress turned to him and began rattling off a serious of insults that no one bothered paying much attention. One of the officers snuffed out his cigar, a look of surprise and mild annoyance on his face.

"Yeah that sounds great…until you see taxes take a rise to pay for it. I'm mean unless the wealthy were more kind hearted and decided to do something about the-"

"Nu! Save it for the later." The captain called from his spot the stretcher.

"It's not like he's wrong." Blake chirped in pulling out her book.

The officer who made the remark nodded his head in agreement with Blake. By all signs he seemed to be his late thirties with ebony black combed back hair and greenish eyes that peered at everything with a leery gaze. A short scar ran from the top left of his forehead down a few centimeters. It only served to complete the "hard-boiled" look he seemed to have modeled himself after. Six and possibly two feet tall, muscular, and with an air of "don't screw with me" made the teenagers believe he'd walked right out of some old piece of crime fiction. Resting in his holster was the black and red gunblade he'd been using all throughout the night.

"If the city council wasted as much money on security as they did in making everything look pretty some of the most important places in town wouldn't be rumble. That's all I'm saying."

"Nu's got a point." Another officer said staring at the rumble.

"List of priorities gentlemen." Olivia spoke in a sing-song voice. She seemed to have no problem with the fact half of the officers were now staring at her, some looking like they wanted to say something snappy.

"Why does she do that?" Yang asked dropping beside Izaak. "I can get being sarcastic but with her it seems to be…"

"It's a personal thing." Izaak shrugged. "She's nice but first she has to let you know she's one of the smartest people in the room."

The blonde's gaze shifted the green-haired girl to her white-haired teammate. "I know the feeling."

"It's an ego thing. You never know," Neptune whistled. "Sometimes there's a story behind it."

"And her story?"

Izaak shook his head with a playful grin. "Teammate's honor. 'Liv herself will tell you one day."

"Provided you don't ever piss her off." The neon-blue haired youth muttered. He was more than happy to see Olivia come to his aid, however that still didn't mean his fear of her had diminished. "Word to the wise, don't ever piss off rich people. They're not nice."

"Not all rich people become psychos when you piss them off. They just whine a lot." The voice brought a smile to Neptune's face.

Several heads turned to see Cheryl walking towards them. She had bandages on both her arms and her left arm was in a sling. Despite her appearance she looked just as happy as possible. "Thanks for rescuing us."

"Our pleasure." Izaak returned bowing his head.

A moment later another man, one two inches taller than Cheryl ran up to them. His hair was dark, as in ebony dark. Coupled with his cerulean eyes he radiated a mysterious yet inviting air. He was little cute but not what some would call handsome or knee-weakening. Nor was his appearance striking, tall, lean with a bit muscle meaning he'd worked out enough to balance out whatever boring office job his high-priced business suit indicated he held.

"Thank you, all of you for saving Cheryl." He bowed his head to each and everyone one of the teenagers. "If you hadn't saved her…I…I…I probably would have stormed the place myself to get her back or avenge her." he joked measly.

Izaak put both hands behind his head and leaned back. "If we had cameras and a good director it would have made for an awesome climax scene. The brave hero storms the evil base to rescue his love after conquering his inner demons in the face of a natural disaster."

"What would we call it?" Yang pondered.

"We'd call it what were you thinking!" A familiar, haughty voice boomed. Pushing her way through Weiss glared daggers at Cheryl who only sheepishly rubbed her head. It really was surprising. There was an obvious height difference between them yet Weiss seemed to produce more than enough ire to make up for it. "Why were you in there? Without protection no less! Why didn't you call for rescue when you found those people? Do you realize how much worse this could have been?!"

Izaak turned to Yang with a puzzled expression. "I thought she was supposed to be the Ice Queen?"

By reflex the white-haired heiress whipped around. "Hey!" Turning from him she faced the dark haired man who'd remained by Cheryl's side. "You're her fiancée, how could you let her go off and do something so reckless?"

That was when Cheryl stepped in, her face now having hardened to a certain degree. "Weiss, I went in there because I heard there were some people trapped inside. My Scroll was low on power and I decided to stay with them until help arrived. I don't need you to tell me it was reckless but it was the right thing to do. Besides," She now tightened her grip on the man causing him to blush somewhat. "You should be thanking Orfeo, without him this could have been worse."

With eyes now turned to him the man, Orfeo, seemed to shrink back into himself. "It was just a little prototype we've been developing for a few weeks. They're going to be going in mobile CCTV cameras soon."

"Ah I see." In a flash the older man soon found Neptune standing beside him, leaning in close. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to share any of that info would you? Anything you want tested out or pro-"

_STOMP! _

Almost every head snapped to where Chicahua had landed, his sudden appearance catching them all off guard. More startling was the serious glint in his eyes. Seeing it all three of his teammates gathered around.

"Which way?" Izaak demanded feeling s tingle run up his spine.

Pointing his finger to the far west he spoke, "I'll scout ahead."

It was at the same time a burst of static resonated from every radio and Scroll present.

"THIS IS DETECTIVE ALTON REQUESTING BACK UP AT GREENSBURG INTERSECTION WE NEED IT NOW! RIOT GEAR! HUNTERS! THE WHOLE DAMN LOT!"

"Oh great," Yang groaned. "What is it this time? A swarm of rat Grimm? Some drunken idiots who decided to go out partying?"

* * *

The closer they got the more Yang began regretting opening her mouth. It almost seemed like a challenge to some sadistic deity had been answered when they came upon the scene.

Chaos was the only word that seemed to do the scene any justice. For once it wasn't the buildings around them or the torn up streets that were horrifying t behold, it was the borderline war-zone erupting in front of them. Eight city blocks lay before them...turned into total _hell_.

Team CRDL and what was left of the police were scattered from one part of the street to the other, engaged in heated, sporadic combat with…wait were they fighting citizens? Gunshots were going off splattering the pavement with, panicked cries going hand in hand with every motion. In opposition the "citizens" weren't at all acting normal, they were biting and tearing, scratching and clawing at any person they could get their hands on. In the borderline satanic light of the fire their faces were illuminated, twisted animalistic snarls befitting that of feral animals. They shrieked and roared at every injury, every death they inflicted or dealt out. They showed no remorse in the maiming or murder they partook in, hell, they didn't show anything but psychotic rage at everything that seemed to move.

Bodies of law-enforcement and citizen alike were scattered throughout the street. Some in pieces while others were burning.

From one of the rooftops bodies crashed into the ground, adding to the collection of bodies. Further up the street, beside broken barricades was the battle-worn members of team CRDL. The armor all four boys wore was in broken pieces with their clothes scratched and torn beneath. They all fought with the same manic fire as those around them; Cardin swinging his mace in wild arcs at anything that came close, Russel jumping back and forth with his daggers rising and fall like waves in the ocean, Dove slicing and shooting as he took a few steps backward almost in an attempt to distance himself from the chaos, and Sky twirling his halberd around creating a field of navy blue death around himself.

Out of the corner of his eye Cardin caught sight of his fellow classmates and members of the police force. For almost a minute clear relief shone through his violet eyes before twisting back into hated fury. "Hey! Now would be a damn good time to start helping!" He couldn't blame them for not responding. He could see many of them including some of the older officers were struggling to finalize just what they were seeing before their eyes. Cardin couldn't believe it either when he first saw it but they needed help. Now. "HEY! SHOOT! HELP! DO SOMETHING FOR GOD"S SAKE!"

He wasn't sure who it was that came to first, he was just happy to hear the sounds of bullets blasting out of muzzles and energy beams being discharged. For a brief second he allowed his body to relax. Maybe they weren't going to die tonight.

If the scene hadn't been chaotic before then it had become sheer pandemonium when the other half of the VCPD along with several teams of Beacon students joined the fray. A collective shriek seemed to erupt from the crazed citizens at the sight of fresh blood.

For some the fear manifested on their faces, for others it just reaffirmed what they had already guessed at.

Survival it was.

* * *

Ruby didn't really need the scope for firing. It was simple, painfully, horrifyingly simple. There was a difference between the simple point and shoot approach on Grimm. When shooting their limbs didn't break off in showers _human _blood and bones. The screaming may have been the same but she could still see. She could see the feral faces twist into expressions of pure pain and agony. Some of them collapsed onto the ground, howling into the stained earth.

It froze Ruby after a while. Was she really doing this? She was killing, maiming. The way they looked at Ruby made her heart freeze in terror.

Only Grimm were supposed to look at human beings with such hatred and malice. Even if the face was stained with blood to see another person look at her in the same way…

'Ruby! Ruby!"

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Like an anchor suddenly being realed back up Ruby saw clearly what was in front of her.

Bodies. Tons of bodies and severed limbs. Citizens running into a virtual wall of gunfire.

Her hears thundered with the sounds of gunfire.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Over and over again, like a broken record player glued to both her ears. No, a chorus of violence she'd briefly lost her place in.

Blake glared at her with feral eyes. "Don't look away!" In her hand Gambrel Shroud was nothing but a flash of light amongst the countless firearms going off beside it. If it weren't for Blake's voice or the color of the muzzle Ruby wouldn't have known it belonged to her Faunus teammate.

_CLICK! _

"RRRAAAHHH!"

Between the clicking of someone's gun one of the attackers had managed to slip in closer than the others.

Ruby saw him; he was missing his right arm from the elbow down and had two finger-sized holes in his stomach. Despite this he kept coming.

Her silver eyes saw for the first time the look all the crazed citizens had in their eyes. They were bloodshot. Red and orange had driven out all the white. Nothing resembling humanity lay within them save for a primal lust for destruction she'd heard lay within every person.

Closer, the eyes were getting closer.

Panic seized Ruby in the few precious seconds. Bullets were still flying but none of them seemed to hit the manic heading straight for her. They seemed poised solely on her.

_THUMP! THUMP! _

_Shoot! _

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! _

_Shoot! _

_THUMP! _

_SHOOT! _

The force of Crescent Rose reverberated through the red-head's body while her attacker's went slack from the large hole in his chest.

_THUMP! THUMP! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Once done her finger seemed to stay stuck on the trigger. The kickback became natural. No longer where her teeth chittering or her heart thumping in her ear. They were replaced with the familiar howl of guns and cries of battle.

She'd found her place in the chorus again. It protected her. Sheltered her. For who knows how long Ruby Rose stood side by side with the some twenty officers and lost herself behind the wall of lead and light.

Little did she know beyond the southern wall was something terrifying. It was like being inside a storm. Objects flying from every which-way and fear fueling motion more than reason.

Weiss usually stained calm during battle, not this time. Something in the back of her mind screamed how wrong this was. Stabbing and skewering at people who she'd otherwise have ignored on any other day. Now up close they didn't look like people to her. They looked like monsters.

_BANG! BANG! _

Her left foot touched something that she knew had to be a body. The electric shock going up her spine caused her to summon a glyph. Slamming Myrtenaster down each of the crazed citizens stood frozen in blocks of ice that were quickly shattered.

For once Weiss was glade for Nora's hyperactive tendencies. The fact she was fighting and killing other human beings didn't slow her down. No hesitation in Magnhild's swings or fires. Columns of pink smoke mixed with the crimson flames forming intoxicating shade of red and yellow to roll over the street.

Weiss watched in a strange mixture of horror and fascination as the citizens seemed to converge on Nora only to either be sent sailing back or smashed into the ground. Her once freakishly large silver hammer was now stained crimson much like Weiss's Myrtenaster had become. The crimson continued to grow with every second that passed.

The distant roar of tires screeching and gunshots made Weiss imagine what it was like behind the walls that the officers had formed on four ends of Greensburg Intersection. They had it easy, they weren't out here; they weren't fighting with fear pumping through their veins at a hundred miles a minute. By instinct her body had begun to twist away from anyone who'd come too close to her. The words friend and foe became blurred in the maelstrom of violence.

Two men surged towards Weiss aiming at her with their bloody nails. Not caring what type of Dust she had selected she swung Myrtenaster. Needlessly to say she was surprised when a trail of fire followed her rapier then engulfed the attackers. Shrieking back they fell to the ground screaming in agony.

In the two seconds she took to calm down Weiss realized with perfect clarity what she'd just done. Vile began rising in her stomach and it took all she had to hold it done.

_THICK! _

_Shit! _Weiss cursed preparing to spin around. Internally she braced herself for whatever world of pain was about to follow.

_SLISH! SLASH! SLISH! THUMP! THUMP! _

The sound was…sickening. It made Weiss's stomach lurch in disgust and freeze her body. In her mind she could picture the bodies sliding apart then hitting the ground followed by the geyser of blood erupting. She didn't dare turn around for knowing what scene awaited her.

Luckily she never had to, the scenery in front of her more than made up for it.

Neil moved in a way Weiss found both stunning and fear-inspiring. He simply cut down everyone in front of him. No fear rolled off him unlike the dozens of others fighting for their lives.

Moralltach and Beagalltach were silver and azure vipers in the collection of coronas, never stopping or pausing in their search for new blood. Fingers, arms, legs, hell, _heads_, rolled off their sides, splattering Neil with blood yet he paid it no mind.

Pausing so she could catch her breath she observed him fighting side by side with Russel who seemed just as winded as she did.

His eyes were cold. Not just cold but focused, vengeful. He had little sympathy for the crazed citizens they were now slaughtering in the streets.

While Russel fell to his soaked knees he continued fighting, now advancing towards a group that had converged on a trio of officers.

He knew they were dead. Their dying screams made his blood boil and his grip tighten. Turning to face him the citizens surged forward like a pack of Beowolves converging on wounded prey.

Tendrils of wind coiled around his swords until they were both sheathed in layers of howling wind. "Get clear!"

The aerokinetic blast sliced clean through their bodies before meeting the flames turning into a blast of fire. The building adjacent to them came crumbling down scattering dust and splinters everyone.

It was hard to keep footing on the uneven ground the street had become. Unlike the citizens the officers and students didn't rebound or scrambled back up in a second's notice. It was those things that killed a few of the unlucky ones. Those that realized this remained stationary. One covered another in near perfect tandem. That was the strategy the Spartan and onna-bugeisha employed. Pyrrha jabbed, stabbed, and bashed with Milo and Akouo as Olivia covered her from the air. Coming down with her _naginata _always dispersed the crowd of lunatics.

It wouldn't be a stretch to saw the two female warriors were the only ones still fighting with anything even resembling a formal fighting style. As opposed to everyone else who'd broken into frantic attacking they'd kept their heads. Mostly.

"What in Oum's name is going on here?" Pyrrha hissed running her javelin through an attacker.

"I'd say they're possessed but this isn't some B-list supernatural flick. If anything they look like…" She paused to fend off another wave.

Pyrrha never did hear the rest of Olivia's statement. By this point it didn't matter. Jumping to the roof top of a nearby store she felt her iron composure begin to crumble. Clearing her head she lifted the scrapes of metal and wreckage then began firing them with careful precision. She couldn't break her focus however she was able to discern what was happening around her with a few quick glances.

At least two more blocks were alight with the same chaotic flame they were engulfed.

An orange blur zoomed past the flames leaving trails of blood in its wake.

Flapping his wings out Chicahua bellowed into the night. In a similar way to her own Semblance his called forth all the light and heat in the area, bathing him in an aura of flame-like energy. In the grim darkness he'd turned into a miniature sun that proceeded to blast through the streets again.

To her left she saw Sun and Neptune were handling themselves well along with a few of the more skilled officers. Sun particular seemed to be holding off waves of attackers all by himself due to the nature of his weapon and fighting style.

Like Sky he was twirling his weapon in circles while emptying whole clips of ammunition. Golden explosions danced around him resulting in bits of flesh and bone flying in every direction. When he did run out of ammo he went on the out and out attack. Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang combined into their staff. Sun's face was different than his usual joking smile or laid back grin. Pyrrha didn't need enhanced vision to see that.

A set perimeter had been formed in the shadow of a car garage. Leading it was Neptune and another man Pyrrha identified to be another officer. He was barking ordered to everyone, including Sun and Neptune.

_Stable, we're keeping the situation contained but we can't keep this up. _Pyrrha mental groaned. It was time to reenter the fray. Battle was never something she shied away from but this…this wasn't a battle.

To her it felt like a slaughter. The worse part was she felt like she was standing on the wrong side of it.

Just around the left side of the intersect had gotten worse. Someone had muttered something about zombies when those that went down suddenly got back on their feet; now just as crazed as the lunatics tearing up everything.

How things had descended into this while the situation just a stone's throw away was anyone's guess. The barricade at the end of the street was just barely holding out.

Out of the four students who'd ended up in the area Izaak was probably the only one who wasn't screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs. Yang and Cardin had long since lost it, blowing a part anyone who attacked them. Their attacks took out at least three or four in one go due to their nature while Izaak and Jaune simply made sure the barricade held until "heavy artillery" arrived.

In all honesty Izaak was doing the defending. He knew Yang and Cardin could handle themselves, especially with at least four now extremely pissed off officers watching their backs. It was Jaune he was worried for. From the moment he saw him in battle he knew the blond wasn't nearly as good a fighter as he tried to come off.

In the literal heat of the situation Jaune Arc was now fighting with everything he had to survive. He didn't need some battle cry like the others, his own heart was doing enough screaming for him. His mind too.

_WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? _He screamed in his head over and over while slashing and parrying. How did he end up here!? How did he end up separated from his team? Was it trying to play the hero when he heard they needed help on the other side? What did he think he was going to do? Come in slashing down lunatics in the fading moonlight like some kind of hero?

He'd dodged about twenty claw swipes aimed at his face, more than a few had taken off whole strands of hair. His armor had more scratches and dents in it than he could count, it'd protected him from the savage attacks but it was becoming increasingly hard to move.

The humanoid monsters, once they caught sight of prey they came at it with everything they got. A moment's hesitation had already ended the lives of at least twenty-five men and women right before Jaune's eyes.

As he hacked and stabbed he came to a conclusion about his three classmates, he was miles behind them in every way. He defended, they attacked without mercy. Their weapons: a mace, a pair of shotgun gauntlets, and an axe big enough to cleave a car in half did far more than his simple shield and sword. When they attacked it left three dead, when he actually managed to kill one of them he'd taken several blows in return.

_I'm useless! Dead-weight! _It felt like the eyes of the remaining officers were watching his pathetic display. All of them asking, "What was this kid doing here? Does he have a death wish or something?" with disgust, anger, and probably horror.

Something hard and cold slammed into the side of his skull. Jaune crumbled to the ground, his head pounding in pain. He couldn't think, see or feel the wind rushing past him on his way to the ground. Momentarily his mind shut down then rebooted giving him his senses back.

The first thing he saw was a pair of fists flying straight for him. His brain shut down again, only allowing brief moments of operation to let him know he was still alive. In his current state life consisted slowly of pain and disgusting saliva dripping down all over his face. In all his life he'd never felt this kind of pain, and by God and Oum, it _hurt_.

Through the veil of black spots he could see his attacker raising a piece of metal into the air. Jaune knew what came next. If they was any divine pity for him it'd be over quick.

_CLANG! _

The man on top of him suddenly flew into the background. No doubt a good chunk of the poor man's bones were now in pieces.

Turning back Jaune tried to discern who his savior was. He was big, bulky, and was reaching down to grab him by the collar of his shirt.

"Eyes open Arc! You wanna die or something!"

_Good God! Him!? What is this karma!? _His vision returned clearing up the image of Cardin Winchester. His face was twisted in fury and…concern? Was Cardin worried about him? _He must have really scrambled my brain. _

Slowly Izaak had begun chopping his way towards Yang. Seeing her in battle had been a sight to see, he'd admitted to that the first time he saw her fight. What he was seeing now was both amazing and terrifying. The brawler was now coated in a layer of searing flames that seemed to only grow with every passing second. While it kept the maniacs at bay it also drew more to her location. The look in their eyes told him they fully planed on snuffing out that light in a sea of bloody claws and teeth.

Storrdetta lunged with deathly accuracy, its blades slowly changing to reflect the bright crimson of the street. In huge vertical and horizontal arcs it moved a step closer towards the clergy of violent insanity slowly surrounded Yang.

Once he was within range he slammed his axe down, throwing up his Semblance.

Mixing into the crackling and of flames came the sickening sound of bones being smashed under a pulverizer.

Izaak's face remained sealed even as he rushed towards Yang. His whole body tingled, his breath came out in short bursts. Inside he was more alive and alert than one would have expected. Unlike Yang or Cardin he wasn't wildly attacking. If he started doing that things would get worse.

Yang was so focused on turning from side to side she didn't notice some of the infected had begun to pick up weapons. Whatever they could use to stab, beat, or bludgeon was now being picked up and used.

_CLICK! _

The bronze-haired Viking notice the browly man coming up on Yang as she reloaded. Eyes narrowing he latched onto her gravitational field and yanked her backwards.

The pull came as unexpected as the view of the steel pipe heading for her face. At least two strands of her hair came off as the pipe curved in front of her burning eyes. Normally Yang would have blasted the man into next week but Izaak beat her to it.

Despite his large size the battle axe entered at his left side ribcage and came out near his right armpit.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! _

_She bounces back quick. _Izaak observed sparing a moment to watch her continue fighting. Soon he was fighting with her.

The two remained stationary even as the horde started to dwindle. By this point the street was unrecognizable. Bodies and limbs lay everyone between the burnt out husks that used to be stores and shops.

No one heard the hum of airship engines even when they came into view. If anyone did they didn't pay it much mind until they heard a voice break through the maelstrom of chaos.

"EVERYBODY DOWN NOW!"

Some bolted into the remains of shops, others broke down into fetal positions hoping they'd be spared the coming fire.

Izaak grabbed Yang and hustled her over to the side. Her Semblance was still going, burning through his Aura and into his left side. Even though he hissed in agony he didn't let go of her. In the twelve seconds before mini-gun fire tore the streets a part Izaak realized a totally unrelated, almost stupid fact; he liked being this close to Yang.

Even if she was on fire and no doubt scared out of her mind like he was.

* * *

"And there goes taxpayers' money galore! Millions! Hah! How long do ya' guys think it's going to take 'em to inform all the families? Screw that, they probably won't be able to identify half the bodies! Burnt, diced up, frozen, flailed, and dismembered! Right in the middle of town! Oh man I can see it, a nice memorial going up in the center of the street."

It took a good chunk of willpower to keep Mercury from knocking his companion's head right off there. A quick look at Emerald told him she was having the same problem. When they were sent out to observe the situation neither of them thought this was what they were going to see. Despite all the things they'd done, it made them sick.

Several times Emerald had turned away from the scenes of carnage, her face turning almost a darker shade than her hair. "Okay, we've seen it. Your little flu shot works. Can please go now?"

Their companion cackled again. "Don't want to stick around for the clean up? I don't blame ya' it's always the worst part." He jumped to his feet with minimum effort. His gaze shifting between the two ex-thieves with the same lazy grin on his face. It was obvious he was unnerving them. That was good. He was always took pleasure in the way he could make people's skin crawl. "So how'd the cargo shipments go? Were you able to get everything rolled out?"

Mercury snorted crossing his arms. "We were able to smuggle everything to the Balham Base. The shipment of Phobos and Fahrenheit were sent to the general as per requested. Though we did lose about three crates of viral samples."

"Bah! That's nothing compared to what he had to move." He turned back to the field of rising flames. "So what do you guys think of Ira?"

Both youths shifted uncomfortably. Emerald _really _looked like she wanted to quietly fade into the shadows as they always did but even with his back turned to them their third guest still held them to the spot. "In less than twenty minutes it turned four blocks into hell. You know this could have been worse right?"

"Yeah but that would have spoiled all the fun." He chuckled pulling out the binoculars. He licked his lips every time he passed over one of the Beacon students. "Those teams are pretty good…for rookies."

"They've got potential." Mercury coldly spoke.

"They'll make fun test subjects." He laughed putting the binoculars back into his duffle bag. "Shit I can't wait until the ball really gets rolling. Just you guys watch, it's going to be awesome!" He broke out in another fit of insane laughter as he walked away towards the stairway.

Once Mercury and Emerald saw the merlot red haired young man disappear down the stairs they both at long last let the air out of their lungs. Emerald was shaking, visibly shaking. She had to place both hands on the railing. Watching the battle through the binoculars had nearly caused her to vomit everything she'd eaten. _Man I'm glad we were vaccinated._ She thought trying to calm herself.

Mercury was doing better in letting all the tension in his body out. Facing toward the shattered moon then back towards the earth he shook his head, an expression of true sorrow written on his face. "I feel sorry for you guys." He whispered.

* * *

**Well from here we're going to be seeing the story take off a little more. I hope you all enjoyed the first taste of what's to come in this story. If you liked it or didn't let me know what you think. Either way rest assured of one thing; things are going to get MUCH worse than what happened at the end of this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: Asking the Right Questions

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Asking the Right Questions**

The last few weeks had not been kind to Ozpin. Between academy repairs, burying the dead, taking into account who was still missing, and helping the relief effort he'd barely had a moment to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of coffee. His eyes, eyes that had seen countless horrors and triumphs very few could imagine had grown slowly red by the time the second week passed. Through all the signing and negotiating his mouth had felt like a desert without his delicious black substance. It was starting to become torture. Now he sat in his newly rebuilt office about to put an end to it. Not all parts of the clockwork room had been totally rebuilt but it was enough to make Ozpin feel like it'd never collapsed in the first place.

He sighed as he leaned back into his comfortable chair. Behind him the moon's light illuminated the office allowing him a moment of total serenity. Sitting patiently on his desk was a brand new mug holding his treasured elixir. He'd been patient and now he was about to receive his reward. The warm heat against his hand was gladly welcomed and the aroma was all but begged for with every inch he brought the mug closer to his lips.

The serenity was complete. What tension remained in his body drained away while the mug's contents flooded his throat. At last he could take a minute to relax in the security of his office.

According to one of his clocks his relaxation lasted a minute and fifty-two seconds. Ozpin's eyes snapped open upon hearing the footsteps approaching his office. They were fast and urgent meaning whoever was coming to visit him wasn't going to be brining good news.

Contently sighing he sat back up preparing to deal with whatever new problem had cropped up. Not surprisingly it was Glynda who came walking in. What was surprising was the expression she wore on her face. She only wore it when something was _very _wrong.

Tossing everything else aside he sat up fully straight. His eyes harden. "What happened?"

By the time she'd finished explaining what had happened there was already a news broadcast up. Pulling it up Ozpin knew immediately he wasn't going to like what he was going to see. He ordered an airship to be ready to take him to Greensburg Intersection. Just before they left he asked about the nine teams that had been in the area helping with containment.

"Teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, IONC, SPRL, FLNT, STRM, TWER, and PELT" Glynda spoke solemnly. Sadness and regret occupied her normally stern and calculating eyes. What she was going to say next wasn't going to be any easier for her than it was for Ozpin to hear it. "Teams STRM, TWER, and PELT are…gone."

Twelve more graves. Twelve more caskets. Twelve more families to inform.

Ozpin shuddered quietly to himself before asking, "How bad?"

Glynda was silent the entire way down to the airship. Her silence was the answer he'd been dreading.

* * *

Two days passed before a debriefing was allowed to take place. He was present at the debriefing of all the remaining teams. All their stories almost perfectly lined with their mental state. Both the physical and mental scars were on full display during each interview.

The only outlier amongst the teams was team IONC.

Ozpin hadn't had the chance to formally talk to them since their arrival and he'd been dying to give them a proper introduction. It only became more needed when he saw their reactions during the interview.

Like the other teams they were shaken, traumatized, yet they were was something particularly off about each of them. They'd reined in themselves, all four of them.

Izaak was the most visibly shaken, but he held himself together throughout the entire interview. Often expressing regret and asking what was being done about the dead. Olivia was…to be blunt she was somewhat detached. Unlike her teammate she asked when they'd be able to perform autopsies on the bodies. Neil was the same as Izaak with the only difference being he seemed lost in his own world throughout the latter half of debriefing. Chicahua was very likely the most straight forward one of the bunch. After he gave his full report he asked if he repeatedly asked if Beacon was going to involve itself in the investigation. At one point Ozpin himself had to step in and say they were going to do their best to resolve the matter but they still had bigger issues. With a disappointed sigh he leaned back and asked his final question.

"And of Teams TWER, PELT, and STRM?" He asked with clear eyes. "When will they be buried alongside Beacon's others."

Again, Ozpin was the one to directly answer him. "Yes."

They dragged on for nearly four hours, different people being called in sometimes to answer the same question again. It was becoming increasingly visibly everyone was growing tired of it so they came to an end at a quarter past twelve.

Just before they left Ozpin invited team IONC into his office. All four teenagers stiffened at his invitation. He could only guess what it was that was running through each of their minds.

That was how he found himself back in his voice, sipping cough before the four transfers.

Fear, anxiety, and sadness rolled of each of them as they stood before him. As team leader Izaak stood just a bit closer than the rest, his head bowed slightly. The Viking's face might as well have read "Waiting for death" for the way he looked at Ozpin then back at the floor. Olivia had a stern if not professional face that reminded Ozpin of Glynda. Neil never met Ozpin's eyes directly, his kept darting across parts of the room when he thought he wasn't looking. On more than once accession he caught him casting a worried glance at Izaak. In a strange twist Chicahua was the opposite of his partner. Whereas Olivia's face was a mask held together by respect and confidence Chicahua's was held together by fear and jumpiness.

It didn't take him long to realize he was both scared and in awe of him. His expression told him all he needed to know. Chicahua knew the stories, no doubt being told them as a child and likely reading up about his past exploits. While this was certainly understandable it far from what Ozpin wanted. He needed the eagle knight to trust him in case something happened.

Funny enough that's what this whole affair was about.

Seeing how none of the four were willing to break the ice the older man decided to speak up. "I wish you're introduction to Beacon was better than this. I do hope you've found your experience here to be…pleasant."

"It's been fun." Izaak said finally raising his head up. He was still shaking a little but he was now facing the Headmaster with his undivided attention. His rigid posture told him he was willing to take the brunt of whatever he had to say. "The students are nice, we don't know much about the teachers since they haven't been able to teach so the jury's still out on that one, the place the dance was looked awesome and it still does even though one half is being remodeled." He paused casting a glance at Olivia. "If it helps you can have Olivia help out with design, she's great at technical work."

A crack appeared on Olivia's face in the form of a crooked smile. The spell immobilizing their two remaining teammates seemed to be broken as they broke out in short laughter. Ozpin himself smiled just a tad bit at the suggestion.

"Well that's good to hear. Now then we can get down to business." Ozpin crossed his fingers as he laid his elbows. His eyes hadn't lost all of the warmth but they now had switched to professional mode. "Izaak, Olivia, Neil, Chicahua…I've read your files…all of them."

Now team IONC stood absolutely petrified at his desk. The trial had begun and in their eyes all they were doing was waiting to hear the verdict.

"I must say your stories are…interesting to say the least. I admire the fact each of you got to where you are and hope at this school you all will continue to strive to the best of your possibly abilities." Ozpin let this sink in for a second. There was still no change in any of them. "I want all of you to know this; your respective pasts, where you came from and who you were born to, none of it bears any weight here. None of it bears any weight towards _me_. All I see before me are four first-year students who I expect to see standing proudly together at graduation." A simultaneous shift occurred in the eyes of all four youths. Relief shot through each of them before vanishing behind a firm hardness. "I've personally reviewed all the little 'incidents' your team has had over the first semester."

It was then that Izaak took full center. His brow was crested with distress evident. "Please sir, if anyone's to be blamed for them its-"

"All of us." Neil spoke up suddenly. "Well, 'cept the first one because Olivia hadn't thrown in her lot with ours yet but the bottom line is,"

"Everything we've done has been a team decision." Chicahua finished. What uneasiness he had had been overtaken by a new found courage.

"We are fully aware that team leaders must always take responsibly for the actions of the team but if what we did was wrong then it falls on all of us not knowing any better thus we all receive equal blame." Olivia concluded in her regal voice.

It took much for the headmaster of Beacon to keep from smiling. Just as he'd previously thought this team had qualities Hunters needed: conviction, courage, and loyalty to their comrades. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm not allowed to give my personal opinion on these matters nor will I ask any of you to repeat what you've probably told Haven and the Mistral government. I can see all of are…I can see none of you regret what you did. You did what you thought was right. It's not my place to question it. I now for a fact that when the situation arises none of you will hesitant to do it again. I'm not going to ask any of you not to, all I ask is that you keep your heads calm and collected. Evaluate the situation and choose the best option available." He knew what he was going to say next was probably going to result in a world of headaches later on however he felt it needed to be said. "Even if that option isn't technically legal or within protocol."

The four remained stiff as statues after hearing his final words. In a brief window of time all their eyes met. Ozpin had five guesses what they were conveying but felt it best not pry.

"That is all. You are all dismissed."

He watched team IONC file out the door after bowing to him in a respectful manner. Once they were gone Ozpin stood up and walked out to get a view from his window. Reconstruction was still going strong though now the Vale military had been called in to help support it. Ozpin didn't mind it one bit, all he hoped was that there wouldn't be another incident until reconstruction was at least seventy percent complete. That would take at least another two and a half months had best.

Speaking of incidents his mind turned towards the recently dismissed team. Truthfully he didn't know what to expect from Haven's infamous 'Problem Team' but he was pleasantly surprised. They weren't 'problem children' as some of their instructors had labeled them yet they weren't people who could quietly just go with the flow around them. In some ways they reminded him of team RWBY. Thankful he was alone when he had a somewhat ghostly shudder. Something told him it was only a matter of time before the two teams' intersected someplace unpleasant.

All Ozpin knew for certain was one thing; the result was _not _going to be pretty or fun for him.

* * *

Until they reached the ground floor Izaak's humming was the only sound the four young warriors heard. A minute after they exited the elevator Neil and Olivia collapsed against the wall while Izaak and Chicahua bent over.

"Shit that was scary." Neil muttered running a hand through his hair. "The good news is he trusts and isn't holding our records against us right?"

He was met with a nervous chuckle from Izaak while Olivia just sneered at him. "_Him_, yes, someone would say that's most important but let's face it, half the teaching staff probably knows about us and will be expecting us."

"You mean teachers like Professor Goodwitch?"

Olivia's face remained a stone cold frown. "If I hadn't met her personally then I would have chalked it all up as another stupid rumor. She doesn't take crap from anyone, not even the Headmaster if my guess is right." Facing Izaak with the same expression her unspoken question drilled into him with painful precision. The cress in his brows relieved he'd already surrendered the fight that was coming. "This means none of your shit," Casting a glare at all three boys she spoke in the same commanding voice she did in battle, "From any of you."

"Oh and yours 'Liv?" Neil questioned with narrowed eyes.

Now all three boys had their eyes are her. While they were certainly ticked off at their teammate's words they also picked up she was speaking to herself as well. There was worry in their eyes.

Sighing she sat up straight and dusted herself off. "Like always I can keep it together if someone says something stupid but if I can't then I'm fully expecting one of you to stop me. Preferably before I break anyone's jaw."

Taking the chance Izaak jumped. "When do we step in? At the knee? Fingers? Hand? What about if we start seeing angry knots? I'm sure that'll be a good time to drag you away."

The stone façade crumbled into a pile of laughter that soon engulfed all four teenagers. Within the next half minute they were walking down the hallway, through the doors, and into the late fall air.

Silently the four wondered how reconstruction would go in the winter. No doubt in the coming weeks it would spend up, simply because no one wanted to do construction work in freezing snow. Gazing at the gardens made them realize this wasn't going to be the case. Most of the holes and upturns had been repaired however that didn't mean things were back to normal. Half the buildings from the study-halls to the airship hangers were still being rebuilt with work going around the clock. Some were being rebuilt from the ground up like the exercise facility and many half of the dorms while others were merely being worked on such as the library and main teaching facilities.

No one dared go near Emerald Forest to see if it was still safe for fear of whatever had been unearth near in the forest. Rumors were flying sometime in the next week or so a team was going to be sent to investigate and volunteers had already stepped forward.

Besides that work on the school piping was still being done. Dorms got water first, everything else like heating and the like would come later on when some semblance of structure had been formed.

Walking through the garden the team realized there was very little idle chatter amongst the students. Much of the talk was centered on how long it would be before life got back to normal.

"I believe it's going to be a while before that." Chicahua moaned still keeping his head forward. All three of his teammates turned to him. He didn't need to turn around to see their worried faces nor did he wish to see them. "I'm going out into town, to see if they've found any new leads."

Were it any other group of people Chicahua's decision might have been ridiculed and called out. His team however; had almost four years to grow used to his antics.

"Then I'm going too." Olivia said. "Before you say anything Izaak just let us go, you and Neil stay here, find something to do, maybe see if you can finally get Neil a date."

The brothers' faces were opposites; Izaak wore an innocent grin and Neil's was irritation hidden behind a smile. "I'll show you guys the pictures when you get back. Make sure to watch yourselves out there. I'm not seeing a zombie apocalypse but I know some shady shit when I see it."

"It ain't just you brother." Izaak added his face having gone serious. "Don't pry and don't expect to find anything solid." Briefly he shuddered at the memory of the previous night. No blamed him. "The sick and wounded are the first people are the list for doctors to treat, not the remains of homicidal people that probably didn't crack under the pressure."

Crossing both her arms Olivia fixed her teammate with her trademark smirk. "Why of course Izaak, like we're going there expecting to find a few shell-shocked survivors just suffering from a major nervous breakdown."

* * *

Neither spoke much on during their flight or the walk towards Greensburg Intersection. Almost three blocks out they encountered the first roadblock. The roadblock it's self wasn't hat surprised them, it was who was guarding them. They weren't police. As the four previously thought the military had taken over the matter.

Military-style barricades had been set up in place of the police barricade with the guards now wearing gas-masks. A crowd of reporters, most from foreign and local networks had formed around them, pressing the guards and officials.

Olivia and Chicahua stood just outside the tingling mass of reporters. Even from the edge they could hear the shouting, angered grunting and yelling flying over the air like ravens over a corpse. Neither youths showed much emotion at the display.

Chicahua said nothing as he scanned the crowd with his advanced sight. Running over each face, marking it, running it against his own recollection. His face remained solid even when he did come across a face he recognized. It did at least until he saw something that made his face go blank. "Olivia, I think this is more serious than we think."

Olivia realized there was only one thing that could put that look on Chicahua's face. "What rank?"

"Brigadier."

The olive-haired student whistled. "Oh the council must be scared if they sent one of those down here two days after it happened. Which one?"

Chicahua shot her a crossed look. "Telescopic eyesight yes, x-ray vision coming in maybe twenty years." Even though he kept his glare he couldn't stop the joy he felt when she giggled. "It wouldn't be wise to fly over or try sneaking around, we'd get caught and frankly I want to _try _to keep our promise to the Headmaster."

"Alright, alright. You've got a point so that means we'll have to squeeze information out of someone."

"We should have brought Neil." The eagle knight muttered.

Olivia shook her head. "No, for once I'd like to have a head start on him. Come on, walk with me."

Very few people noticed the human and Faunus retreating from the spot. If they had they probably would have noticed the serious expression on Olivia's face as well as the sudden shift in her aura. Beside her Chicahua merely frowned, knowing it was going to be a long day. "Where do you plan on looking?"

"I've learned a few things from Neil. First off we have to hit the shadier sides of town, someone, somewhere knows something and we're going to find them." She stated. "We'll stop before it gets dark but until then we're going to hit up whoever we can." Pulling up her Scroll she showed him a map of what he assumed to be Vale City. "A few criminals are hiding out in the refuge camps. Provided they're smart then things should be simple enough."

Already knowing the answer yet feeling he had to ask he grabbed the Scroll. "And if they're not smart?"

"Then we're going to have to educate them." Olivia stating as if she was just making a prediction about the weather.

* * *

It was a relief to Izaak to find the library was still open. A good number of students and teachers had come to it as a sort of get away from the stress the past few weeks had invited. People could enter and leave without the fear of it collapsing thanks to the back-breaking work of some of the students and repairmen however replacing the library's chief stock was going to be harder than expecting. Izaak realized this walking from one shelf to the next. On their first day the library was one of the first places he checked out, being slightly amazed at how big it was. While it didn't quit match the majesty of Haven's it was still every bit impressive in its own right. There must have been at least ten-thousand books when he'd first visited, now if he had to take a wild guess there was maybe seven-five-thousand at best. The realization brought a dull ache to his heart at the thought of all the destroyed literature.

He hoped there would be enough money left over to replace the destroyed materials but he doubted it. Odds were someone would say there were more important things than 'stupid, boring books'. Scratching his head Izaak wished reading was a more popular hobby amongst people his age. If it was he believed it would make people a hell of a lot smarter than they could be. He leaned over the railings he spied a few kids staring into books and magazines, some with passionate interest, others mid, and lastly some with flat out bored expressions.

_Here's hoping. _The axe-wielder optimistically whispered walking through the aisles. He picked out at least five books, three fiction and the last two were biographies. He didn't plan on bringing all four back, just skim through and take whatever was able to hold his interest the most. As he was looking for a quiet place to sit down he caught the smell of freshly scented fruit. Izaak had come to hate himself for developing the ability, he questioned his body why it always seemed to pick it up no matter where he was.

True to his noise he saw Yang sitting by herself at a table adjacent to the window, the evening light creating a series of vertical lines across the oak wood table. From the view of the window the sun hadn't set yet however it was obvious it was beginning its descendent towards the horizon. In accordance the blonde-haired brawler mirrored the outside view. Her face was slumped in both her hands, staring disinterestedly into a magazine that had been lying in front of her. Beside her lay a stack of reading material Izaak knew she had no intention of reading. Her posture didn't radiate the same excitement it usually did; like many of the others in the library she'd come here to forget something.

Izaak felt like a shadow in all sense of the word standing behind the bookshelf. Taking a step forward didn't make her notice his presence, the strange thing being he was grateful for it. All she had to do was look up and she'd see him standing right there, arms full of books, staring at her with his hazel eyes. What was paralyzing him was both the surreal beauty Yang had become. Though the lower half of her body had become engulfed in darkness the setting sun made the rest of her look like something out of a dream. A face one could spend days staring at, eyes that though sadden, still glowed with a breath-taking shine and hair that truly seemed to be flowing gold from where he was standing. There wasn't much to guess as to why no one had approached her. Everything about her sent the clear message she wanted to be alone. Izaak knew that better than anyone yet h still wanted to do something to bring that lively fire back. He knew better than most what was dragging her down, hell, it was dragging everyone down.

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL were shell-shocked pure and simple. Izaak's team as well though they had…experience in dealing with horrible, _horrible_, things. Nothing about the Greensburg incident had sat right in their stomachs but they'd move over it faster than the other three had. Izaak wondered how long it would be before they became the same people he met the day of the quake.

_Murder. They're questioning if what we did was murder or not. _Izaak had wrestled with that question the following morning. He could have run down a whole list of excuses such as everyone they were fighting already had blood (figuratively and literally) on their hands therefore what they did was just. In the end he's setled on what he always knew; it was survival. _Either we killed them or they butchered us. _Odds were the doctors treating everyone had told that to everyone as they were being treated. It would take time for the lesson to sink in. It did for Izaak; nevertheless, that didn't make what they did any less painful.

Rather or not Yang would come to that same conclusion wasn't what Izaak wanted to focus on. What he'd decided to do was in all sense of the word stupid but he was doing it anyway.

Yang didn't look up until she felt the thump of the stack of books making contact with the table. "I heard you're into bikes but I don't think hover-boards and scooters. Don't seem to offer enough excitement for a person like you."

The violet eyes blinked once in surprise then twice before fully registering who it was. "I-Izaak? What brings you here?"

Picking up one of the books off his stack he placed it in front of him. "I came to find something to read. Odds are there aren't going to be any open bookstores for a while so I thought why not sample Beacon's collection. Seriously, the staff make damn sure none of this books get trashed, just look at this place." Pointing outside the window to the rest of the academy grounds he grinned. "It stays something when the library stays standing while a whole bunch of other stuff go down like dominoes."

There was something in the way he spoke that made Yang laugh. She didn't exactly understand how he was still so normal after that night. Everyone she'd talked to had been shaken, distant. Everyone except team IONC. "Oh so you're a bookworm? From the grease on your shirt I figured you were a grease monkey or ticker like my sister."

"Who says I can't be all of them? Sure I like fiddling with machines but I like books too. It's a good way to relax." He answered.

That puzzled Yang. There wasn't any sign of distress in his posture. Nothing to give away a sense of guilt or despair. Yang wasn't sure if that was admirable or cause for worry. "How…how can you _not _bent up about this? What happen out there was straight out of a horror movie! We're lucky none of us, expect maybe Jaune-"

"His face is about a day away from being fully healed by the way." Izaak cut in. "Sorry, didn't mean that, please continue."

"Were seriously hurt." Yang stated picking up where she left off. "All those people…" The blond shuddered which was unlike her. Her hands formed into tight fist. "We-we killed them. Burned them, sliced them and we just…they were innocent people." The usual fortitude had broken, evident by the tears beginning to gather at the corner of her eyes.

Izaak calculated how to respond to her question. There was little doubt explaining to her the meaning behind his answer would be uncomfortable but he knew this wasn't about him. Yang needed some kind of reassurance and he was going to give that to her, even if it was probably going to leave her with a bad impression of him.

"I don't feel bad about it. I'm sad it happened and I wish it hadn't happen but it did. Those people," he paused putting both hands over his book. "They were gone Yang. You saw them tearing apart anyone they could get their heads on. You saw it in their eyes. I don't know about zombies but what we were fighting might as well have been Grimm." He let his words sink into Yang. Her face went through a series of emotions he recognized as acceptance fighting denial. He needed to bring denial down. "This is going to sound harsh but what do you think would have happened to us if we _hadn't _fought back? What do you think would have happened to Ruby?"

It was a low blow but a necessary one. She didn't let it go unnoticed, shooting him a glare that would have intimidated any lesser man. Conveying the question through her face Izaak answered her in a similar fashion. He didn't back down from her gaze, his own eyes hardening. The pair had only just met a little over two weeks ago and since their first meeting there hadn't been one argument between them. This was the first. Teachers and students above and below them seemed to take notice of how the atmosphere had shifted from comforting to tense around them. Those walking by wisely sped up just a little as they passed them.

Izaak didn't cave under her glare. His body didn't shake and his voice didn't falter when he spoke, "If you hadn't fought out there, if I hadn't fought, if Ruby hadn't fought, if none of us had put up a fight we all would be dead." His voice sharpened considerably. "Odds are they'd been putting our bodies back together and phoning our families like they're doing with Teams TWER, PELT, and STRM. There's nothing wrong with it, killing to protect yourself and the ones you care about…" The jump was coming into view. Either he jumped the gap or not. He decided. "I believe that is acceptable. If I have to kill to protect my teammates then I will."

The blond was having a hard time believing this was the same joking teenager she's met two weeks ago. Their eyes were night and day. No playfulness. No jokes. It didn't feel like Yang was staring into the face of a first year student; it felt like she was talking to a soldier who'd been through combat. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable, it made her feel confused. Teenagers aren't supposed to be like this.

_Who is this guy? _She wanted to ask.

"I'm not saying killing is alright but sometimes there isn't another way." He concluded. "You did what you did to protect your friends. Clear and simple."

A thick silence hug between them taking the place of the tension. None both were half-way caked in the darkness cast by the setting sun. During their discussion a good number of people had exited and entered the library creating a few clouds of chatter.

At last Yang spoke though her voice was much softer than usual. "You've got a point. I definitely would kill to protect my team and my friends. If I had to kill I would." She closed the magazine to expect the library. For the past few minutes they'd been so caught up in their own world it seemed like hours had gone by. Talking to Izaak felt, different. It felt almost like she was talking to Blake, being able to flat out open and being spoken to in the same manner. "Thanks, I needed that. I don't suppose you could give this little pep talk to the others?"

To Yang's surprise the steely cool Izaak had in his eyes was swopped with a withdrawn sideways glance. Slowly Yang realized what the Viking had just told her was a personal viewpoint, something he didn't share easily with other people. In fact, if Yang had to guess she'd say Izaak almost seemed nervous even though she'd accepted what he had to say. She felt a need to bring their conversation back to friendlier terms since she brought it up in the first place.

Reaching across the table she unexpectedly grabbed one of his books. "So what'd cha find? Hopeful you and Blake have different tastes."

Perking up immediately he turned to face her. "Why? What does she read?"

"Ninja porn."

The kick the brawler got from watching Izaak's face made her totally forget their adult-conversation. She nearly burst into laughter at shades of red his face became. "Maybe you two could compare ideas! Venture into some brave new territory! Trust me, she could use it."

Regaining his composure he joined her in laughter. Once again many eyes were drawn to the pair. First they had an intense stare down and now they were laughing, in a library!

"Okay I'll show you and you tell me what you think." Izaak said reaching back for the book Yang had taken.

"If I fall asleep within the first thirty seconds then it's a no-no."

The smile Yang had saw on that day returned making her heart flutter a little. This kid sitting before her was a puzzle. Getting to know him was going to be an adventure, she was sure of it.

"Well let's see here," He turned it over to look at the title. "All the King's Men. Sounds appealing." With a quick breath he began to read while Yang attentively listened. The two were along again in the strange world they'd made up over the course of some five or four direct meetings.

* * *

**It's been a while since I've been able to bust out two chapters within a short span of time. Must be the energy rush I'm getting from the fact that SCHOOL'S ALMOST OVER BABY! This school year's gone by like incredibly fast (thanks Mother Nature) and it's been a good one. Summer is just around the corner so I should be able to get more chapters out faster. By June I'm hoping to get to the second arc of the story. In the meantime what do you think of this chapter? Leave you asking any questions? **


	7. Chapter 7: When an Eagle goes Hunting

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: When an Eagle goes Hunting **

"Excuse me, sir, did you know my brother?" The little tawny-haired girl asked. She wasn't scared in the slightest bit at the strange teenager with the ponytail. Her parents had told her to keep her distance from them, her mother had even screamed at him to leave. It seemed cruel to her, he wasn't doing anything wrong, to her it seemed like he was there for the same reason as all the other adults. He was sad too.

Kneeling to one knee Chicahua's eyes softened considerably upon meeting the girl's marine blue orbs. "No little one, we only knew each other briefly but I could tell you he was a good person. A person I wish I could have gotten to know better."

Wayne Cadigan, the W of team TWER. They'd met during the day of the earthquake and despite the situation the two had shared a few laughs together before heading their separate ways. The next time he saw him they were fighting against the blood-crazed maniacs of Greensburg. He may have been twenty feet in the air but he could see the exact moment Wayne's guts were torn out of his stomach.

"My mommy says people like you are the reason my brother died but I don't think so." She spoke, fresh tears swelling up. "My brother, he was a hero right?"

"Yes." He answered putting his hand on top the girl's head. "He was a brave warrior." Chicahua wished he could have said more yet he knew only so much about the blue haired teenager swordsman. It infuriated him that the chance to make a possible friend was loss, and on such a disgusting battlefield. "One day you'll see him again but until then I believe he'd want you to live a good life. A long happy life."

With a sob the nine year old threw herself into the Faunus's embrace briefly startling him. He continued to sooth the sobbing child while his mind drifted off to the row of tombstones. He'd hoped he'd done his classmate's memory honor, encouraging his sister to live on.

He guided the girl back to her parents. Upon seeing him the mother almost immediately snatched up her up while casting a hateful glare at Chicahua. She opened her mouth to say something only to be stopped by her husband, a man with hair a shade darker than his daughter's. He regarded him with a respectful gaze, almost as if to say thank you.

He stayed where he was until the Cadigan family disappeared over the hill into their car. Once they were gone he returned his attention to the row of new tombstones. They looked almost exactly like the memorials set up in the Academy minus a few things like their emblem and grade level. Chicahua bristled at the smell; graveyards didn't bother him but the scent of countless freshly dug graves did make him clench his fists.

A soft hand on his shoulder made him turn around to see the sympathetic face of his partner. "Wait until tomorrow, Neil was able to find us some hotspots we could check out."

"If they're what I think they are then we'll only be able to find them at night. Why wait?" He questioned.

"Well for starters tomorrow is Friday and you know that people like to go out and get wasted when they can sleep it off the next day." She answered.

Cracking a small smile he chuckled to himself. "Okay then, that'll be my Friday night workout."

"Exactly, as long as you don't break anything or anyone important." Olivia stated now sporting a wide grin. "Now let's get going before the last airship leaves and we're stuck hiking it back to Beacon."

"You know you could make the trip easier."

"No thank you, you know how I feel about wasting energy."

Chicahua laughed a little more at her statement. He'd seen countless times the result of Olivia 'refusing to waste energy' and every time he'd laughed in her face. Even when she saw fit to give him a nice gonk on the head from one of her tonfa. Airship travel was still shaky at best, almost half a fleet's worth having to be called up to replace those lost in the previous week. Schedules ran even tighter, on several occasions students venturing out into the city had been left behind, forcing them to either stay in town or make the track back to Beacon on foot. Some had made it back huffing and buffing, babbling about it like they'd just crossed Atlas's infamous Spine of Ymir. Other students…simply hadn't come back at all leading to a few search parties finding their unfortunate remains. Chicahua had to admit the thought of crossing the treacherous valley that had sprang up in front of Beacon applied to him but as his partner said, they had bigger fish to fry.

Speaking of fish he felt his stomach growl slightly. "Is the kitchen open yet?"

"Sadly no, apparently we're going to be eating mush balls for the next two weeks or so." Olivia answered. "Get your Scroll ready."

He didn't ask another question until they were both onboard and on their way back to the half-dead mega-complex they would be calling home for the next four years. "I know this incident has the Council spooked but is a little decent food too much to ask?"

Her gray-green eyes stared him down. "That depends on how big this is. If it's what I think it is then those guys are too busy shitting themselves to worry about us getting a three-star meal."

They didn't tell anyone about their plan to go into town to investigate the killings further. Team RWBY was out from the get-go, all of them were too shook up to even consider it. Team JNPR were a split case, the odds of them agreeing to help them search for information were fifty-fifty yet the places they planned on going would probably unsettle some of them, namely Jaune and Pyrrha. They tried to go for team CRDL though no one seemed able to find them in the maze of students going in and out. When Neil finally managed to get a hold of Russel and peach the idea to him he seemed to pale a little. Olivia tried to get Cardin aboard however he shot her off, saying he and his team had better things to do than march through some broken corner of town on some wild goose chases. The four teens didn't dare ask any of the other remaining teams.

They all agreed once they were late go for the night they'd catch the third evening flight into town and all meet up to catch the second to last or last flight back to Beacon. The plan was laid out by Olivia and nailed into their heads even as they went through the motions of construction.

Privately Chicahua didn't blame the others for not wanting to get any closer, at least not without the weight of the Academy or the government backing them up. He himself chuckled at the thought of a few kids marching into a nightclub and demanding information about criminal activity. That of course didn't mean they weren't going to try. His gut was telling him to act and he'd do that, even if he and his team had to do it alone.

After finishing both work and his lunch break in the dining hall the next day Chicahua spotted a head of blond hair hurrying across the room to the nearest exit. Judging from the posture and air of nervousness around him practically screamed the youth's desire to get out as fast as possible before anyone noticed him. Quietly he began making his way towards the teenager, already knowing who he was. No doubt like the others he was feeling distraught over the incident thought he seemed more troubled than the others for obvious reasons.

Placing his hand on his shoulder Chicahua spoke in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "You don't have anything to be ashamed of Jaune."

Wincing the blond turned to face the taller boy. His left eye was covered by a medical eyepatch and his cheeks had at least two or three Band-Aids each. His lips had shrunken back down to normal size however his right eye still had a red tinge to it. Two white bandages were still wrapped around his head. All in all, the young knight looked better than he did the night he was brought in however one could still see the scars the battle had left. "No offense Chicahua but that's a load of crap."

"No it's not." He shook his head. Feeling more eyes sight upon them he shot a glance around them, a silent warning to everyone present to move on. "You stood your ground and fought like a true warrior should. You made your ancestors proud by defending your team and the rest of us."

Jaune felt a swift jab to his gut when he said those words. He hadn't defended anything, he'd just stood in a single spot, killed a few and then became a punching bag. "Did you see me out there? I was nothing compared to you guys!"

"If you were nothing to us then why are you still standing here?" His eyes kept the blonde's blue orbs trained fully on him. "Out there on the battlefield you hesitant you die. You didn't hesitant, no matter how painful it was to cut those people down. Do you think anyone of them," He beckoned to the students passing them. "Could have done what you did, could have mustered the strength to do that?"

"I'd rather not think about it." Jaune replied. "If I had just been a little faster and stronger I would have…" An exhausted breath left his lips. "I just wish I was as strong as people like you and Pyrrha sometimes."

The eagle knight examined his shorter counterpart. When he first met Jaune Arc he wasn't expecting the guy's self-confidence to be…lower than average. To him it was unfitting of a warrior. If possible he was going to talk to Pyrrha, something about the Arc's lack of faith just didn't add up. "You are as strong as us. Maybe not physically but that's not all that counts, don't ever let anyone tell you different."

With that he left the Arc to his own life. He hoped his words would have a positive impact on him. He hated seeing potential go to waste.

* * *

Jaune couldn't get the words of the dark-haired Faunus out of his head. How was he strong? If he couldn't be physically strong then what was there? Whatever that meant was soon swept to the wayside as he made his way to the next area that needed work; the amphitheater. Upon arrival his eyes nearly flew out of his head when he saw who else was there with him.

Cardin didn't notice him until he walked right up to him as he was taking a short break and by then they'd been working for almost forty minutes straight. The shorter boy didn't know what to expect when he approached the mace-wielder but he didn't expect him to freeze up as much as he did. While others continued working around them the two former enemies stood locked in a staring contest. One waited for the other to move, their reaction depending on what was said or done.

Mustering up what little courage he believe he had Jaune spoke first, "Thanks for saving me the other night. Without you I would have been…" His courage ran dry just as he was about to finish. Inwardly he cursed himself for falling short in front of the one person who'd probably use that against him. Steeling himself for the onslaught he was sure to follow his body went rigid as a mountain.

Only the barrage of insults never came.

The violet-eyed boy looked uncomfortable and slightly upset. How he desperately wished to return to his work but no, fate had to throw him another curve ball. With a snort he shot a sideways glare at the blond-haired knight. "If I hadn't been there you would have been Arc pudding. All I did was pay you back for Forever Falls, next time you're on your own. Got it?"

Almost four months ago Jaune would have expected a drawn out rant on how useless he was, not this. "Um…okay."

Cardin had turned his back to him when he spoke again, this time barely above a whisper. "You're welcome."

For the rest of the evening Jaune didn't come anywhere near the Winchester. His head was filled with too many thoughts and possibilities he didn't consider before. As he worked he began to take notice that some of the design plans called for major and minor changes to the whole facility. There'd been a slight change in the whole student body with the past few weeks.

_What do they call it? Times of great change? More like times of what the hell is going on. _The blond mentally muttered.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm like Neil, I miss Grainia." Olivia grounded out as they rounded the corner into the Southwest Corner.

"I don't." Chicahua blankly answered. "Besides the roads are still being repaired. You know even if she was ready Neil wouldn't bring out her."

The two fell quiet as they approached their destination. Countless amounts of police tape and spray-painted signs served as warnings that entry to the following neighborhood was going to come at a cost and a risk to life. Various gang symbols had been hastily drawn, some carved into the upturned earth and on the sides of ruined buildings. A collection of neon colored lights glowed a few blocks in, the only island in the sea of darkness that surrounded the area. Unlike his partner Chicahua could catch the faintest smell of booze and alcohol. In a contrast to the rest of the area the neighborhood had been given the least amount of repair work, just barely lagging behind the Animal House.

Straightening out her windbreaker Olivia snorted as the smell hit her noise. If she could have avoided it she gladly would have. It wasn't her safety that concerned her, it was her reputation that would take a blow. "The infamous Coppola Valley, I'd imagine it'd look…slicker."

Eying a straw cat scurry across their path he snorted. "I'm sure they'll apologize for that."

To the few onlookers the duo were a strange sight; two teenagers, one dressed in a light windbreaker and the other like it wasn't fifty-degrees. No one confused them for some couple that had gotten lost on their way home or wondered into the criminal district. The girl gave off an aura of regal power and strength, she was not to be trifled with. The boy was a different matter. Many found themselves shuffling away at the sight if his muscles, stature, and the scars over his body. Like the girl he held an air of well-bred power but more than that; he simple radiated pure, hot-blooded strength. Every time he scanned the area they felt like deer caught in headlights or in the eyes of wolves.

Pickpockets and would-be thieves froze in terror when those eyes landed on them. He wasn't human. All of them came to that same conclusion. A few of the smarter ones realized the girl was with a Faunus, some even recognized them and wisely told their companions to back off.

Olivia and Chicahua didn't let their guard down for one second. They may have had the residents scared but, they knew the moment they gave any of the chance they would take it. Luckily that wasn't a problem for either of them.

"It's nine o'clock, the last flight back to Beacon leaves at eleven forty-three." The olive haired onna bugeisha. "I'll take 22nd Street and the Caffery Square."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take that area?"

They stopped under a street light that seemed to be debating whether or not it wanted to work or not. Sensing they were alone the olive heiress gave him a well-meaning smile. She leaned in close and placed a quick peek on his cheek. "Between the two of us who knows more about dealing with tea-drinking, well-dressed, upper class pricks with egos the size of planets?"

He narrowed his eyes in an annoyed manner. "I have experience, it's just my pricks wear animal skins and have furry ears or tails." He stopped then hung his head in shame. "And mine settle matters through combat."

For the first time since entering this wretched area Chicahua laughed. Her little smiles always did have the ability to break his concentration.

"Good," She turned her back to him and began on her way. "Oh, and if you ever doubt me you'll wake up the next morning in the forest, naked, colored in pink, and with a nice sized bruise on your head."

The eagle knight kept the light smile on his face until he saw her vanish into the darkness. Once she was gone he took out the piece of paper with the list of names written on it. Night clubs, bars, and safe houses he had about two hours to investigate. His nerves blazed at the thought of entering some of them; odds were he wasn't going to get some information without a good fight or two.

* * *

Gillman and Bisset weren't sure what to make of the young man standing before the door to the Emerald Lagoon. Sure they'd had some young customers but this kid wasn't one of them. They'd just started letting people back in even though half of the place as still being repaired. At first they thought the kid had come for a few drinks or maybe to gamble before they saw the black and red ribbon around his left arm. He was a Beacon student.

"Uhh, kid I think you maybe a little lost." Bisset started reaching for his pistol.

He calmly shook his head. "No, I do believe this the Emerald Lagoon, a popular hideout for some of Vale most prolific criminals and chatter boxes."

"Yeah so you can read, what do you want animal?" Gillman barked already drawing his sub-machine gun. He'd figured out the kid faster than his fellow guard was and he wasn't happy about it. "No animals allowed."

"That's a problem because I've got some business inside of there. Someone I need to see." He spoke.

"Well tell us who and maybe we'll leave him a message!" Gillman aimed the gun right at the kid's face, his finger already moving to squeeze the trigger.

Both guards only saw the bullets fly off into empty air. Bisset saw an orange blur moving towards Gillman, a resounding crack followed by the sound of a body hitting the cold ground. He felt a swift kick to the gut knock all the air out of him then another kick to the face shut him down completely.

Chicahua didn't pay either of the men any mind as he pushed the doors open and stepped inside. Through the dark hallway he could hear the thumping music and through his eyes he could see the countless forms hustling back and forth. Some carrying drinks, some carrying tools, and others just lying around, drowning out the world around them.

To his relief the stripper pole was still in disrepair so he wasn't treated to the sight of some nameless woman flashing herself for the amusement of a mass of pigs. The bar was at full service. Men and women sat by it and by the chairs near the broken and boarded up windows, chatting, drinking, and playing cards. The second floor and third floors were the same albeit the damage to them was more extensive, the third being near empty.

Very few batted him an eye for various reasons he didn't dwell on. He took a sit at the bar and remained there quietly waiting for the barkeep to get to him. He'd been in bars before and they'd all smelled the same; disgusting and confusing. His father and uncles had explained the 'magic' they possessed to him countless times though he could never rap his mind around the idea such a place could be special. It was only after he entered Haven and began seeing what the outside world was truly like did he begin to understand the 'magic' they did indeed possess.

As he waited he observed the occupants. Not all of them were criminals or shady characters, he knew honest men and middle class people when he saw them. A handful were getting drunk while the other half were playing cards. Some of them were baiting money or valuables, others were only having a friendly game to take their mind off the stress.

Stress, yes that was what he felt the moment he entered the club. He'd seen it written on the second guard's face the moment he arrived. Everyone seemed stress though he suspected it wasn't from the state the city was in.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked him.

He'd read through the last of drinks they had. Eighty percent of it was alcoholic with the last twenty-percent seemed geared more towards those seeking to avoid alcohol. He shrugged his shoulders, ordering a simple beer and nothing less. Like the others the bartender didn't seem put off by the fact he was serving a seventeen or eighteen year-old boy. Chicahua was happy for that.

A moment later he came back with his beer. The man's fear turned into worry when he notice the blood on his knuckles. Through his eyes he pleaded for him not to cause trouble. Chicahua wasn't able to make him any promises but he did convey he'd do his best to limit the damage.

If the guy was lucky he had insurance on the place.

Over the next twenty minutes Chicahua watched and listen to the river of information. Some fifteen left and were replaced by another ten or so keeping the club a contained hub of activity and noise. By the time he'd finished his beer his targets had arrived.

Most of them were more well-dressed then others. Several of the occupants grunted in disgust before leaving the nightclub.

The men spread out to various directions, engaging in various activities. One of them sat beside Chicahua, ordering a drink. The time to act was now.

Softly drumming his fingers on the wood he spoke in a moderate voice, one he was sure could be heard to half the men around him. "So is it true you Sagans know something about what happened in Greensburg a few days ago?"

His words were a winter gust to the entire nightclub. More people got up and left, some tripping over themselves to get the exit. The man beside him turned to face him, his eyes growing hard.

"And mind telling us where the hell you heard that punk?"

Chicahua shrugged. "Word on the streets. Came from the lips of some of your fellow syndicates. A lot of them pointed me here, told me you guys like coming here to blow off steam."

"Kid, if you know what's good for you then you'll shut your trap and get the hell out of here." One of them said from behind him. Chicahua heard him getting up, drawing what he assumed to be a switch blade. "You're asking about shit that doesn't concern you."

"You see it does actually." His grip on the beer bottle was lax. "Something happened to those people and I'd like to find out who and for what reason. Give the families some closure."

Now he knew he'd gotten their attention. He counted some twelve to sixteen of them; ten on the ground floor and the others on the second floor. Already he'd picked out who to knock out and who to leave still awake so he could get him to talk.

"All you're going to be getting is an ass-kicking!" Another one yelled cracking his knuckles.

"I'm not leaving until someone talks."

"Then I guess you're not leaving at all."

The man behind him, a shaggy bearded brute took a swing. Instead of flesh or air his fist met the warm surface of the bear class. He had a moment to scream in pain at the glass shards that cut his hand before a knee rammed itself into his gut. An open palm strike knocked his brain to the other side of his skull sending him to the floor.

Chicahua caught the right hook aimed at his face from the man beside him, twisting the wrist until he heard it snap. Effortless he dragged him to his front and simply let him go. The knife wielder shoved his ally aside then made a lunge for Chicahua. The tribal warrior easily side-stepped the man, delivering a painful chop to the base of his neck, his eyes going white as he hit the counter with a thunk.

Two came at him at once, knives glistening in the lights. They both swung simultaneously at his head. Chicahua caught their wrists and applied the pressure. He let go of one to the left then socked him in between the eyes then made a jab at the others gut. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another one pulling out his gun. Grabbing a knife from one of the fallen men he threw it with keen precision. It hit its mark in the man's right shoulder, the gun shot creating a small hole in the roof.

He went for the one standing by the window. He grabbed a chair and swung it at him with manic cry. Chicahua quietly caught the chair and proceeded to break it over the man's head. Still holding onto a single leg he hurled it at another thug, it smacking him in the forehead.

The clocking of guns reminded him of the few remaining on the second floor. Now that they'd seen their compatriots taken out so easily they realized they were far more outclassed than they'd original thought. Two of them had their guns trained on him and began firing.

Grabbing the other knife Chicahua started twirling each of them in his hands. The criminals couldn't understand what they were seeing; they could see their bullets heading straight for the teenager then they were hitting the wall, counter, floor, and even some of them. One of them cried in agony when a bullet drove its way into his throat. The shock was amplified Chicahua was suddenly standing on the railings, eying each of them like the mice they were.

The two knives he had stolen went flying in opposite directions; one hitting a thug in the chest and the other into man's throat. Jumping off the railing he delivered a gut-wrenching right hook, sending his target into the ceiling. Now thoroughly scared the remaining men jumped the first floor, moaning in pain at the sudden impact before they made scrambled toward the door.

_THUNK! _

"Like I said, I want answers and I'm not leaving until get them." He coldly stated standing over one of the men.

"I-I don't know anything! I swear to God! I'm just a grunt!"

Picking him up by the collar of his shirt Chicahua didn't bat an eye. "I find that hard to believe. Even rats whisper amongst themselves."

The scared man was about to speak when a series of claps cut him off. All the remaining occupants turned to the right to find a man sitting perfectly still by the window. Apparently he'd been in the middle of a card game based on the various cards thrown on the table. With a grunt he stood up and walked into the light. He was maybe in his early forties with combed back dark brown hair and a scared face. Two scars ran down the left side of his cheeks and another above his right eye. Both eyes were a tale color that bore no traces of anger or worry. He was dressed in a knee-length buttoned up blue coat and his boots were muddy from walking around.

Dropping the man Chicahua faced the stranger with his full attention. He knew those eyes extremely well. They were warrior eyes.

He nodded at the sight of the bodies. "Not bad kid. Not a spak of fear when you entered this place and not when these idiots decided to they wanted to take a trip to the hospital."

"Thank you." Chicahua said lowering his guard a little. No sense of hostility rolled off him. "I'm guessing you're from a rival gang?"

"Yes I am. Personally I don't care about these guys but I do care about the same thing you do." He answered.

The others had almost flattened themselves against the wall or hid behind whatever they could. They couldn't tell if the fight was over or if it was about to jump up another level. The barkeepers certainly hoped so, the place was already hanging on by a thread.

The scared man took out a piece of paper and wrote some information done. He handed it to Chicahua. "Name's Daciano Asquith. You're looking for the Sagans' resident rat: Joss Chandler. Right about now he should be heading over to the Sleeping Bear."

Chicahua searched the man for any sign of lies or deceit; he found nothing. A few whispers from the men reached his ear. He heard 'the vet' over and over again confirming the hypothesis forming in his head. "Thank you for this information Mr. Asquith."

"Don't mention it kid."

"Sorry for the damages." He called to the bartenders after dropping a few golden coins and lien on the table then leaving.

* * *

It was twelve minutes to eleven when Chicahua spotted the man called Joss Chandler. He was almost everything he was expecting; a sandy-haired man in his mid-thirties with a lacky build. Everything about his posture screamed arrogance and paranoia. He walked with his shoulders hunched, hands in his pocket, a cigar in his lips, and eyes open. He deduced he was used to be tailed.

It was an easy decision to follow him. Obviously a direct confrontation would spook the weasel and Chicahua wasn't quite ready for his game to end. He enjoyed the feeling of paranoia was he infecting the man with. That, and he simply enjoyed the view Coppola Valley gave him.

The entire neighborhood was located next to the waterfront and within bus distance to the high-end district. The highest buildings afforded the best view of the Commercial District, even if it was still on life-support. Keeping track of Chandler from such a height wasn't an issue, he could see him, sense him, and smell him while turning his mind to other things. Things such as admiring the view from one of the skyscrapers that was still standing. Crossing both his legs he took a nice woof of the late fall air and enjoyed the view he got.

The sea of lights was interesting to look at but he would have preferred it if it wasn't mainly composed of green, yellow, and red. He imagined the view would be so much better once blue, green, orange, indigo, and all the other colors of the rainbow were added. Ever slowly the streets had become lively, the damage was still visibly however it was becoming overshadowed by the collective effort to repair it. That was what brought a spark of pride and joy into Chicahua's heart.

Beyond the lights and valleys of cranes were a c collection of eye-popping skyscrapers to the far east of his current position. They were already under construction when the earthquake hit yet now it seemed more effort was going into their birth. One of them, a thirty-floor twisting septagon shaped building was rumored to be the Vale City Schnee office. Chicahua's feelings about the structure was mixed, less so than his personal thoughts about the company itself. As far as he was concerned it was just going to be another cooperate tree…granted he didn't see a Faunus being forced to do heavy lifting or being used as grunt workers.

Second tallest was the one he knew the least about. Word was it was owned by some medical company, it overshadowed the Schnee tower but at least four levels. As opposed to the twisting septagon shape it started like a diamond then at least twenty-two levels up it split apart into two towers then reconnected at the top. One of the towers had collapsed, taking a good chunk of the lower building with it. Even now as the night life was beginning to take full hold he saw dozens of lights representing workers and construction going on.

Three or four more skyscrapers were under construction however none of them could hold a candle to the central one, the one closest to the waterside. Speaking bluntly it looked like it was going to be a mix-mash of geometric shapes starting with one half of a hexagon, a few rectangular bases going up the side of an impressive eight-sided tower that already loomed over all the others. A second hexagon was being constructed over the first and likely a third would be added above it.

"Gonna be quit the sight when you're finished eh tower to the stars?" He breathed to the unfinished building.

A spark in his nerves alerted him to a change on the ground. Using the nightly currents he slowly descended south, just barely staying out of view of those on the street. Chandler was now moving much faster and with more urgent fear running through his body. Chicahua cursed. Somehow the bastard had realized he was being tailed and was now doing everything he could to shake his pursuer. Unfortunately that was rather hard since said pursuer was able to fly, had the eyesight of a telescope, and was a trained tracker. There was no corner, no detour Chandler took that he couldn't fool. He may have lost sight of him when he ducked under bridges and buildings but he couldn't erase his scent.

Interestingly the more he followed him the further away he got from Coppola Valley. Did he think making a break of for the mainstream part of town would help him? Chicahua watched Chandler make a mad dash for another club now on the brink of a full-out panic attack. He disappeared behind the doors.

"Thank you for cornering yourself." Chicahua chuckled making a slow descent to the ground. He could have hit the earth with a heart-stopping war cry like he was trained to do but he wanted subtlety. Landing in the shadows of an alley he began walking towards the club, noting it was decidedly less shabby looking than those he'd previously scouted.

His surprise continued when he kicked down both of the doors to find a sight that made him want to vomit. "Oh by the sun why did he have to run here? I'd rather have taken a strip club or shit eating bar!"

All the thugs in the black suits and red ties and shades stared at Chicahua with shock, even the ones on the dance floor. Many of them backed away slowly with every step he took towards the dance floor. One jumped and made a break for the back. Those that were said dance floor scrambled off of it and out the door.

Grabbing a mic he took center stage on the dance floor. "Listen up! I'm here for a Joss Chandler! Slim, blond hair and no doubt you've heard of him at point! Hand him over and I'll leave quietly."

He could feel their blinking eyes on him. Drinks dropped from startled hands and conversations stopped dead in their tracks.

…

…

"Get him!"

A ghost of a smile came to Chicahua's face. They wearing carrying weapons. He drew his.

A resounding cling echoed off of the blades and flesh the whip sword tore into as it made a full rotation. The gashes he left in their bodies weren't deep though he was aware of the once pure white dance floor becoming increasingly stained crimson. Now if only he could do something about the music.

From a sick viewpoint it looked like Sprekelia was dancing to the booming music, like a snake to a snake charmer. It lunged at every black mouse that came within reach, greedily sucking up the blood while the razor shield it was partnered with remained silent.

The smile that was once on his face faded with the realization that these goons were weaker than the previous batch. Every few swings he made his request only to be denied. _How stupid are thugs in this town? _

_CLINK! _

Knowing the sound of his sword being deflected Chicahua immediately went on guard. Two girls had made their way onto the dance floor, one clad in white and the other in red. Neither of them looked particularly happy.

"Do you have any idea how much it cost to get this thing repaired!" The white clade one barked. "Do you!?"

"I believe the money could have been spent on improvements rather than a meaningless white piece of glass of and metal."

The red clad one growled, making her already fierce face all the more red. "Do you have a death wish?"

Chicahua's face went cross. He was becoming increasingly tired of this run around. "No, I simply have questions Joss Chandler can answer. Hand him over and I'll leave you all in peace."

The twins flashed their weapons before him; a pair of bladed heels for the white clad one and a set of double bladed claws for the red one. He snorted. If the gods were merciful these two would be a challenge compared to the dozens of mice he'd kept running into.

The red clad one came in first, slashing at his head and abdomen. They weren't cheap by any means but Chicahua did feel the impact against Xolotl. Shrugging her off he prepared for an overhead swing only to jump back when the white clade one jumped in. Her attacks held a little more force behind them though they still barely left a crack on Xolotl. He broke off and attacked only for her to side step the swing, allowing her twin to lung forward. Raised his shield just in time to block her right swing and his sword to counter her left. Catching sight of a white blur he kicked her away and raised his sword to meet the heel blade the white twin.

Red struck next, making countless attempts at his head forcing him to keep Xolotl raised. _Better, at least two steps above the rest. _He made a three-sixty slash that forced both of them to fall back.

The three stared each other down under the ever changing light of the disco ball overhead. The twins were pissed off while the eagle knight was simply annoyed. This wasn't how he was planning on the night to go. It was frustrating and boring.

Slowly they began to encircle him, eyeing him like he was the prey. He chuckled at that, they may have been good but they weren't _that _good.

White made a dash for him, attacking left and right as he deflected each attack with the titling of his sword. From his rear the red claw-wielder swooped in low, attempting to cannibalize on her sister's diversion. Her face fell into shock when his shield collided heavily with her claws, an orange light burning near the center before a sudden force sent her back. Bringing his shield arm forward he fired up the buzz saw, smirking at the sparks that flew when it grazed against the girl's bladed heels.

Neither of them were suspecting what happened next. He threw his shield at the red clad twin and sent his whip sword in the direction of the white clad twin. Their respective eyes widen in alarm at the sight of the weapons coming towards them. The white clad twin rolled aside just as the sword tip dug into the flashing floor as her sister panicky ducked Xolotl's passing then cursed when it came back again. With the red clad twin taken care of Chicahua focused on the white sister. He had to admit she had some skill as she deflected Sprekelia's lungs with well-timed kicks. Slowly she was moving across the dance floor keeping her eyes pinned on Chicahua.

In his mind's eye he saw the other twin steadily moving into position so both she and Chicahua were in Xolotl's path. Their plan was pretty sound. Too bad it wasn't going to work.

When Xolotl was only three feet away he felt both twins smirk. Their smirk fell when he dropped to one knee, reattached his shield and fell back into a defensive crouch.

Eyes shooting to the dance floor a brilliant idea entered his head. Still in his crouch he extended Sprekelia and brought it down onto the dance floor with a resounding crouch. Pieces of glass and metal shot into the air. Now a nice split lay across the dance floor.

Shrieking in outrage the twins attacked simultaneously attacked. Springing up from his crouch Chicahua swung his macuahuitl, catching both of them off guard. Wrapping his sword around the red clad one he brought her down into the floor, shattering more sections of it. Seeing his dash the white clad twin attempted a high kick only to find her leg entangled in Sprekelia. Panic took over as she was left into the air then brought back down to the flashing floor. Angered even further at seeing her sister harmed the red clad twin leaped forward, fully intent on shredding the saw shield to pieces. Instead her own claws were broken in half when Chicahua swung his shield with inhuman speed.

The next thing she knew she was entangled in the sword's painful grip. Both twins screamed in terror and fury when they were at least released, right a collection of tables and chairs.

Placing Sprekelia on his shoulders Chicahua smirked triumphantly. "So anyone else?"

A series of moans and groveling greeted him.

"HEY KID!"

Probably the club owner came walking up to Chicahua dragging a bound Chandler with him. He looked anything but pleased. Chandler was kicking and screaming, shedding tears with every inch closer he got towards Chicahua.

Dumping him in front of Chicahua he spoke in a voice that reeked of controlled anger. "Take him and go."

"Thank you." He said bowing. "Now Olivia can you please come out and apologize to him."

A series of snorts followed by light laughter grew until the olive haired heiress emerged from one of the tables. "Sorry, it's just he looked like he was having so much fun and I didn't want to spoil it for him."

"It was a work out." Chicahua shrugged. His eyebrows rose for a second before turning in the direction he'd tossed the twins. "Er, sorry about that! You two have talent, you just need to build on it! I'm free if you ever decided to do so!"

Junior was glad Melanie and Mitila were able to say everything he was fighting against saying. His hateful gaze turned to Chandler who squealed. "You have caused me _so _much trouble! First you sell me out, taking over eighty-thousand Lien from me, steal a good chunk of my customers, _cheat _me out of my earthquake insurance, and then you bring _this _here!" he screamed pointing at Chicahua and Olivia. "Oh you ass is grass now Chandler!"

"We just need him to answer a few questions then he's all yours." Olivia said in a sing-song voice.

Grabbing the blond by the shoulder Chicahua put on his war face, putting the fear of God in Chandler. "Let's speak the 'I don't know anything' and get down to business. What do you know about what happened at Greensburg?"

It took Chandler looking back and forth between the three sets of eyes on him to realize he was thoroughly screwed. "W-Word is….Roman Torchwick…" his eyes shot to Junior then the teenagers. "He's working for someone, a lady named Cinder Fall. They've teamed up with…I guess some mercenary company or something. Big shot guys, and when I say big shot I mean shit like arms running and dealing. International running and dealing." Stopping to catch his breath he stared at the still flashing disco ball, perhaps muttering some kind of prayer. "I-I-I don't know for sure but…what happened was the result of a…of some kind of viral strain that came out of CuraGen labs."

Both Chicahua and Junior's expressions indicated the name was alien to them however the frown on Olivia's face hardened. She answered the unspoken question both men were pondering. "Pharmacy company. Big namer, actually, as of eight years ago it took the title of Remnant's largest pharmaceutical company. Shit this changes things."

"So can I go now?" Chandler whimpered.

"No."

"But I've told you everything!"

Chicahua shook his head. "You're still hiding something. What is it you're not telling us?"

"…Cinder's black mailing CuraGen."

Everyone blinked.

"How in the hell can she do that? We're talking about a multi-million Lien company here." Chicahua questioned.

"The company's in financial trouble." Olivia guessed.

"How so?"

"Kid you need to check the paper more." Junior groaned.

"I do check the paper." The Faunus countered. "I just don't care much for finance." His eyes went to Olivia then Junior. "He doesn't know anything else. He's all yours."

They could still hear Chandler's screaming and begging as they left the club. They still had at least ten minutes before they had to catch the last ride back to Beacon though they didn't feel like using it. Not surprisingly they found Izaak and Neil waiting for them. Izaak was whistling while Neil had a frown on his face. They exchanged information before the airship arrived, each teenager taking what they heard in silence.

They murmured to each other nearly the entire ride back. Neil's frown had changed into a borderline sneer. "She's here."

"Yeah, here and plotting something." Olivia added keeping both her hands clasped together.

Izaak and Chicahua remained neutral. The dark haired boy kept his eyes on the window as the other simply leaned back in his seat. "We'll find her eventually. Whatever she's planning had to have been slowed down by the earthquake."

"First we have to find Roman. He'll know where to point us." Neil said.

Very little was said between the four for the rest of the flight. Instead of going to their dorms when they landed they headed straight for the tower their headmaster resided. It was decided long ago that they'd report whatever they found. The only question they had was what was going to be the reaction.

* * *

**I hope I managed to flush out some more of the characters and plot. This chapter marks what I guess you could the second story arc which is going to focus on character development and interaction. **


	8. Chapter 8: Welcome Back Daily Life

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Welcome Back Daily Life**

* * *

_Three weeks later…_

* * *

"Russel get up." Cardin growled for the fifth time. When there was no response he finally decided he'd been nice enough to his partner and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Russel! Wake the hell up you idiot! We have class!" To empathize his point he threw the Mohawk-haired teenager to the floor.

Still clutching his pillow he moaned in frustration. "No! No, no don't say it!"

Ripping the pillow out of his hands Cardin yanked him up. "Get dressed _now_. I am not being late on the first day classes start because of you lazy ass."

Like so many students Russel had tried to deny it with all his heart, he'd blocked out every whisper that mentioned it. Alas, it did little to erase the dark reality he'd woken up to. Begrudgingly he made his way towards the dresser, ignoring the snickering of his teammates. Did they not realize what hell awaited them beyond the safety of their dorm? Was he the only sane one among them? The answer to most of those questions if you asked him probably would have been yes but that's beside the point.

Once the R of team CRDL had finished dressing out they all turned to the door. Beyond that door lied the beginning of what they hoped would be a fresh start for them.

"We all remember what to do if anyone slacks off?" Sky questioned glancing around.

Dove rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah Sky. Didn't we also agree you'd stop acting like mommy to everyone?"

"Well someone has to be the grown-up here." Sky countered.

"Oh so like you were one before?" Dove barked

The leader of the bird-themed team stepped over, grabbed both boys by the head then bashed them together. It was just hard enough that in a minute or two they would shake it off but the pain was enough to make this stop. He crossed both his arms and began speaking down on them, "Shut it! We're going back to listen to old people talk about old shit and we're going to be spending the rest of the year, being asked questions about that old shit and having to listen to everyone else's! We don't need you two adding to the pile!"

"Uh, how are we supposed to stay awake during Professor Port's lessons?" Russel asked. It wasn't the first time he'd asked his leader the question and every time he'd dodged it one way or another. Now that they were due back he saw it as the perfect time to ask. "If you've got some kind of secret technique we're all ears."

With all three of his teammates staring him down Cardin's cheeks went slightly red. His arms remained in their cross position as he too pondered the question. At one point he'd try to go to bed early so he'd be full of energy the next day. It worked and then something strange happened…his eyes got hazy the moment he heard the old Huntsman open his mouth. After that he'd thrown that idea out the window.

Of course he could have suggested the 'unthinkable'; actually try to stay awake and listen.

"Just think of something!" he sputtered. "Do you idiots want breakfast or not!"

"You mean do we want mush balls or not?" The blue haired teenager asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You wanna be bored _and _hungry?" Cardin fired back.

Finally seeing he'd tamed his teammates the orange turned to the door and recklessly opened it. A sharp eep made him wince at the fact he almost hit someone. _Great, another problem I'm going to have to deal with. _At the least he could apologize. "Urgh, sorry about that." The good news was he able to get the words out before his eyes spied a pair of rabbit ears he'd grown quite familiar with. _Shit. _

While Velvet blinked twice the rest of team CFVY seemed to glare daggers at the mace wielder. Ordinarily having three sets of eyes belonging to upper classmen would have frightened the average freshman yet, for all his collective traits, Cardin wasn't the average freshman. It was in his nature to meet one death glare with another, it was how he was raised; however, since he'd decided to try to be a better student he curbed the urge. Like them his eyes hardened but not in anger, just to show he wouldn't be intimidated.

The standoff grew when all three of his teammates joined him. Like Cardin their eyes had hardened in defiance. Having them at their side made all the previous annoyance he felt for them disappear into the now heated air.

After another minute of tension Velvet was able to shoo her team forward not casting one sideways glance at Cardin. From where the boys were standing they could tell she was bracing for some form of insult as were her teammates. Once they were at least five feet away all four of them halted in their place, clearly shocked before continuing on their way. A handful of other students that had been watching the standoff looked between the two teammates. Some of them looked disappointed like they were expecting a fight to break out. Life continued to move once the shock and disappointment wearied off.

Dove spoke first, leaning against the doorway. "Man I'll be glad when they finally graduation. A year of peace."

The four chatted quietly until they found a table in the dining hall and began to, both reluctantly and cheerful, eat their 'breakfast'.

"Hey guys," their leader spoke catching their attention. "Thanks for what you do back there." He finished with a smile.

All three stopped eating as cocky grins manifested on each of their faces.

"Well what were we supposed to do? Even if our leader is a bit of a dick." Dove remarked.

All four cracked up at the dirty blond's words. Once he'd finished laughing Cardin decided now was the time to tell them. "I know we all said we'd last try to pay attention in class but just in case it gets too unbearable I got us all something to help pass the time. Look at your Scrolls."

Puzzled they each examined their Scrolls to find a new app had been sent to each of them. It was a big red e with a gaming controlled in the left corner. One by one their faces lit up before they each jumped over the table and bear-hugged Cardin.

What many students and some staff were seeing was a sight that would stick in their heads for months to come. Team CRDL had a reputation, granted it wasn't a good one but what they were watching made some wonder if the four boys had lost what little minds they had. Russel, Dove and Sky were all in the process of repeatedly hugging Cardin and calling him the best leader ever. Said leader was doing everything in his power to pry the three off, screaming that they were in public. Some shook their heads while others watched the display with faint smiles.

As the public display continued Cardin began to question if one day he wasn't going to smash every one of his teammates' heads in. Just as soon as the thought took root it was overtaken by the joy he felt from making his friends happy.

They'd come far (by their standards) in the time since Forever Falls. That night while Cardin was licking his wounded pride none of his teammates met his eye. None of them really talked to each other for almost a whole week.

For a time he thought it was going to be up to him to break the growing ice between them until they did it themselves. _"WE'RE SORRY!"_ They'd all collectively shouted when they corned him in the training room. It wasn't the first time the mace-wielder had seen his three friends close to tears though it was the first time he'd seen such shame in their eyes. He supposed leaving their leader at the mercy of a hungry Ursa would do that to a trio. Forgiveness didn't come immediately after, as a matter of fact Cardin never once uttered the words though his actions made up for it in the coming weeks just as Russel, Dove, and Sky had worked to redeem themselves in the eyes of their leader. In a strange way the whole incident had brought the four closer together than before. That closeness came in handy when they were forced to put their heads together to keep from flunking the semester.

_I'm stuck going back to listen to crumy teachers lecture me all day…but at least I've got my friends to share the ride with me. _He thought with a mental grin. When they finally got off of them he made an idle threat to each for everyone who was still watching. _Who am I kidding they all saw that! It'll be a miracle even some loser doesn't…_Whatever Cardin was about to say died when he was sucked back into conversation with his teammates. All the peering eyes on him were forgotten and only his three closest friends remained.

* * *

After five straight minutes of staring Coco was the one who voiced what team CFVY was thinking, "What in the _hell _was that?"

None of her three teammates could properly answer her. Since Fox couldn't see he wasn't privy to the affectionate display however he could hear and sense what was going on. Having hearing three times better than the average person he could hear every word that was being said and indeed did it make his head spin. Yatsuhashi…he'd just stopped processing the event period. Long ago had his interests in team CRDL stopped. What he saw only made him more hesitant to reignite it.

Perhaps Velvet was the only one who felt even a shred of happiness at seeing team CRDL's joyful display. Strange as it was she'd kept an eye on the four ever since they'd stopped bullying her and almost everyone else. Something had happened that had made the former team of bullies change, even if it was ever so slightly. More importantly she'd noticed a change in their leader's disposition towards almost everyone around him. This morning for instance she was fully expecting him to call her out when he almost hit her by nearly kicking his door open. She was shocked when he almost froze at the sight of her moments after apologizing. Naturally she waited for the apology to be taken back and replaced with some kind of animal based insult. When it didn't come she wondered if she was staring at the same Cardin Winchester that made it a habit to mock her or any other Faunus he saw.

Now watching him smile and laugh with his teammates made her slightly happy for whatever change had taken place within him. Of course that didn't mean she was interesting in finding out more, oh no, she was perfectly happy as long as the armored seventeen year old wasn't bothering her or anyone else. She had much bigger issues than the antics of team CRDL. Namely passing the class that had almost every student either scared out of their minds, confused, or flat out loathed to go to. It may have come as a surprise to some students that during their second year they were required to take psychology for at least two years, three years if they wanted to max out and of course take an end of the year psychology test as well. Only a handful of students actually enjoyed psychology and even they would be hard pressed to say the studying under a certain teacher was fun.

Team CFVY walked right into said teacher's classroom with near blank looks on all their faces. Countless other students were either groaning or trying to put on brave faces as they began taking their sits. Like all the other classes psychology took place in an ordinary classroom (contrary to what rumors were spoken) with the only difference being the…items on the professor's desk and those written on the chalk board. Diagrams of the human brain were written with specific portions pointed highlighted and pointed out, colored outlines of humans were plastered against the chalkboard with different emotions written in the center of them and there was a single question that remained written on the near the far right of the board.

A call went through the classroom the moment footsteps from outside were heard and every student scrambled to their sit. Conversations quick and easy deaths leaving only the occasional muttering a handful of students to fill the classroom. Beads of sweat began to break out on a few students faces causing their classmates to either silently curse them out or encourage them to bear with it. Team CFVY was immune to this. They were among the handful that had gotten used to the air of danger and uneasiness that surrounded Beacon's best psychologist. It was one of the few things that made them the 'favorites' of said psychologist.

The fifty-nine year-old man that walked into the room could have easily been confused for some elderly lawyer or businessman with the way he was dressed. A dark brown suit with a navy blue tie. His tawny brown hair was starting to turn gray towards the back as well as recede which fit perfectly with the wrinkles developing on skin. In his youth one might have gone as far as to call him handsome with the shade of hair he possessed and sea-green eyes. If you had met this man in his youth you probably would have said he was quite the looker…and he was most likely a criminal or devit do the air he gave off. It shouldn't have seemed possible for the five-eight man with a somewhat thinning frame and no visible weapons to scare an entire classroom of second, third, and a few fourth year Beacon students into silence but he did. That was what made him one of the most valued and most feared teachers in all the academy. That was the 'power' of Lecter J. Hopkins.

Placing his suitcase on the able he flashed a good-willed smile at all his students. "Good morning guys! I certainly do hope you all enjoyed your few weeks off because we have a lot of work to get done!" The murmur of ahs and groans made Hopkins face burst with delight. "We'll be having an exam on chapters four through six in your textbooks as well as the frontal lobe section of the human brain two weeks from now." He let that sink into the students' minds, noting many of the moans and outcries. "I know you all are probably very upset with me but here's the thing; I have a list of things I want to make sure you guys know by the end of the year and we're just a little over half-way through the second semester. We're short on time so we've got to get moving. What do you all think of the incident at Greenberg Intersection?"

What happened next wasn't a rare occurrence in the classroom of Professor Hopkins; a single question silencing a classroom of future warriors. Eyes darted all over the room. He expected that, the first thing his students did was look to each other rather than try and come up with answers themselves. That was probably the thing he was going to enjoy the most this year, actually it's what he enjoyed every year; forcing students to look to themselves for the answers. He'd heard enough talk about the incident and decided he might as well get his class's opinions, how sad none of them were willing to share. None of them ever seemed willing to share until someone mustered up the courage to speak their minds and from there it just became a game of follow the leader. Problem was that someone usually only came along after almost ten minutes of near unbreakable silence.

By the third week of the year Hopkins had already deduced those that would fail his class, those that would pass, those that would succeed, and those that he'd take a personal interest in. The first group made up about twenty-two percent of the class. The second made up a bulk, around forty-five percent. The third twenty percent. The last category made up the remains of the class. Knowing this his sea-green eyes began to fall on certain students making them squirm in their sits.

Lucky for them Velvet at last raised her hand. Hopkins wasn't exactly pleased but he was happy that Velvet was the one who decided to lead the way. She'd probably picked up on it a few times, her teammates certainly had. Out of the forty-one students in his class she was one of his favorites. "Yes Velvet? What do you think of the tragedy?"

* * *

Izaak had been in history class for only twenty minutes and he only had one thought; _Shit I'm gonna need more paper. _He'd burned through half the pages in his notebook and half the energy he'd gained from eating the crappy breakfast. He feared it was going to be a combination of that and the stress his brain was gaining was going to knock him out just as it did to Neil. On second thought he didn't think he could sleep. That was the one thing he had to hand to Doctor Oobleck. The man certainly caught your attention…until he lost you in the maelstrom of information he spewed out. _Does this guy run on solar power or something? _

Not for the first time Izaak questioned how this man had been given a license to teach. The man didn't seem to notice or even care he'd lost half the class. Three times he'd been asked to slow down. No matter what he said or promised it seemed like he was _incapable _of slowing down his speeches. Rumors didn't do the glass-wearing instructor justice.

Neil yawned, pushing himself upward on his elbows. "Where are we now? I passed out towards the middle of the Age of Formation."

"We're at the ehhhh…look for yourself." The bronze haired boy mumbled sliding his foster brother his notebook. "I'll take a five minute nap."

Shrugging the gray haired youth began copying the notes, slightly taken back by how much Izaak had written and how their doctor was _still _talking. It wasn't the first time Neil had met a person who seemed so full of energy, it was just the first time he'd met such a person in both a teaching role and who used that boundless energy to power his mouth. That had to be it because there was no way air could do that. He at least thought that until he caught a whiff of the caffeine in his breath causing him to groan. Now he understood what meant when they called caffeine the 'ultimate energizer'. Neil wandered if he spiked the coffee in some way.

Once he'd finished copying all of his brother's notes Neil placed his pencil down and simply observed the docootr drone on ignorant of the stares, naps, and whispers that were going on behind him. Well, he wasn't too ignorant of the fact he'd lost over half the class since he grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing with near-masterful penmanship. Indeed the green haired man's arm moved with the same quickness his mouth and brain did.

Slouching back into his chair the young knight decided now would be a good time as any to observe his classmates. They were used to the professor's erratic teaching style so he figured he might as well learn from them.

As he expected Olivia and Chicahua were able to keep up. Every student around them stared in wide-eyed awe at the pair, their hands moving at speeds that made it seem like they were vibrating in place. Chicahua's expression was focused just as it was always was in battle. Olivia's was rimmed with annoyance like she wanted to say something though she'd already figured it'd be best to wait until Doctor Oobleck finished talking; provided that moment ever came. Sky and Dove seemed to be straining wrists trying to keep up with their copying until Sky shouted of them to slow down.

"I already have slowed down Mr. Lark. Several times. I do believe I'm writing at a reasonable pace."Doctor's Oobleck's voice came.

The blue haired student's cheeks went cherry in an instant causing a few snickers and snorts from the surrounding students. Neil smirked a little to himself. While Sky began snarling curses at his teammate for not having his back the other two members of team CRDL remained intensely focused on their Scrolls. If Neil had to guess they were probably playing games with each other.

Not surprising to him Pyrrha was actually paying attention like she always did in class. He chuckled at the dubious look on her face, it hadn't changed one bit since Sanctum. Ren was giving it his best shot to keep up but due to the orange-haired container of hyperactivity beside him that was impossible. Nora was on her Scroll too, her face far more animated than any of the other students around her. She seemed almost alien to the fact her occasional shouts of joy and grunts of disapproval could be heard two rows up and down. From his position to her far left he could just barely see her notebooks half-filled with notes and the other half filled with doodles. Come to think of it if he leaned over (as much as he could without getting out of his seat) some of the notes looked far too neat for a person of Nora's caliber. Couple that with the way Ren was trying and failing to bring Nora's attention back to the lesson led Neil to assume there was something more than just mere partnership between the two. Beside Pyrrha he saw the trend of one does the work and the other copies applied to all of team JNPR. Much like him Jaune had slumped in his chair, head in his arms like he was trying to fall asleep. Unlike Neil the blond had apparently been unable to do so, looking at the board with ever growing fearful eyes.

Taking out his Scroll Neil decided he might as well help out his fellow knight. If he was what he thought he was than he didn't see the problem in helping out.

Jaune's heart nearly exploded from his chest when he felt his Scroll vibrate in his pocket. Fumbling with it he was shocked to find he'd received a message. Once more his blue eyes shot between his teacher and those around him. _Well it's not like he can single me out when everyone else is doing it. Right? _Jaune hoped his luck held out when he decided to open the message up and read it. As it read; **Relax dude. Pyrrha's got you covered. **Confusion took hold of Jaune's face especial when he saw who it had come from. Peering over his seat all he saw was Neil flash him a lazy grin before nodding off. _How does he always do that? How does he sleep through this? _

His face screwed up when he saw how much Pyrrha had written and his stomach started to do somersaults. _She's going to make me copy all that done later on! _He thought with grim horror. Well, to be fair he'd gotten to the point where he could copy done almost half of whatever she wrote without quitting. And of course he could actually explain half of what he was copying done so that at least proved he was making progress. In his book that meant he was free to slack off, even if it was just a little.

Almost as soon as Jaune finished contemplating another message came up on his monitor, this time from Ruby. A rush of heat seemed to jet towards his cheeks as he read it, **Thanks for the homemade pop-tart, really hit the spot. **There was a smiley face attached to the end that became mirrored on Jaune's face. Craning his head to his left he saw her shyly hiding behind Weiss. Casting a quick look at the professor he typed in a reply and sent it.

Ruby would have squalled at the reply if her common sense didn't kick in, **You're welcome**_._** If I can do you want me to keep making them for you? **When she got his reply of what flavor she'd wanted she began listing all the fruits and sweets she could until reality kicked back in.

**R:Or just get me whatever you can. Anything will do! **

**J:I'll see if I can do chocolate, strawberry, and maybe blueberry. **

Instead of answering the young reaper leaded over her seat to find he was doing the same. Almost six seats apart and in the middle of a class of half-sleeping, half parting teenagers the two exchanged smiles. Ruby felt grateful for the fact Jaune had shared his secret talent for cooking with her. Come to think of it Ruby actually took a small degree of pride in the fact he'd shared such a skill he'd guarded so closely with her. It made her feel special in a way.

**R: Are you understanding a lick of what he's talking about? **

**J: Not a word of it. Though I do kind of know where he's going. It's part of my family history. **

**R: Than you can tutor me later! Awesome! You can make it sound better than Doctor Oobleck, I'm sure of it. By the way what else can you make besides pop-tarts? Maybe you could cook us lunch or dinner! **

**J: Again it comes down to what I can find. **

**R: Leave that much to me! I've stolen cookies, strawberries, cakes, and every other sweet imaginable from right under a dragon's noise! **

An idea wormed its way into Jaune's head as he read the last message. He double checked to make sure Doctor Oobleck didn't notice when he all but stood out of his seat. Ruby did the same so she could get a look at whatever it was he was holding up.

What she was a picture of a furious Yang, her Semblance in full effect, looking like some kind of evil spirit. Near the bottom was a single line of text; **You mean this dragon? **

Barely continuing her laughter she sent her reply. She could have just sent him a simple text message, instead she chose to show him. **Yep. **

Then image of Yang was replaced with a picture of X-Ray with Ruby's face photo shopped onto it. **You Ruby Rose are a hero. **

Now both teenagers were laughing, not caring if anyone noticed them. Even if they did they probably wouldn't care. Through her laughter Ruby was faintly aware they'd probably be paying for this later on but for now she was simply glad she could share a moment with one of her closest friends. It was something she looked forward to have again.

While the blond and redhead were busy a certain white haired heiress was watching the whole thing with growing frustration. Ordinarily she wouldn't have bated an eye on what went on between the two team leaders but it was kind of hard to do when she was stuck between them. She was going to have to get them back for torturing her. On top of being stuck with a scatter-brained teacher for the next hour she was going to have to sit through her teammate making cyber poppy dog eyes at her not-so-secret admirer. Weiss wasn't blind to what she saw when she watched the two. If her guesses were accurate then she was going to have to ask for a seating change because she was _not _sitting through a whole year of this.

It fell to her to nudge Ruby back into reality when she noticed Doctor Oobleck had finally stopped writing. Her face remained neutral as opposed to Ruby's whose crumbled when she saw almost the entire chalkboard had been filled up. Standing proudly in front of it was Doctor Oobleck. No one could read what was running through his mind nor did anyone dare to speak up.

Ruby's voice had gone from bubbly to near mute. "D-D-Do w-we…have to write d-d-down all that?" She whimpered.

"Actually no Miss Rose you do not." His sharp voice cut through the room. Ruby nearly jumped at the shock of both having her question answered and having it heard in the first place. "However by the end of third semester I fully expect all of you to know every scrape of information written on this board."

There was a collective sweat drop followed by a rather loud, "WHAT!?"

The glass wearing man waited patiently for the noise to settle down before speaking. "Let me all ask you this; if none of can memorize a set amount of dates and place events with them how can any of you be expected to manage important operations? Tactical meetings? Dare I even say assassinations? The birth-dates of your loved ones?"

Ruby, feeling somewhat set back decided to raise her hand. "Um, sir, why wouldn't we remember any of those things? I mean there'll all important."

There was a collective snort and whisper that went through some of the students. Some students like Weiss, Blake, Ren, and Neil just shook their heads. They all knew they were in hot water, they didn't need to make things worse.

Apparently the doctor knew exactly how to turn this around. "Which brings me back to my previous question; how can you be expected to remember 'important' things such as that when you can't recall 'useless' information such as this?"

"He's right." Chicahua spoke up, ignoring the glares of those around him. "Besides this information isn't totally useless per say, much of it actually qualifies as basic history."

"In what flee-infested world does it count as basic history?" A student sneered eying the dark haired Faunus with distaste.

If the girl's comments bothered Chicahua then he didn't let it show. He kept his full attention on Doctor Oobleck. "With all due respect Doctor, odds are seven out of ten everyone, including you sir, have a relative that died during the Crimson Age."

A handful of students gnashed their teeth when his statement was met with an approving nod. "That is exactly correct Chicahua. The reason you all need to know this is, no matter how horrific you will find it, without it odds are none of us would be standing here today."

"Hold on a second." Russel interrupted. "You're saying without four-hundred and fourteen years of everyone killing each other none of us would be alive?"

"Precisely Mr. Thrush." He answered without missing a beat. "It falls to all of you to insure such a crisis never occurs again thus it falls to all of you to understand why this bloodshed lasted so long. So…to kick off this new unit tell me, what was the Crimson Age?"

The white haired heiress prepared herself to speak until another voice cut her off. "The Crimson Age was a period of time lasting from 1067 G.V to 1481 G.V which saw all four kingdoms engulfed in near non-stop war and social anarchy. During said time period the average life expectancy for humans, male and female alike, was thirty years. For Faunus it was twenty-five. The era is primarily remembered for the dreaded Delta War in which all four kingdoms, which finally managed to centralize themselves, went to war with each other resulting in some eight-hundred and nine thousand and seven hundred dead."

"Perfect Miss Takeko. Now can anyone explain to me what the Delta War was?"

Weiss shot out of her seat surprising both Jaune and Ruby. "The Delta War was the war fought between all four kingdoms and also the event that somewhat served as the climax of the Crimson Age. It started in 1468 G.V and ended on 1481 G.V. with the signing of the Treaty of Breas and thus ended the Crimson Age. Between those years around three hundred thousand lives were lost in the in-kingdom fighting however during this time frame all the kingdoms experienced a boom in technology." Still keeping her eyes on the professor she placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "The Crocea Mors owned by my classmate here being a shining example of the technology developed during the course of the war."

In the short pause Weiss took Olivia decided to fire back. "Between 1474 and 1478 Vale fell behind in the arms race leaving Atlas and Mistral as the two took the lead in weapons development-"

Weiss cut her off. "Such as the N2 Bomb and the Atlas's development of the Pyrite Bomber-"

"Which devastated a large portion of Vale leaving the country in the grip of fear and mass hysteria. Vacuo meanwhile began targeting key military figures from Mistral starting with Admiral Albinus."

Gray-green eyes locked with light blue eyes in a heated exchange. For those on Weiss's side of the room an arctic chill went through the air. Those on Olivia's side felt an overwhelming sense of dread choke the air they were breathing. The only person who seemed immune was the doctor. He sensed the two rival auras starting to bash against each other and as a teacher of Beacon there was only one thing he could do.

"First one to answer all my questions correctly receives ten extra credits on their end of semester grade!"

"HUH!?"

An outcry went up from the stands though it was quickly silenced by the titanic auras radiating from the two girls.

Yang woke up from her nap and seemed puzzled at the current situation. Looking between the white haired heiress and the green haired heiress she could simply see a spark that was waiting to be lit. Blake's expression was more neutral though she did have the same feeling as her partner. Ruby and Jaune were wishing they were able to move seats as they could feel ice beginning to form on their skin due to their close proximity to Weiss. Both of them had gone from shock to fear. Ren watched the two ready to fire off at each other with a slightly mortified look while Nora just started cheering the two girls on. Team CRDL shot a collective look at the door, wishing like so many other students they could flee to the safety of the hallway.

"How much time is left in class?" Cardin asked beginning to feel his skin tighten.

"A-About another fifty-two minutes." Dove muttered started to tremble in his seat.

"Y-Yo-You don't think they can debate for that long do ya?" Russel asked fearful.

"First question!" The Professor shouted. "What was the first naval battle of the war?"

"The Battle of Traven Bay!" Weiss nearly shouted.

"What was the dreadnaught deployed that turned the war in Mistral's favor in 1475?"

"The _Cetus_." Olivia calmly replied.

"Who was the Vale Hunter responsible for the success of the Hex Offensive?"

"Gilroy the Red!" Olivia answered again.

"Who was the commanding officer of the Atlas Army at the Battle of Crystal Garden?"

Weiss met the question this time. "Valin Ryker!"

"Which kingdom managed to sink the _Cetus _during the Battle of Lir?"

"Vale!" Weiss countered.

"In what year did the citizens of Vacuo begin to rebel against the government?"

Olivia bit the question first. "1476!"

Izaak and Neil looked at each other. "I'd say Liv' just found her rival." Izaak stated to which his foster brother nodded.

"Yeah, quick start writing down what they're saying. Odds are he's reading off test questions." Neil frantically grabbed for pen and paper.

For the next half-hour there were only three voices heard in the classroom; the doctor's and that of two teenage girls. Half-way through it became three when Nora decided she wanted to jump in as well.

* * *

"Are you sure you still have enough energy left for Grimm studies Liv?" Neil asked with a cocky grin. "I know you've been going nonstop since history, it wouldn't kill ya to take a break."

The gray-green eyed girl shook her head. "No need Neil. I'm perfectly fine. In fact besides history and tactics this is probably my favorite class of the day."

"That sentiment will change once you meet Professor Port." Blake muttered.

"How bad is he?" Izaak questioned. "I've heard his name come up before in old records and I've heard the stories about all the hunts he's gone on."

"Well he's a nice enough person he just…" Blake paused trying to come up with the right word to describe the bearded Huntsman. "I'll just let you see for yourself."

The members of team IONC found it somewhat odd how they'd spent most of their day either alongside team RWBY and JNPR though they certainly weren't complaining. Even if they all felt like were walking next to two walking sticks of dynamite

The 'word battle' between Weiss and Olivia had come to an end the minute the bell rung signaling the end of history class. No one, not even Doctor Oobleck could believe the amount of determination both girls showed; answering almost every question, one after the other. It rapidly became clear this wasn't about grades, it was about pride. In the end no one was really sure who won and frankly everyone was pretty sure Doctor Oobleck had stopped counting who got what right. When both girls looked to him to declare a winner his words sent both of them into a near snorting fury.

"It's a tie."

Once those words were spoken a good number of students hurried out of the classroom fearing the explosion that was going to come from the two heiress. Doctor Oobleck didn't budge one bit even as the two glared at him with enough force to blast a hole in a steel wall. Then they turned their glare towards each other. In the background their teammates watched the exchange with uneasy eyes and nervous twitching.

Izaak, for his part, decided to lighten some of the tension constricting the group. "We have PE this Friday right? Think maybe we can sign those two up?" he looked at Ruby silently asking her for her approval.

Ruby wasn't sure to say yes to the agreement or no. She was just as terrified of Weiss as her classmates were. "You think that might help them work things out?"

"No Ruby it won't." Chicahua cut in with his arms cross. There was a proud look on his face which puzzled the girls but it left the two boys scratching their heads in embarrassment. "This isn't something we should stop, on the contrary this is good, very good."

"Care to explain that one for us ponytail?" Yang leered raising an eyebrow.

"We have just witness the birth of a rivalry between princesses. Now, odds are up until graduation they'll be going at in everything from grades to combat. It'll benefit both of them." He spoke proudly.

Blake however had a different sentiment. "Provided they don't maim each other first."

The two said girls came walking back to their respective teams with their heads held up high. "Come on guys, if we keep standing here we're going to be late." Olivia said walking right past her boys.

Throughout the rest of the day word had begun to spread of the 'showdown' in history class between the two. Everywhere both teams went they could catch a whisper or a look. Just as Chicahua said a rivalry had been born between Olivia and Weiss as evident by the fact they kept a constant eye on each other in whatever classes they shared.

Now it seemed that rivalry would hit a high stride as the two teams made their way towards Professor Port's class.

Yang looked into her bag and grinned upon seeing its contents. Izaak leaned over and was puzzled by what he saw. "Er, Yang, what's the pillow for?"

"You'll see." She grinned.

"Okay can someone tell me just what's so bad about the professor? He's not a motor mouth like Professor Oobleck is he?"

"Oh no he's worse," Weiss stated. "He'll put you to sleep within the first ten minutes of-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The eight teenagers nearly jumped out of their skins. Chicahua pushed through the crowd of students leaving the rest to follow his league. Coming up to the front they felt their stomachs hit the floor.

"What the hell!?"

Snapping at the crowd was a Wyvern, a juvenile at best. It stood some four feet in the doorway in a crouched position. Hatred burned in its amber eyes from sending the audience back in fear and shock.

"How the hell that thing get in here!"

"Who cares! Kill it!"

"With what! Our textbooks!?"

"Someone call a teacher!"

"Mine!"

Chicahua threw himself at the Wyvern with a grin developing on his face. Behind him spectators shrieked in horror. Team RWBY looked onward with shocked eyes that quickly went to the other three members of team IONC.

Olivia waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry. He does this all the time."

_THUNK! _

The shock that went through the crowd froze everyone where they were. Chicahua blinked three times before pushing himself off the floor. He turned to see the Wyvern still snarling at him. He didn't feel hurt yet he knew for a fact he'd hit the Grimm dead on. Focusing his eyes he the reason for everyone's confusion.

"Ah, very cute trick." He stood up and walked up to the Wyvern. Facing the crowd he shot them a dull smile. "No need to fear, he's harmless." To prove his point he ran his hand directly through the creature's head. It passed through like he was sliding his fingers through a ray of sunlight.

"Indeed my dear boy though I advise you that the real things won't be!"

It was almost impossible to count the number of glares the students were shooting at Professor Port as he began his class. Many of them voiced their compliments about being the test dummies for his new holographic display.

"Now I know how eager all of you must be to go up against a real Wyvern but before you do that you first need to know exactly what it is you will be fighting." He started bringing up three Wyverns on the holographic display he'd had installed. "For one reason or another Wyverns have evolved faster than about seventy-percent of all other known Grimm." The three images changed showing new types of Wyvern; different armor, different features. "Over the years there have been about nine different variations of the Wyvern from all known parts of Remnant."

For what a few would say the first time not s single person fell asleep in Professor Port's class. He'd done what had been considered impossible, he was able to hold his student's attention, even when he started lecturing. One might say the reason was a handful of students still had vivid memories of fighting off a flock of Wyverns during the Breach a few weeks ago. By the estimates of some teachers and staff about thirty students had died from Wyvern attacks leaving behind a strong disdain for the flying Grimm amongst the remaining students. To them this wasn't just a lesson in combat, it was a lesson in pay back.

When class let out the teenagers scattered off to enjoy the rest of their day save for team IONC. In the last five minutes of class Chicahua had gotten into a very heated talk with professor Port over one of the Wyvern variations he claimed to have fought.

"Ya' know this guy's not that bad." Neil remarked leaning against the doorway. "He actually knows what he's talking about."

"That's why he's called a professor genius." Olivia quipped tapping her foot impatiently.

"You're not still mad about being told to back off the case are you?" Neil questioned.

"You mean am I mad that the valuable information we had has been passed off to be added to jar of useless info then yes Neil, I am mad." Olivia had hidden her frustration well enough but now she felt like she had to let it out. "Cinder's in town, we know she's plotting something horrible and instead of that info being sent straight to the Council it's probably being dumped into the trash can."

Izaak, while sharing her frustration was far more restrained about it. "Can you blame them? It's not like the headmaster himself was happy we went out on the town, beat up a few criminals and came back with information taken from said thugs." His voice dropped as he stared out the doorway. "Aside from that I don't think the Council wants to start jumping through flaming hops all because of one woman, no matter how dangerous she is. As far as they're concerned Cinder Fall is just a common criminal that's best left to the city police."

The female samurai snorted. "They'll be thinking that until a dirty bomb goes off somewhere killing a few hundred people."

"Or until we catch her." the knight butted in. "What do you think the odds are she's here? At Beacon?"

Even though Chicahua was currently engaged in a talk with Professor Port he could sense the shift in his teammates' moods as well as hear their words. As much as he enjoyed talking with the old Huntsman he knew his team had better things to do. As soon as he ended the conversation he made his way over and they began their walk down the hallway.

"If Cinder's in disguise I'm sure I could find her." he spoke. "It's not like she can change her face and trust me I'd never forget her face."

"No," Olivia whispered. She was eying every person they passed with the same look she shot Grimm; cold and tactical. "If Cinder's here she'll stay hidden and just let her two pets do all the work for her." Her voice took on a near growling quality during the last part of her sentence. "We find them or Roman and then we find Cinder."

The other three nodded their heads quietly.

Instead of heading to their dorms or the training room they made their way towards the area that was currently under construction. If one went past the Dining Hall they would have found a white tarp covered a rather large doorway with a sign hung in front of it.

It had taken no small amount of effort but the game room that had been proposed by various students had been green-lighted and was now under construction. That being said the headmaster had made it clear it was up to the students to customize it as they saw fit…using their own money and resources. If anyone thought that would detour students then they were wrong as there was around thirty students, of all years, working on setting up TVs, games, electrical outlets and furniture.

Izaak stepped over and placed an arm around the only female on the team. "Until then what do ya' say we go make sure the money you put in is put to good use huh?"

The other two shot the heiress a similar smile their leader was using on her. Her frown soon broke into sly smirk. "Damn right."

* * *

**Gah, writing this chapter was hard! Hopefully in the future writing this school-days chapters will be easier. Creative liberties are going to be taken with the timeline (especially since we don't know much about the canon timeline of events) for example the "Great War" mentioned in canon is going to be around eighty-three years before the current story and the Faunus around twenty years before. Expect some of these things to be brought up when characters start talking about their pasts. **


	9. Chapter 9: Show Me Your Fangs

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Show Me Your Fangs **

"Now I want you all to listen to me very carefully, one mistake and someone's either going to the nurse's office or the hospital." Anuli Barnett spoke watching every student carefully. "Remember guys, all it takes is one mistake and it's ka-blowie for everyone."

No one could tell if it was a good idea to have a person with such a cherry personality teaching a class on explosives and chemistry. There was the upside such as she was able to make the class fun, for those rare few who found making stuff go boom boring, and hopefully was able to imprint what she needed onto the students she taught. The downside was said personality seemed to be constant…including when something or something blew up right in the middle of the classroom. That was the type of classroom Anuli Barnett taught; at least to first year students.

It didn't take a degree in design or architecture to figure out a classroom built around chemistry, specifically the explosive kind, required it to be a good deal different than other classrooms. To start with the room was almost double the size of a normal classroom and far more eye-popping to look at. In all there had to be somewhere around fifteen tables in total for the number of students she had to accommodate. Shelves covered the entirety of the walls; all of them filled with beckers, test tubes, balancers, and countless other types of equipment. Towards the end lay a seat of closets that had a lock on them, signs warning signs printed out in various languages so everyone knew exactly what was inside.

Rounding out the room was the professor herself. Speaking bluntly she was regarded as one of the hottest professors at Beacon Academy and somewhat loathed by some of the female population for her good looks. Her skin was a chocolate complex that perfectly matched her ebony dark hair and ginger auburn eyes that almost constantly shined with amusement. As many of the guys put it "she had everything right" from the hips to the bust to the legs to anything else the average male, or lesbian, would want. She almost always dressed professionally inside the classroom; a flameproof lab coat with a high collar red undershirt

What many would say rounded out her good looks was her personality. She was compassionate with her students and playful with her fellow teachers. That though, didn't mean she was blind to the fact that half her male students eyed her like a piece of meat. She'd taken care of that issue on day three by showing them how to create a grade-A firebomb using common items…then set it off right in front of the class.

That leads us back to the matter at hand; teaching her class all the materials needed to make a explosive gel. She had little doubt in her mind once they were out the door they'd use it for some stupid prank or idiotic purpose. That was just fine with her so long as no one was seriously harmed.

Normally she'd chuckle to herself as she watched her students try and fail to master the formulas she wrote down and follow the steps she'd laid out. It also afforded her the opportunity to observe them and find out what the latest gossip was.

In the third row the first two letters of team RWBY were standing over a pot with a murky green liquid forming inside. Both were sure the color of the liquid wasn't supposed to be green but they were far too along for either of them to stop and turn around.

As they worked an uneasy silence had enveloped the two girls. Ruby had sense something had been eating at Weiss for the past week and was close to working up the courage to ask her what that something was. It was it personal? Did it have something to do with her father? The only way she was going to find out was if she asked, no matter how bad the answer was she'd do her best to comfort her partner.

"So uh Weiss," Ruby started tearing her eyes off their project. "Has anything been bothering you lately? Does it have anything to do with that office your family is setting up in town?"

As Ruby expected Weiss snapped. "Has something to do with the reason why your breath smells like blue berries after breakfast."

"Well I think I can-wait uh?" She nearly dropped the vial she was holding at the mention of blue berries. "Have you been smelling my breath?" The little reaper accused.

An angry knot was just starting to form on Weiss's forehead. "No! I just happen to notice you've been skipping breakfast for the past two weeks. Actually you're almost nowhere to be find before, during, and after we all sit down to eat the crap they're forced to keep serving us." She was silent for the next couple of minutes. When Professor Barnett came over to expect their sleep gas she smiled and gave them a five minute break while the rest of the class finished up. As they sat side by side she watched her fidget with her fingers nervously. "I won't tell anyone, especially Yang about you and Jaune."

Instantly the worry was replaced by delight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed over and over again until she let go. "Sooooo you're not mad about it?"

"What's there to be mad about? Jaune finally found something usefully to do." She stated pulling up her Scroll. "Besides as nice as it would be to actually have food to eat I know for whatever reason he wants to keep it a secret." She looked back over where Blake and Yang were. Blake was waving her arms wildly while Yang had just started throwing vials in without much thought of what they were. "Besides that I don't feel like seeing Yang go after Jaune."

"I'll ask Jaune to make a pop-tart for you tomorrow." Ruby replied.

"Hmph. Have it be raspberry."

"Okie-dokie!" She began reaching for her headphones and tuned out the rest of the world.

Another five minutes passed before Ruby noted a change in the posture of her friend. Taking off both her headphones she turned her head to listen. "Does it involve your dad?"

The white haired heiress stiffened at the mention of her father. Putting her Scroll down Weiss looked around the classroom. No one was paying attention. Everyone was preoccupied in their own little world including the professor. Aside from that she trusted Ruby with the information she was about to disclose. "Yes it is. That new office we're setting up in town…I'm supposed to visit it about a week from now."

"That's…not good is it?" The red head couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like inside that thirty-plus floor building. The nearest image she could come up with was Dust being experimented with on every flower. "What's the bad part?"

"Ruby," she began lowering her head. "They plan on using the Faunus staff to handle some of the…less savory jobs in the building." Weiss waited for the question of what that meant to be asked only to find Ruby had an expression of sadness on her face. _Maybe she's growing up faster than I thought. _Images of Blake, Sun, and Velvet was probably running through her mind just as much as they were hers. "When I found out about this I objected."

"And your father got angry?" Ruby asked.

"To be blunt yes, and so did the rest of the Schnee company board. As angry as he was he was also pleased; so he decided if I objected to the way a building I was probably going to run was operating then I should be the one to change it. You see when I visit it I'm going to have to argue and sway the people there not to do this and actually try to treat Faunus the same as human workers." That was the blunt version of things and frankly that was the reality of what she would have to do. She wasn't blind to the fact her father had essentially told her to defend a hen house from a pack wolves. "He's testing me."

To Ruby that sounded exactly like what it was albeit it was a cruel one. She couldn't speak much for fathers but she did know they don't normally do this sort of thing even if they did own a multi-million lien company. "You can do it though," she smiled at Weiss's puzzlement. "I know it seems hard but I've seen you face down Grimm way scarier than some old guys in suits."

Slowly Weiss began to smile. The doubt and fear plaguing her vanished under the aura of joy Ruby had almost single handedly brought in. Hearing that vote of confidence furthered her resolve.

With her mind taken off her family business Weiss decided she wanted to turn things in a different direction. "So what do you think of team IONC?"

"What do you mean what do I think of them? They're nice if that's what you're asking."

"I mean personally." Weiss stated turning her attention to Izaak and Neil.

"Er, Izaak's nice and so is Neil. Olivia's…she kind of reminds me of you." She chuckled nervously under the Schnee's glare but kept going. "Chicahua reminds me of Nora but with a bit of Pyrrha and Ren thrown in to balance things out." When Weiss didn't respond she followed her gaze to Neil. "Is there something going on between you and-"

"NO!" she barked balling her fist. "No, it's just, I've got the feeling they're hiding something from everyone."

"Such as?"

"There's an ugly rumor going around that they were transferred here because they were kicked out of Haven." Weiss spoke in a hushed voice. Quickly she threw her hand over her partner's mouth to keep her from crying out. "I don't know if it's true or not but I just thought I'd let you know."

Ruby was skeptical. "What are you saying? That they've got some kind of dark secret they're hiding. Come on Weiss this isn't some comic book or superhero show."

Shaking her head dismissively she kept her eyes locked on the two foster brothers. _They may not be dark but everyone has secrets._

* * *

"When do you guys think Professor Goodwitch is going to allow sparring matches between students?" Izaak questioned.

"I stopped by the amphitheater and from the outside it looks all fixed up." Neil answered.

Chicahua nodded his head slamming his fists together. "I hear you. During winter we won't be able to do as much physical exorcise as they want. Well we could but I'm sure half the class would protest running laps in the freezing cold."

"Think anyone might actually be that stupid?" Neil chuckled.

Very few students had taken notice off how the days were steadily growing shorter and the air growing just a little bit colder as time passed. Within about two weeks fall would be over and winter would take hold of Vale. Only a handful of students and teachers at the Academy enjoyed the cold sense leaving the rest to groan and gripe until the first signs of spring began to show. Just like at other combat schools winter was regarded as the 'long season' because it seemed as if time was slowed down by the freezing air. It was a combination of that and when snow days hit the teaching staff and students were fully expected to make up for the lost time when classes started back up again.

Among the four teenagers Chicahua was naturally the one who disliked winter the most. Being from a tropical environment tended to leave one longing for warmer climates. Staring at the setting sun made him envy the migration patterns of certain species of birds. He never relishes spending winter cooped up in a classroom. "Possibly the only good news for me is we'll hopefully have an instructor who won't hesitant to keep us active."

The other three teenagers stopped walking. All four stood before one of the countless statues strewn throughout the campus. They all looked at Chicahua. He wasn't looking at them. He was looking in the northwest direction. He was looking in the direction of Beacon's Tower.

They gathered in a single line, not one of them giving the slightest indication they were afraid. Each of them had straightened up to give the far away person glaring at them their full attention.

"So," The gray-haired youth started. "We're going to be Professor Goodwitch's testing dummies?"

"Looks like it." Izaak answered dryly. "Can't really blame her though."

"Would it hurt not have at least one teacher that's such a hardass?" his foster brother scowled.

Olivia, of course, decided to answer her teammate in her usual fashion. "Call me when you find a school that doesn't have. I'd imagine it'd be a shitty place to be."

While Neil shook his head Chicahua starting cracking his knuckles. "If she wants to see us fight then just put me up against Pyrrha. That's when she'll see how strong I can be."

"You! Hah! What about the rest of us?" Neil joked.

"Alright fine." He clapped both his hands over his mouth with a grin. "Professor Goodwitch! Give me Pyrrha, let Neil have Nora, Olivia can have Weiss, and Izaak can take Ruby in a leader versus leader all or nothing!"

Olivia's karate chop came down hard on his head moments before he felt like he was blasted by an unexpected whirlwind of cold air.

"If it helps I'm perfectly fine with fighting Ruby." Izaak offered doing his best not to laugh. "Really I heard people around here call her a prodigy."

Crossing her arms the onn-bugeisha fixed her gaze back on the distant tower. "She's testing us. Headmaster may have faith in us but Professor Goodwitch isn't going to until we earn it. And she _is _going to make us earn it."

"Don't they always Liv?" her leader added on. He wouldn't be surprised if the Huntress was glaring daggers at them. He didn't need telescopic eyesight to tell him one of the teachers had been watching them. He knew from the get-go that there was going to be a collection of teachers that didn't feel like putting up with their crap. It just happened to be bad luck one of those teachers happened to be Ozpin's confident. "She wants to see our fangs, then we'll show our our fangs, claws, and talons."

With that resolution the four turned their backs to the tower and continued on their way towards their dorm.

* * *

Glynda already had developed a begrudging respect for the four transfer students. The Faunus had caught her studying them and the rest had followed his lead. Through a few hundred yards she was having a glaring contest with them. And they weren't backing down. If they were truly standing face to t face she was sure they'd still be returning her glare. Not many students could do that. "They certainly have the guts their files spoke of."

Ozpin sighed creasing his eyebrows. "I'm not going to have to worry about you provoking any of them am I?" When there was silence he turned his mind to the next matter at hand. A picture of Cinder had been pulled yet there was very little information on her besides her name and a few throw away pieces of information. They didn't even know what kingdom she originated from. "You must admit they are capable of good detective work."

"I can imagine with a member who's background involves the law." Glynda commented. "He's more than willing to use it to our advantage." There was no hiding the fact that like Ozpin Glynda was quite glad that now they finally had a face and a name to put on the 'queen' that had been giving them so much trouble lately. She would have liked it though if they were allowed to gather more information on her since they couldn't find any in their own data base. "As soon as we get word I'm going to demand we start searching the city for any signs of this Cinder Fall and her associates."

"I had a feeling that's what you would do. You plan on using them don't you?"

"You sound as if you were planning something different." She accused with sharp eyes. "I know Ruby Rose probably wants to find this woman just as much as we do but Ozpin let's consider what we plan on sending after a criminal mastermind who may or may not be plotting to use biological or chemical weapons."

As she expected Ozpin met her eyes with a sharpened glare. He tolerated her talking down to him as if he was one of her students most of the time but this wasn't one of them. "You mean we have to choose between our white knights and our black knights? I would suggest sending both just to be on the safe side." When he said that he meant everyone being on the safe side, the two mentioned teams especially. "Captain Enberg has already been made privy to this information so the police department has been armed just as we have."

"And I assume he's going to be asking our help in some of this up incoming operations?" she guessed walking towards his desk.

That was always the plan. Vale City was almost back on its feet but there was still a whole slew of problems left over that needed to be solved. Problems too big for the city police force to handle. "I have a long list of missions that will become available by the end of the mouth. Naturally the fourth year students will be the first ones sent out to gather more information on whatever's going on." He paused to take a sip. "Now about those sparring matches…I trust they'll be fair."

"When have you ever known me to do something underhanded when it comes to sparring?" The witch questioned with a glint in her eyes. "All I want to do is see what the son of a medical prodigy, son of two outlaws, a warrior princess, and warrior prince can do with my own eyes. Where's the harm in that?"

Ozpin regarded her with a drool stare. "Need I list them?"

* * *

All the students were buzzing with energy as Friday finally came. It signaled not just the start of the weekend but also the first sparring match since the amphitheater had been restored. Ever since school had started back up combat forms and physical exorcise had been the bulk of PT and needless to say everyone was extremely glad they would be able to get back to seeing their fellow students beat the crap out of each other. The last time anyone checked there had been almost twenty names on the duel request list.

Striding up to the center Professor Goodwitch didn't miss a bit in her introduction. "I've heard all of you have been antsy for a battle and fortunately I'm feeling generous. If all goes well we may be able to get through five matches. Now who'll be fighting will be left up to the computer."

As soon as she finished the words names began getting shuffled around on screen.

For team IONC a different variation of "what a load of crap"ran through each of their minds. Izaak and Neil just shrugged waiting to see if their names would be picked first, Olivia scanned the crowd but mostly kept her eyes locked on Pyrrha and Weiss, and Chicahua was close to bouncing out of the his seat. The eagle knight was chanting a near slight mantra that his name would be first and hopefully it'd come up alongside Pyrrha's. More than a few began to slowly ebb away from him for fear of the reaction they'd get when the names did come up.

To his relief and disappointment Chicahua's name did indeed come up; only it wasn't Pyrrha's name it was sharing space with but Blake's.

That was it. The hype he'd been feeling died with two short minutes. Right beside him Olivia broke out in quiet snickers. His other two teammates offered him words of encouraging telling him to just go enjoy himself.

In team RWBY's corner Blake was doing her best not to be put off by the fact Chicahua seemed obviously disappointed in fighting her. Yang had noticed it too and quickly taken control of the situation. "Go down there and show 'em you're just as good a fighter as Pyrrha!"

"Like I was planning on anything less?" she coolly replied getting up. Ruby gave her a double victory sign and Weiss gave her a begrudging acknowledgment as she walked by.

"The match will end until either one of the combatants is out of Aura or unable to continue."

Now that they were standing right across from each other it became apparent to everyone the stark difference between the two. One was a warrior, the other was something else, something that would be viewed in a less honorable light. The eagle knight was built like one and stood proud before his opponent. The ninja waited patiently for the signal to be given.

Chicahua had sized up Blake two days after they met and quickly deduced she was a Faunus like himself. It seemed strange to him she would hide her heritage but he never spoke to her about it. She had her reasons for hiding what she was and while it saddened him she would do such a thing he respected her choice. Listening to her teammates and the buzz of his classmates had told him she was the ninja of RWBY, quick and deadly. He'd have to remember that. As they took their stance he caught the glint in her cat-like eyes.

"Sorry about earlier. That was rude of me."

Blake was caught off guard by his statement but recovered. "D-Don't worry about it." Just as Chicahua had sized up Blake she had studied him from afar. At first he seemed like the typical hot-bloodied warrior but the more she watched and listened the more she realized he reminded her of Yang in a way. Proud and battle hungry but with a compassionate heart She admired him, he wasn't afraid to show his Faunus nature in public. She'd longed for that kind of courage yet she knew it would be elusive to her.

"BEGIN!"

Chicahua attacked first with a forward lunge aimed at Blake's head. She deflected the blow, spinning aside and making a sideways slash. He blocked it with his shield and proceeded to go on the offensive with a barrage of short range slashes aimed at Blake's upper body. If she didn't deflect the attacks then she dodged them a skillful grace Chicahua expected from a feline.

She'd just ducked a horizontal slash when she made a play for his chest. Xolotl moved in to defend then Sprekelia was used to fend off the rapid fire attacks that followed. With a few short flicks of his wrist Chicahua parried Blake's attacks making sure to keep his eyes on her legs. She fell back bringing Gambol Shroud up to her chest, katana in one hand and cleaver in the other. Kicking off the floor she came at him with the thinner blade first.

At the exact moment the black blade touched his shield he turned his attention to his ten o'clock in time to see another Blake coming at him with the cleaver. Instead of raising his shield he swung his sword just as the shadow zoomed in.

Blake ended up rolling onto one knee to examine the damage she'd done. By her left side a small pile of hair strands fell to the ground. On Chicahua's left leg there was a shallow cut.

Readying themselves for one more go Blake took the initiative and started firing with her pistol. The eagle knight took a charging stance with his shield raised. The first minute he felt Blake's firing pause Sprekelia struck at the feline. With the cleaver she fended off the attack, returned back to her pistol form and continued firing. Instead of blocking or deflecting Chicahua stopped out of the bullets' path while recalling his whip sword. When his eyes returned to Blake she was now charging towards him twirling her kusari-gama.

Chicahua splint his focus between watching the ebony weapon and Blake's hands. Blake could tell Chicahua was examining her fighting style, trying to find a crack or hole. She didn't plan on giving him that opportunity.

Slowly she began to close the distance between them while still using Gambol Shroud as a kusari-gama. Her swings grew faster making their impact against Xolotl harder.

She slowed down her swings for just a second to channel Aura into her weapon. Blake thought Chicahua would take the opportunity to attack her in the brief moment she stopped her attack. When he didn't it puzzled her but that didn't stop her from switching Gambol Shroud back into its sword form and delivering a powerful energy slash that headed straight for Chicahua.

The feline Faunus didn't know what to expect but it was an orange light to cover Xolotl just as the slash made contact. The two forces cancelled each other out surprising Blake if only for a moment. Her opponent made his move; he swung upward, easily cutting the distance between them with his whip sword.

Blake saw something change in Chicahua's eyes the minute she jumped out of Sprekelia's path meaning she'd just made a mistake. Rapidly withdrawing his sword he threw his shield out. Cursing she ducked her head, barely avoiding the razor shield cutting off her ribbon. When she sensed it was coming back she turned around to see it was now moving towards her waist. This time she jumped into the air.

Her senses still reeling from the rush of avoiding the buzz saw she didn't notice the orange blur creeping up on her side. The low-key war cry reached her brain just in time for her to raise Gambol Shroud to parry the swing aimed at her left side rips. It wasn't an easy fit, she recoiled from the amount of force put in.

Now that Chicahua had her within his favorite range he would truly see how well the ninja could fight.

All she could do was parry his attacks in the one minute window they spent until Xolotl came back to its master. Chicahua's two handed swings were strong, two strong for Blake to take head-on without risking injury. He started pushing her back within seconds.

He bellowed again raising his saw-tooth sword overhead then bringing it down again on top of Blake. As expected Blake parried the attack and readied herself for the next swing she was sure was coming from either the left or right.

A sharp whistling alerted Blake to the object she'd momentarily taken her eyes off of. The tribal Faunus dropped to his knees to allow his saw shield safe passage towards the startled ninja.

"Shit!" Her Semblance activated on instinct. She had to use it three times before Xolotl returned to Chicahua and by then she was beginning to feel the effect wearing down on herself.

With his prey in a corner Chicahua decided to put an end to the battle with one last overhead slash. Sprekelia was alight with orange energy as it sped towards the Blake's shoulder, humming with delight it could feel taste the feline.

_CLITCH! _

"Hmph!?" Needless to say Chicahua was both surprised and pleased when Blake managed to stop his attack. Gambol Shroud had entrapped Sprekelia in its ribbon-like cable. "Not bad, but you do know this isn't going to end well right?"

Blake countered him with a ghost of a smile. "Yeah I do but it's better than having my arm in a sling for a few weeks." Chicahua was right, whatever followed next probably wasn't going to be fun but she'd managed to stay in the game just a little longer.

With a grunt of effort he lifted Sprekelia, Gambol Shroud and Blake herself using just his single hand and started swinging them around. Cries of shock went out from the crowd.

"Holy crap!" Yang yelled.

"Awesome! I want to fight him next!" Nora screamed jumping up and down in her seat.

Jaune was shaking in his seat as he nervously turned to Pyrrha. "Y-Y-You fou-fought him and won?"

Pyrrha sheepishly scratched her cheek while looking away. "It wasn't an easy win if that's what you were thinking."

While she was definitely worried about her teammate Ruby couldn't help but stare in awe at the eagle knight. Weiss's was watching in silent awe at the physically strength of the dark-haired male until she felt nervous chattering behind her. Craning her head back she saw Sun and Neptune had positioned themselves right above them. Sun looked worried and Neptune was waving off his worry, saying he had nothing to worry about.

Down in the arena Blake couldn't help but gasp at the level of strength Chicahua was showing. She knew she was light weight but now that he was swinging her around she came to the realization she really was going to need a critical strike to end this.

After countless rotations Chicahua roared again then hurled Blake straight at the wall. He didn't expect her to go splat. As soon as he released her he raised his shield up again.

Moments before she hit the wall Blake created a duplicate from which she leap-frogged off of into the air. Gambol Shroud shifted from a pistol into a kusari-gama that made its way directly towards Chicahua. Half-way through it Sprekelia and the two became locked into a deadly entanglement.

_Back to square one. _Chicahua mused pulling her down towards him with Sprekelia at the ready. _Just a little more, just a little bit…now! _

Sprekelia was mere inches from Blake's body when her Semblance kicked in. The eagle knight barely had a chance to realize what had happened before he felt a cold blade running through his right shoulder.

If Blake was expected for him to turn around and take a blind swing she was wrong as Chicahua sprung away from her, putting a fair amount of distance between them.

Amber-yellow orbs clashed with orange orbs while all around them multi-colored eyes watched with eager anticipation.

Both of them knew this would likely be the final clash and prepared for it as such. Each took running starts towards the other with their weapons held tightly until the point of contact.

Blake fired two energy slashes then shifted Gambol Shroud into its gun form. In response Chicahua sprinted both his wings and dashed to her left. The move caught both Blake and the audience off guard with the sheer randomness of it. Planting his foot firmly on the ground he swung Sprekelia once more at Blake from a diagonal angle.

There never was the cling that came from metal clashing against metal. There was the sound of Sprekelia retracting itself as Chicahua zoomed towards Blake, disregarding the bullets heading towards him.

_CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! _

Spectators probably couldn't tell what it was that deflected the bullets but for those watching close enough or those that had studied Xolotl they would have figured out what it was. Small metal knives fell to the ground along with the broken bullets they'd collided with. With Blake was within striking range of Sprekelia Chicahua didn't waste a second. First he hit Blake's gut with the bottom of Sprekelia's hilt then delivered three swift slashes; on from the right and two from the left.

Above them the timer a bell sounded signaling the end of the match.

"Winner of the match, Chicahua Valiente!"

Excited chatter went up from the audience almost instantly. On the arena floor Chicahua sheathed his weapons and walked up to Blake. "Not bad at all feline."

It took a moment of brief shock to rule Blake's face before a comforting smile took its place. Graciously she took Chicahua's hand. "Glad I didn't disappoint you Chicahua."

They walked together back into the stands, an air of friendship replacing the frantic heat of battle. They were greeted with a barrage of compliments and questions once they got back to their seats courtesy of their teammates.

Professor Goodwitch waited for the chatter to die down before beginning the selection for the next two fighters. If the first match had people surprised then the new selection had all them all gasping for breath.

It was Ruby Rose versus Neil Liath.

"Well this should be interesting." Olivia cackled eyeing her teammate.

Yang grabbed her sister in a bear hug and already begun her pep talk while Neil stared at the monitor with narrowed eyes. There was no avoiding what came after this day nor did he wish to avoid it.

Not long after the two students were standing across from each other right in the middle of the arena. Both unfolded theirs weapons and took their combat stance.

"BEGIN!"

Ruby had been used to making the first move in her fights. The gray-haired youth she was facing didn't give her that luxury. Actually the second the battle began she found herself playing a role she rarely played and detested; defense.

Neil's attacks mirrored her own, swift, powerful, and relentless.

As soon as one swing missed he tried again, from the opposite direction. Ruby was steadily falling back while shifting Crescent Rose from one side to another to counteract the sword slashes. Suddenly Neil stopped and brought both his swords on top of Crescent Rose sending a loud cling through the arena. Ruby's whole body shuttered from the impact of two swords hitting her beloved. While Ruby was stunned Neil dropped into a crouch and spun his blades in a low circular slash. The redhead flipped her scythe so her blade met Moralltach and Beagalltach in a collision of metal.

With that parry Ruby decided to get back at Neil for forcing her on the defensive from the get-go. She fully expected Neil to fall back as soon as she started swinging Crescent Rose, everyone she'd fought usually did that when faced with a wicked sharp piece of metal aiming for them.

_CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! _

From the stands many students, and some teachers, were shocked to discovered Neil didn't back down when Ruby decided to attack. He wasn't tactile like Chicahua.

"Now comes the fun part." The green haired heiress laughed.

"Hard to argue with you there." Her partner added leaning forward.

Rather than dodge Crescent Rose Neil parried its blows with Moralltach and Beagalltach. The great sword and short sword angrily met the red blade with equal force sending sparks between the two young fighters. The match became little more than two colored blurs, one red and the other gray, slamming into each other in some kind of mad dance.

The mental smile Ruby had worn when she deflected Neil's earlier blow had gone out the window and been replaced by something resembling confusion and borderline fear. Confusion drew from the fact that Neil didn't make any efforts to dodge her attacks, he just swung and sent her recoiling back before trying to attack. Honestly she could see how he thought he stood a good chance with his swords, both of which she had to admit were pretty damn mouth-watering to look, but there was something else in him that put Ruby off. That something was the cause of the fear she felt every time she clashed blades with the scar-faced youth.

It was evident in his fighting style Neil was a ruthless person. It was seen by Ruby alone the moment they entered the arena Neil was doing his utmost to defeat her. She could see it in his eyes.

She broke off for only a moment as her hands were actually ringing from the intense clash. Neil's eyes narrowed into near slits before he drew Moralltach back and then swung it.

Her silver eyes grew wide as the projectile flew towards her with a speed that could have rivaled a bullet. Twirling the left she felt the rush of air wheeze past her.

Deciding going for ranged combat wouldn't hurt she readied Crescent Rose's rifle form. _Did he seriously just throw a blast of air at me? _Were she a spectator she would have had a more intense fan girl moment instead of the contained joy she was feeling at the moment. _I wonder if he'll teach me how to do that when this is over. _

If Neil didn't Crescent Rose's scythe form than he wasn't afraid of its compact rifle form. He had to amount the thing shot bullets with enough speed to sever an arm if it hits the right place. They were what made him finally start twisting and weaving across the arena unlike before.

With Neil preoccupied with deflecting her bullets Ruby thought she could move in for a slash that would deplete at least half his Aura.

As she kept the gray haired knight pinned she prepared to activate her Semblance. One strike and she could end it. He'd thrown her for a loop and now it was time to return the favor.

Kicking off at her heels her Semblance carried to within striking distance of Neil while Crescent Rose expanded back into its scythe form.

Just as she was about to commence her attack her silver orbs locked with Neil's grayish-blue eyes. Ruby had never seen eyes so focused and serious in any teenager she'd met before. It was like looking into storm clouds. What made it worse was those eyes were directed at her with full force.

Moralltach came in from the right like it was a jet-propelled rocket.

_CLING! _

Ruby's horizontal slash had been intercepted by Neil's diagonal slash. Her scythe was almost driven to the ground with such an immense amount of force Ruby could feel her arms moan in slight pain. Her Aura had probably just had a good chunk beaten off with Neil probably having only a fraction. The gray-haired teenager leaned forward with those cold, stormy eyes still locked on Ruby; in his left hand Beagalltach rose into the air then zoomed towards the redhead.

Panic raced through Ruby's mind as the short sword continued towards her. She knew if it hit she'd lose but she could avoid it if she dodged in time. There was only one problem with that, Neil still had Crescent Rose locked with his other sword and she lacked the strength and time needed to pull it free. She had to choose; either the match or her scythe.

In the short seconds before Beagalltach could touch her Aura enhanced skin Ruby let go of Crescent Rose and jumped four yards back. Her hands for the first time in a while ached with the dull pain she'd put them through in the past ten minutes. Her breath was coming out slightly rigid while Neil stood up straight with not one scene of fatigue present.

Needless to say those in the audience were shocked at what they'd just seen. Ruby Rose, one of Beacon's youngest prodigies had just been disarmed. Mouths were agape and eyes were wide. Weiss, Blake, Yang, and three out of four of team JNPR were truly shocked at what they 'd just seen happen. Yang knew there were very few who could out match Ruby in combat but this kid had done it and he looked like he barely had to break a sweat doing it. Besides the shock Yang also began to feel a sliver of fear shot up her spine. She could read the atmosphere around the battle had shifted, the air around her sister's opponent was totally different from what it was when she was sitting beside him. It felt like she was watching a different person instead of the laid-back sleeper she'd gotten used to.

A little tap on her shoulder alerted her to Izaak who was sitting just above her. He wore a sympathetic expression that showed no sense of panic, "In case you're wondering you don't have to worry about Ruby. He's not going to hurt her or anything."

Weiss sneered at the Viking's words. "Then do you mind explaining to us why he's fighting like this is a real battle."

Izaak shook his head not letting Weiss's tone get to him. "Weiss, he fights like this against everyone. Including us."

That statement through the other students for a loop. This was how Neil normally fought? Even against his own teammates?

Neptune coughed once to get everyone's attention. "He's right. That's part of Neil's character. When the guy fights, he _seriously _fights."

After hearing that everyone turned their eyes back to the fight which had come to a standstill. From all signs it looked like the fight was over though Professor Goodwitch still hadn't called it yet.

While inside she was shaking like a leaf Ruby did her best to look brave as Neil stared her down with her beloved Crescent Rose at her feet. If he attacked she would run as fast as she could and hopefully manage to reclaim her weapon. That was the only way to win.

As he watched her quietly fidget Neil relaxed his body and gaze enough for her to notice. With a little effort he kicked Crescent Rose across the ground. It stopped right at its owner's feet.

Ruby blinked once then twice at the modest act. She could see the storm in Neil's eyes lighten showing her he hadn't just gotten lost in the heat of battle. In return she shot him a short smile as she picked up her scythe and got back into a fighting stance. Neil did the same.

This time Ruby used the force from her weapon to launch her into the air and then propel her through it. From above she rained down round after round on the scar-faced youth. Neil made a brake for the other side of the arena. As he ran his weapons changed into their rifle form. Blue trails of searing plasma shot across the arena, just barely missing Ruby by inches. Once she landed she used the impact from her sniper rifle and her Semblance to rocket right into Neil's face. The maneuver worked as it finally allowed her to land a blow before Neil could counter it.

Ruby brought her scythe down again for another attack only this time Neil was ready. Moralltach and Beagalltach greeted Crescent Rose mid-swing leaving their owners to glare each other down.

Ruby pushed through the fear she felt under the glare of those eyes and focused all her strength into pushing Crescent Rose downward. Sadly that wasn't easy as Neil didn't budge one inch, in fact, he began to push Ruby back. The deadlock broke when Neil brought his left leg up and delivered a swift kick that sent Ruby tumbling to the ground. Beagalltach changed back into rifle form and fired upon the downed redhead. Crescent Rose made a full revolution in deflecting the attack while its owner sprang back to her feet to launch another attack.

Rather than physically meet the attack Neil launched two blasts of air directly at the charging reaper. Swinging her scythe to her left Ruby propelled herself out of the way and stayed the course.

Neil drew both her swords back so they ran parallel to each other.

_SWOOSH! _

A blade-shaped blast of air, this one three times bigger than all those before it broke through Ruby's defenses and sent her rolling across the arena floor, dazed and bruised. Overhead a bell sounded.

"Winner, Neil Liath!"

Mouths were still agape at the finish. What they saw looked like something out of some comic book or Shouen manga. A blast of air shaped like a sword. To the more observant members of the audience they saw the attack wasn't using a Semblance or much Aura. It was just sheer physically strength.

Putting both his swords away Neil walked over and helped Ruby to her feet. This time when their eyes met his no longer held the stormy ferocity they held only a moment ago. They'd returned to the kind look he always held in classrooms and around his teammates.

"Sorry if I got a little rough with you there." He said keeping his head down a little.

"No, that was…that was awesome!" Ruby jumped out of his arms with a gleeful smile. "How'd you do that!? With your swords and the wind! That was so cool!"

He smiled nervously and directed her towards the exit so the next match could get under way. "You mean my Aero Blade? Simply, if you swing your weapon with enough force you're able to focus the wind around it into a sharp shape that can cut through trees. I've been practicing it since I was fourteen."

"Teach me! Please! Please! Please!" By this point she'd grabbed him and was shaking the storm knight until he was able to mingle out a yes at which point she hugged him.

_Nice girl and a nice personality. _Neil thought with a little mental grin. _Nice change from your average Goth chick. _

Once the two returned to the stands Ruby was met with a bear-hug from her overprotective sister and Neil was given a death glare that screamed bloody murder. He flashed the buxom blond a lazy grin before taking a seat by his foster brother and partner. He knew the routine, wait a few days then he and Yang would hopefully be on speaking terms.

"Next match, Jaune Arc versus Olivia Takeko!"

The shift in the entire group was so thick you could cut it with a knife and serve it on a silver platter. Nora was the only one to grab Jaune and give him a pep talk on what to do and how to hit like a sledge hammer. Ren gave his piece to his leader and friend on just focusing on the battle and not everyone watching him. Lastly Pyrrha was, well Pyrrha looked like she'd just received news one of her relatives was in the ER. Her face was so ashen it could have came across as albino.

Right above her Sun and Neptune exchanged a nervous look and then looked down at Jaune. They were both thinking the same thing; guy's night out.

The blond mentioned was the picture of a cracking vase. He was sweating, trembling, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. _I'm screwed! I'm dead…I'm dead! _

His opponent was the exact opposite. "Finally it's my turn, and even better it's against an Arc." The gaze she shot at the trembling boy was a bird of prey spotting a field mice. "Show me what you've got Jaune."

It took Nora grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him through the hallway before Jaune was able to move on his own. Throughout the whole way she kept firing encouragement after encouragement his way.

Not too long afterwards the two teenagers were standing face to face. One with a cool smirk and the other doing his best to look brave in the face of certain defeat. Drawing their weapons both readied themselves for the battle to begin.

"BEGIN!"

Inside his head a collection of mantras screamed dozens of different things at Jaune but they call boiled down to one thing; don't go down without a fight. That manifested in him making the first move, a forward slash aimed directly at Olivia's face.

Upon seeing the attack Olivia's cool smirk melted into a confused frown. IN a single swift motion she knocked the sword aside with her tonfa then slammed the other one into Jaune's shield. In the brief stumble Olivia moved in and exploited the weakness she saw in the blonde's form. The tonfa in her left arm slammed into Jaune's right arm then the right went directly into his right side rib cage. The pain caused Jaune to recover from his stumble and get back on his guard. It wasn't good enough.

Olivia dropped to one knee and sweep kicked Jaune off his feet. Her left tonfa slammed into his chest on his way down before she delivered an Aura enhanced kick to his stomach. Jaune got back up and tried to shield bash the green-haired samurai. Her movements looked almost like a blur to him. One minute she was in front of him and the next she was actually twirling right by him, her leg stepping into the path of his foot sending him into another fall. Before he could stop himself he felt a slender arm wrap around his neck and then he saw the whole world turn upside down before his eyes.

_THUMP! _

A moment after the pain of hitting the hard floor Jaune felt something cold and metallic pressed against the back of his skull. His whole body went cold as the realization struck him almost literally in the face.

"Winner, Olivia Takeko!"

Jaune didn't want to get up off the ground and face the world. Shame burned in his gut so hot he thought for a second he might just burst into tears. A thick wall of pride and self-worth kept the flow from coming out. Maybe late at night when on one was watching would he allow the dam to burst. Until then he'd push through it, he'd done so before and he'd do it again.

What he saw first was Olivia's disapproving gaze locked on him. Jaune would be lying if he said she wasn't a pretty girl but there was something about her that scared him. Her gray-green eyes reminded him of an owl; unsettling and calculating. In those eyes now were confusion and shock. Jaune could imagine why. She'd heard the stories of the Arc family and she was expecting something more than what he showed her. Watching her retreating form Jaune vowed one day he'd give her the fight she deserved. Until then he believed it was in his best interests to steer clear of the heiress.

Back with their teammates an uncomfortable silence had befallen the teens, only broken by the snicker and laughter of those around them. Jaune kept his head low, careful to avoid attention. Olivia simply stared at him with those confused eyes before turn to Pyrrha. The redhead didn't dare look at her. She cursed fate for the hand they'd just be dealt.

Above the next two names came up causing the next shock. At last the leader of team IONC was up and it was against Pyrrha Nikos.

Immediately Chicahua and Olivia gave their leader a cold glare. "How come you get to fight Pyrrha?" They barked simultaneously.

"Uhhh, leader's privilege?" the bronze-haired boy chuckled getting up.

A swirl of joy and uneasiness spread through Pyrrha as she made her way alongside Izaak. She was happy he was the one she was fighting not because he might be an easier opponent but because out of the whole team he was the easiest to get along with. Now fighting him was going to be another matter entirely.

"BEGIN!"

Izaak started the match off by firing three rockets at Pyrrha. She rolled to the left while keeping her shield raised in case Izaak decided to move in with his axe.

He kept his distance from her by keeping the space between them great enough that trying to cross it would be unwise. Pyrrha knew if she wanted to do some damage she'd need to close the gap. Hurling Akouo as a cover Milo changed from its spear form to its rifle form. The Viking knocked the shield and rifle shells aside with two well-timed rockets, in the haze of smoke Pyrrha moved with Milo back in spear form. Storrdetta changed from its role as a rocket launcher to an axe just as Pyrrha emerged from the smoke. Their weapons clashed in a burst of air that was followed by the sound of metal grinding against metal.

If Izaak backed down Pyrrha would take the chance to press him but if she succumbed to the great strength before her he wouldn't hesitant to go for a grapple. The redhead sprung backwards and waited for Izaak to take the chance but he never did. Instead of going with his axe he switched back to his rocket launch and fired three shots at her before reloading.

_SLISH! SLASH! _

Pyrrha managed to cut through the force rocket by channeling Aura into Milo. Dashing for Akouo which had landed a few feet away she saw Izaak make a break for her shield. Grabbing Akouo and falling into a crouch she parried Izaak's attack and countered attack. Izaak parried again and the two started the dance of attack, parry, and attack again.

After blocking another swing from the massive battle axe Pyrrha spun forward and swung Milo in its sword forward. Izaak raised his axe's broad blade to block the attack, spun it behind his back and slammed it down. Pieces of the floor went flying up from the impact. Pyrrha jumped backwards noting how there hadn't been a decrease in his speed and power, rather there'd been an increase. Effortless lifted up Storrdetta Izaak fired off an energy slash just as large as Pyrrha was tall. The Spartan jumped over the attack while throwing her shield once more. With a twirl Izaak deflected the bronze shield only to find Pyrrha had thrown her Milo, now in sword form, at him as well. Sidestepping the weapon Pyrrha regained her shield and called her spear back via her Semblance.

With the speed backing her power she slashed forward to which Izaak sidestepped. Flipping Milo in her hand it expanded from sword to spear with his upper leg in its path. Grunting in annoyance Izaak spun Storrdetta so its adamantium blades knocked the red blade aside. While Izaak had been focused on keeping his leg from getting impaled the ace of team JNPR swung her shield directly at his face.

Izaak used his Semblance to jettison backwards least he end up with a nasty cheek wound. Planting his axe in the ground he watched Pyrrha slowly circle him with keen interest. There was a respect in both their eyes that hadn't changed since their days at Sanctum.

The Spartan flipped Milo into a reverse grip in case she Izaak found a way to bypass her defenses. She could feel it in her blood Izaak was about to do something unpredictable. That was his style of combat. Chicahua's was balance, Neil's was ferocity, Olivia's was precision, and Izaak's was keeping his opponent on their toes.

Her guess was confirmed when Izaak hurled his axe towards making a silent gasp escape her lips. Naturally the first thing she did was duck the massive weapon's rotating blades. In the span of her evasion Izaak ran right up to her pulling back his right arm. Pyrrha swung with Milo, Izaak weaved aside then threw out his fist. As he expected Pyrrha raised Akouo to take the blow for her. He grinned a little as his fist made contact with the cool metal.

Pyrrha cursed when the Viking's fist made contact with her shield. The minute she felt the transfer of power through Akouo she knew what he'd done. Coating his fist in a layer of Aura and gravity he'd transferred the energy from the attack through her shield and into the rest of her body, leaving her paralyzed. Storrdetta came back to its owner hand. Flipping it into its rocket form Izaak took aim at her shield.

Sweat started to collect on Pyrrha's brow as she struggled to regain control of her body. If she didn't move fast she was going to be in for a world of hurt. Purging her right arm she changed Milo back into its gun form and took aim at Izaak's chest.

_Boom! _

The audience flinched as smoke covered both combatants. They waited for the dust to settle to see which one was left standing.

Both young warriors jumped backwards, huffing and slightly winded. Akouo now sported a few scorch marks on its surface. Pyrrha's body tingled with pain just as Izaak's did. Both their Auras had taken a nice dip thanks to the close range firing.

"Still pulling off reckless stunts eh Izaak?" Pyrrha joked.

He laughed at her. "Yeah and it's nice to see you joking in the middle of a battle. You never did before."

Pieces of the floor suddenly were ripped from the arena floor and floated around Izaak as he got back into his fighting position. One by one they came at Pyrrha like missiles forcing her behind Milo. With Milo in sword form she took a running start at Izaak who gladly started running towards her as well. Once they were within a foot of each other Izaak jumped over her horizontal slash, landed on her rear side and lunged forward. Pyrrha's arm had made the full swing so now Milo was in perfect position to expand into spear form, this time with much more force thanks to the Aura running through it. The piercing attack knocked Izaak back giving Pyrrha enough time to go on the offensive.

That offensive came to an end when Pyrrha managed to force Izaak to one knee with a blow to the knee from Akouo. She brought Milo in for one last blow only to find her whole body frozen while Izaak brought his rocket launcher directly to her chest. She couldn't break out of this one without risking defeat.

He grinned at the look that came across her face. "Feel like calling this one a tie?"

To his shock Pyrrha smiled. _Lured me in so he could use his G-Cage. _"Yeah. You've gotten better since those days in combat school. You're wilier."

The match ended in a tie. There was talk for the last fourteen minutes of class about the transfer team in almost every corner and would surely continue into the night. Word would spread fast about the things that had happened.

In her seat Weiss watched the four with heated eyes. _Are those four really first year students?_

* * *

**So this chapter we got to see everyone's fighting styles flushed out a little more. At first I wanted Izaak to fight Ren but then I thought Pyrrha would be better. I took no pleasure in writing Jaune effortlessly getting his ass kicked but it was needed for story purposes. Hopefully the fights were fun and interesting, let me know what you guys thought of it. Next chapter is going to focus on the aftermath of Jaune's defeat, expect fluff. **

**R.I.P Satoru Iwata, you made a Nintendo fan out of me and I remain one to this day thanks to you.**


	10. Chapter 10: Waiting to Bloom

**Before I start this chapter I'd like to thank everyone who'd added this story to their favorites or has decided to follow it. On top of that it's awesome to the number of RWBY stories have climbed up to eight-thousand, shows how far the series has come in gathering a fan base. Now, last chapter we saw team IONC show off a little more of their combat skills and some dignity was lost (*cough*Jaune*cough). Well this chapter is going to contain fluff, reclamation of some dignity, shipping tease and Arc Rose, plenty of Arc Rose. **

**I do own anything. **

* * *

**Chapter 10: Waiting to Bloom**

As Blake learned that evening after PT had ended the I and N of team IONC shared a similar habit she and her partner did; stopping by the library. Blake loved the school library, especially when it got colder. As a she loved cuddling up in a blanket with a nice book by her side. Those around her sometimes joked it's possible that's how she'd live the world. If Blake did go out like that then she wouldn't mind it at all. Yang had attempted to drag her to the training room so she could prepared herself for her "rematch" with Chicahua. Blake had no interest in going up against Chicahua, they'd walked away friends and unless the situation called for it she'd rather not have to fight him again. That led to Yang following Blake to the library because she "wanted to ask someone a certain question" with a sly grin. The dark clothed girl had a feeling her partner was up to something sneaky but she didn't feel like prying that information out of her.

She suspected it had something to do with Izaak when she saw him and Neil in the library. While Izaak had a stack of books beside him Neil had laid his head down and was catching a late afternoon nap. Without waiting for a pause Yang grabbed Blake and flagged the two boys done. Neil rose his head once, waved as a sign of acknowledgement then went right back to sleep.

"Does he have some kind of illness?" Yang questioned taking her sit. "Seriously whenever I see him he always looks like he's close to passing out."

"Oh no," Izaak laughed waving one hand. "He's normally like this all the time. The truth is Neil's just a tad lazier than the average person."

"I prefer to call it energy conservation." Said person countered not moving a muscle.

Blake took a minute to examine the books the axe-wielding Viking had chosen. He had good tastes though some of his choices through her for a little bit of a loop.

Yang coughed once to get everyone's attention, well Izaak and Blake's since Neil had checked out. "Great now that you two are together I can ask you a question that's been eating at me for a while." She reached into her bag then threw down a paperback novel right in front of Izaak. "Ever tried that series before?"

Izaak had to focus his eyes on the title before he could speak. His eyes went wide and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He shot a look at Yang who had a rather smug smile on her face. While she didn't strike him as a reader he hoped what she didn't read didn't include _that_ or consist solely of that.

Her partner screeched before grabbing the novel and hiding it in her own bag. "How could you!" she yelled at her partner, her cheeks burning red.

"What?" Yang asked innocently. "You're a bookworm. He's a bookworm. I wanted to see if you two shared anything interesting." Once she turned her gaze towards Izaak her grin grew wider. "And judging by his reaction I'd say ya do."

"Well I…"the brown haired boy struggled to form a coherent sentence which was usually child's play for him. What of all the series did it have to be that one? He looked at Blake who was giving Yang her best impression of a puma snarling at its prey. "So you um…you like the _Ninjas of Love_ series?"

"Like it? Oh Izaak she _loves _it?" Yang spoke before her partner could even open her mouth.

"Yang!" Blake shrieked again. "You've read it too right?" she asked turning to Izaak.

Izaak could feel the air getting uncomfortably hotter with very passing second. "Well I, I was walking and it caught my, it, um," there was no point in dragging it on any further. "Yes."

"Hm, so fantasy, history, blah, blah, and smut. That's what you like reading just like my dear Blakey." The brawler laughed putting both hands behind her head. "You two are going to get along great."

"It is not smut!" The ninja nearly screamed jumping out of her seat. Quickly she regained control when more than a few eyes turned towards their table with puzzled gazes. "Yes there's sex and the like in it but there's so much more to it than that." Those amber colored eyes homed in on Izaak. "Right Izaak?"

"Huh?" he blinked once before realizing she was expecting him to answer. "Well its-"

"You mean it's a safe get away for those oh so basic human urges?" the third member of the conversation jumped in. Now she looked to Izaak to confirm her words.

Izaak tried to defuse the situation by telling them both a half-truth. "It definitely discusses basic human urges." Not a second after making the statement he reached for another book in his stack. "Speaking of human urges this one here is-"

"And the power of love and the bonds between people." Blake added narrowing her eyes. "All sex is the result of some of those bonds reaching their conclusion."

"That's true." The Viking nodded.

Yang wasn't ready to give up. "That or maybe when someone does they just want to have a good time. Like almost every character in the book."

Blake finally locked eyes with her partner. "Have you even read any of them?"

"I skimmed through them." She hand waved her partner despite the glare she was receiving.

Blake looked like he'd just been slapped in the face. "Skimmed through it? God no wonder you think it's just mindless smut! You can't just skim through it!" She reached back into her bag and threw the book back onto the table. "Yang _Ninjas of Love _is a series that must be read from the first page to the last page, from one volume to the next, with an open mind and-"

"Closed windows, locked doors, low lighting provided by candles or moonlight, a soft bed, and some catnip by the side?" The blond interjected grinning. When she turned to Izaak the boy wanted to move to another table. "Or maybe an animal fur bed?"

The two bookworms went rosy red as Yang continued to list various items and situations that brought more suggestive images to mind. Blake it hit its high point when she mentioned bananas. At that the cat Faunus nearly pounced on the laughing blond. Neil momentarily rose up from his nap at the mention of bananas to share a look with Izaak. They both knew who Yang was talking about when the curved yellow fruit was mentioned.

"Feel like helping me out here?" Izaak questioned.

"With what? You seem to have everything under control." With that he put his head back down and went back to snoozing.

As Izaak watched the two girls argue back and forth he began to notice more eyes were being drawn towards them. He couldn't blame them. At best all they were hearing was smut, porn, cats, bananas, and maybe something about youth. _There goes the rep I got from fighting Pyrrha. _He thought somewhat amusingly. He had to admit Yang was quit the character. When Neil had returned from his fight with Ruby she seemed ready to take his brother's head off had it not been for him and Ruby talking her down. Now that same girl was enjoying herself getting a rise out of her normally stoic partner and him. "Aside from the _Ninjas of Love _series if you want real smut I'd refer you to look elsewhere. In fact generally speaking NoL is pretty good compared to some of the other stuff out there."

The Viking didn't realize rather than putting out the fire he'd just given it more fuel. "Oh so that means you do read smut eh?"

"What? No! I mean generally speaking! The paragraphs and writing style is actually better than a good chunk of what's on the Vale Best Seller's list!"

Without a warning or permission the blond began tearing through the stack of books Izaak had. "Let me guess erotic thriller? You told me you like mysteries of all types."

"Not that type!" Izaak cartoonishly cried trying to get Yang to stop.

It was at that moment Neil decided to add his two cents in. "He prefers it if there's murder involved. I once saw him read a six-book series about a call girl trying to avoid getting busted for murdering a shady client. From there it just becomes a long road of sex, guns, fore-play, and plenty of 'I did what I had to do' in almost every book. He read the entire series in two days."

When Yang flashed Izaak a grin he realized he was beginning to fear that Cheshire smile. It just screamed trouble. "Call girls? Why Izaak I never knew," In half a second her gaze shifted to Blake. "Sound interesting to you?"

The dark clothed girl had given up for the day. "Yang can you pick up a book that doesn't involve anything involving sex, motorcycles, or anything that has chapters?"

"With you two here I'm sure you'll give it your best shot." She grinned leaning back into her seat.

Abruptly the gray haired member of the table stood up to stretch. "Speaking of chapters ever tried _The_ _Dark Tower _series?"

Blake's eyes lit up. "By Stephen King?"

"Yeah that one. I read the first two book but I haven't been able to finish the three. I would have but we got blown us. They have it?"

"They have the whole series."

The ninja and knight left leaving Yang and Izaak alone. Izaak had just finished re-staking all his books before he started laughing. "It took me four mouths to get him to open a book and stop staring at the clouds all day. Feels like it's the best thing I've ever done."

"I assure you it won't be that easy with me." The brawler smiled. That was the little contest they had going since that day in the library following Greensburg. Blake hadn't had much luck in getting Yang to pick up a book and when she told Izaak that the Viking had almost taken it as a personal challenge.

"_I'll find you something to read. How about that?" _

"_You're on." _

That was one of two bets he'd made to her and she was eager to see how he'd deliver.

"So this time around I've got a series about a talking tree that brings misfortune to everyone who listens to it, a book about an aging blitz ball player trying to get back on his feet, a supernatural thriller involving collecting skulls, a book about four guys taking a road trip through the desert, and a series about a king who tries to keep his kingdom standing while having an affair with one of his castle maids."

"The one about the affair!" Yang laughed. "It'll be just like my soaps!"

"So be it." With a light grin Izaak grabbed hold of the book and cracked it open.

Before he could start reading Yang leaned forward with a sly grin. "Now about that smut..."

* * *

While her sister was busy driving Blake and Izaak up the library walls Ruby was searching for a certain blond haired knight. Normally she would have spent her Friday afternoon in the newly built student lounge but her friend needed her. As she walked the halls it felt strange to Ruby how she'd felt like jumping into the arena during Jaune's match. The urge to do so only grew when Olivia pressed the barrel of Bishamon against the back of his skull in a completely cold manner. Worse was the look she shot him when the battle ended. It left Ruby feeling even more pived at the onna-bugeisha.

The redhead knew Jaune's pride had taken a blow, a big blow that would likely take weeks if not a mouth to heal. As one of his closest friends she knew of his self-confidence issues and the sparing match would only make it worse. Her walk through the school grounds had all but told her getting back what he lost wasn't going to be easy. Nor was keeping her temper under control.

The sparring matches had become one of the hottest topics of gossip in the short hours school had ended for the weekend. Rumors were flying all over the place about team IONC and their fighting style but one of the biggest was Olivia and Jaune's match. More than the fact that Pyrrha had been forced into a tie, more than her Beacon's youngest prodigy, had been defeated was Jaune's unceremonious beat down. That was the chatter on everyone's lips, even some of the teachers to Ruby's slight shock.

All of it was the same. All of it focused primarily on the undisputed fact that Jaune Arc had gotten his ass kicked in less than a minute.

Once class had let out Jaune had disappeared from Beacon entirely. According to Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha he told them he needed some serious alone time. That may have been true but Ruby couldn't suppress the geyser of worry inside her. It was like her heart was screaming for her to find Jaune and tell him the battle hadn't changed her view of him.

The training room, classrooms, airship hangers, and almost every other conceivable place had been scratched off the list within the first hour. Various accounts of a red blur zooming through the school began to circulate. This blur traveled into every building and through every crack yet whenever it went everyone could catch the air of despair it left behind. When Ruby had run out of places to look she retreated into the student lounge. Ordinarily she would have been dashing all throughout the room but the weight of her failure weighed too much on her shoulders. She fell face first on top the nearest couch and simply stayed there.

_Where could he be? I checked every nook and crany of the Academy and still nothing. _She could imagine Jaune sitting alone by himself with no one to comfort him. Once she'd talked to Pyrrha about Jaune's pride and still she'd begun to fear that pride. Growing up she read a few stories centered on it and when it was taken too far things usually did end well. Ruby had the cold feeling Jaune was on that route. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through. Or how she would help him through it.

Half an hour passed before Ruby saw something from the window that caught her eye. It was just a brief occurrence but her silver eyes caught it; a small white object flying through the sky before touching down on the ground. Pressing against the window she saw a small paper airplane touching down on the ground. Her eyes widened for a second then she sped out of the lounge leaving a trail of rose pelts and confused teenagers in her wake.

Russel looked up from their paused game of Mortal Kombat to watch the pelts flutter to the ground. "Ever wonder where the rose petals come from?"

Cardin was slightly annoyed their game had been paused but answered his partner's question, "No. Ever wonder how the hell Rose managed to get that good with a scythe?"

"Crazy slasher uncle or relative? Seriously though it kind of creeps me out a girl that small and cute manages to wield that thing like a frinkin grim reaper." He turned back to the screen ready to continue their match.

The mace wielder shrugged his shoulders pressing the resume button. "That's why they're called reapers genius." It was just when Cardin was preparing to perform a fatality on Russel that his face screwed up and his eyes narrowed. "Since when did you find Rose cute?"

* * *

Access to the higher towers of Beacon weren't easily granted but they were accessible. Ruby suspected Jaune had found a way to get into one. The only question was finding out which one he was in. In order to do that she watched and waited for the airplanes to fly to the ground then deduce which one they came. Eventually she found which and was able to crack the door to get in.

Looking at all the stairs Ruby sweat dropped. "How'd he climb all this stairs so fast?" The walls were too narrow and the stairs too winding for her to use her Semblance. That meant she was going to the long way up. But it would be worth it if she found Jaune at the top.

The further up the redhead went the more clearly she could hear what sounded like music.

_One life…is not a long time. _

_When you're waiting…for a small sign. _

_Patience…is hard to find. _

_Shadows…seem to seem to fill your life. _

_Don't be disappointed. Don't let your heart break. Don't spend another minute in this way. _

_It's okay. _

Just as the music picked up Ruby soon Jaune sitting by the window, Scroll by his side filling the empty room with music. The window was open allowing the late autumn wind to blow through the small room. Besides a few tables and a desk there was nothing else in the room giving Ruby the impression the designers had just thrown it in because they felt like it.

Jaune looked up from the papers scattered over the table to her. She didn't see them until she got closer but she knew the feint trails of tears when she saw them. Clearly she'd miss the 'cry your eyes out' part of the breakdown and he'd moved on. Finding that out made Ruby even sadder, she'd come too late. "That song pretty much stole everything I was going to say."

She hoped that would be enough to get the conversation going. "Well I," He looked at the Scroll currently playing _Wings _and suddenly felt like jumping out the window. "I was feeling depressed and hey, this song really does help take your mind off depressive stuff huh?" Jaune knew that was terrible, he didn't need Ruby's narrowed eyes to tell him that much. In those eyes was the thing he'd come to despise with all his being. "Would you just stop looking at me like that! Don't you think I feel bad enough already!"

Something inside Ruby broke once those words hit her. Physically she jumped back while emotionally she felt like she'd been slapped in the face. This was the first time Jaune had ever yelled at her. No, this was the first time she'd ever seen Jaune this angry, and for added bonus it was at her. "I-I'm sorry." His words, "Would you just stop looking at me like that!" made her mentally slap herself. Here he was throwing a miniature pity-party and she walks in on it.

Seeing the downcast look on the redhead's face hit Jaune hard. _Shit now I've done it! _He had to act fast before he lost possibly one of the only people he could really talk to outside of his team. "Ruby! Wait please stop! I'm sorry!" Jumping from his seat he banged his knee on the table, still he kept his attention on the young reaper before him. "I didn't mean to yell at you! I goofed up! I was just angry and I…I'm sorry."

The blond continued to mumble apologies until Ruby took both his hands in her own. "Are you okay? You didn't hit your knee too hard did you?"

Ironically Jaune barely registered the pain and when Ruby brought it up it had already faded. Even if it was still there it would have been forgotten in favor of the feeling he felt fluttering through him as Ruby's hands gripped his. They were soft and gentle against the ruff leather his gloves. "N-No, I'm fine." He would have been better if he could remove his gloves so he could feel her hands but he nipped that thought in the butt. "It's understandable if you want to uh, throw me out the window."

Ruby blinked once then sat down right across from him. She recognized the homework that had been handed out over the week, she was just surprised how much of it Jaune had gotten done fast. Work from chemistry, history, T&amp;S, and Grimm studies. "Why don't you always work this fast? Did you check any of this?"

"Actually yeah. It turns out if I put my mind to it some of this stuff is actually kind of easy." The knight sheepishly admitted. "What you need to create a firebomb and all that…kind of wish all of it came to me in class." He laughed a little hoping it would take Ruby's mind of his outburst. Instead she was looking at him with worry. _How does she do that? _Only total blindness would have blocked the fact she seemed more concerned about him. Could she have detected the sadness in his voice?

Apparently she did as she pushed the papers aside to give the blond her undivided attention and to make sure she had his. "Jaune seriously. What's bothering you? No's seen you since the match and here I find you, in one of the highest towers around and with an open window." Briefly her eyes flashed to the window then back at Jaune. "How did you get up here anyway?"

The blond shrugged, "The locks on this towers are kind of old and a little rusty. Breaking into them is easy once you know the right methods. It also helps if the doors are left unlocked. I just needed some place to think and be alone. Usually no comes around any of these towers so I thought it might be a good place."

Relaxing the redhead reclined in her sit. An uneasy silence fell over the two teenagers, one neither was quite sure how to break. That was until Ruby decided to start things off with an innocent remark, "You make good paper airplanes."

"Thanks." He said looking out the window. "Now if I could fight as well as I could do that then the world be a brighter place."

_I should have known that's what was eating him. _The reaper grabbed a handful of the papers that had been pushed aside. "You don't need to fight in order to be a good student Jaune. Look, you've completed almost the homework we had for the week so you're free the whole weekend." Once Ruby had his attention a smile finally appeared on her face.

Even if it was a sad one Jaune mirrored her. "You can copy them if you want."

Stars danced in Ruby's eyes before they were extinguished by the light of reason. "I think it'd be better if you explained it to me. Ya' know, in case we're tested on it or something."

The smile grew wider as Jaune began his miniature lesson with Ruby as his sol student. She listened intently to him and it made him forget about the despair he'd been knee deep in only moments ago. Inside the tower their private class went on in undisrupted bliss. Amid the laughter, joking, and teaching Jaune began to realize he was happy Ruby had been the one to track him down. She always had that ability to cheer him up with her childish ways and genuine kindness. As he tutored her he wondered if this was how Pyrrha felt when she tutored him; this feeling of joy and closeness it brought.

Behind her silvery eyes Ruby wondered why she found it easier to listen to Jaune explain things than it was for her to listen in class. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Jaune was one of the closest friends she had and when he spoke like he was now you'd think he was a professional. His explanations weren't long-winded or too vague, he slowed down when she asked and explained in depth what was needed. _He's a genius, he just doesn't know it yet. _As Jaune continued talking Ruby began to suspect her earlier thoughts may have been wrong as he kept casting a quick glance at her face. He was studying her. That confused Ruby a little, why would he do such a thing? He had her full attention.

Closing the history book Jaune leaned back in his seat with a groan. "Did you get all that?" Piping one eye open to see Ruby's nodding head he braced himself.

His actions weren't lost to Ruby. "Why are you doing that? You're acting like I'm going to hit you or something?"

"You're…not going to call me a nerd or anything?"

The way he phrased the questioned left her feeling slightly miffed. "Why would I do that? Thanks to you I'm free the whole weekend!" Once her joy faded she saw the slight shock that manifested on Jaune's face. "Wait a minute, has someone called you a nerd for this?"

His frown told her all she needed to know. Her first impulse was to go out and look for everyone who'd dare call her friend a nerd but Jaune reached across the table and gently took her wrist.

"I'll tell you just promise me you won't do anything about it." He pleaded.

"Okay but if someone hurt you…" She let the thought hang in the air with a pout, one he found rather cute.

By the time Jaune was finished Ruby was beginning to feel much like Nora; fighting off the desire to find a set group of people and either break their legs or give them a very clear demonstration of Crescent Rose's ability to cut. Just like before Jaune noticed the anger building in her eyes and quickly worked to cool it down.

Sadly Ruby wasn't having any of it. "It's not okay Jaune! So who cares if you're not as good a fighter as everyone else you're still a good person! You're one of the nicest, smartest people I've ever met!"

"That's the problem Ruby." Jaune groaned. "We're at a school that trains us to fight monsters and defend the world; a school where everyone is tough enough to take out a room of criminals or thugs. Everyone expect me." The self-pity came back into his voice with resounding force. "Let's do a count of what my skill set: zero fighting ability, zero ability to inspire fear in bad guys or confidence, failure to live up to my family legacy, and I can't even get one girl to look my direction." When Ruby's face barely changed he thought that meant he had to be more descriptive. The good news was they were totally alone so no one would hear what he was going to say next. "Now what I can do: cook, clean, _knit_," he spoke the word with a borderline sneer that made Ruby cringe. "Do desk work, and if I had to say so I'm a pretty good forger."

"What do you mean forger?" The redhead questioned leaning closer. "You make weapons and armor too?"

"No Ruby," What he was about to say would more than likely kill his friendship with the redhead. Be that as it may, she deserved to know the truth. "Forger as in falsifying documents. I used faked transcripts to get into Beacon. I never graduated combat school, hell, I never went to combat school period!"

Ruby fell back into her seat with a puzzled expression on her face. Suddenly everything about her blond haired friend made so much more sense."Well you had to be in order for forge documents to get into Beacon, I mean I hear nine times out of ten they're usually caught and punished." The young reaper countered not realizing the full impact of her words. "NO!" Now it was Ruby's turn to launch into an apologetic stream; however hers was far more flustered. "I mean it means something you manage to beat the system! You managed to-"

"Make sure I'm going to spend the rest of my life with a sword hanging over my head? Yeah Rubes, totally awesome." Sighing he placed both hands on the window frame and gaze at the horizon. It was a heartbreaking sight. "I just want to be useful! I want to be able to kick ass like you, Pyrrha, Weiss, Ren, and everyone here! I want to make my family proud! I want to have a girlfriend that'll like me for me!" There was a brief pause as Jaune inhaled for what was probably the loudest yell Ruby had ever heard from him. "I JUST WANT TO BE A BADASS!"

…

To say Ruby was baffled would have been an understatement. She had utterly no idea how to respond to Jaune's outburst. She came to this tower expecting to find a depressed Jaune but she wasn't expecting it to be this bad. Her mind ran through a list of things she could say to comfort her friend but all of them seemed like they would do little in mending the damage. How could she have been blinded to the underlying problems the knight had been dealing with for months on end? Looking back at the homework she found the answer she'd been looking for. "…You're a badass to me."

Those words caused Jaune to face Ruby with his mouth agape.

"I mean, yeah you're not the best fighter but you can cook better than anyone else I've met. You're there for your friends when they need you, no matter what. You're in the top ten in tactics and strategy. Just now you just explained a bunch of stuff I never would have gotten unless someone spoon-fed it to me. You're a smart person." One of her trademark smiles graced her face. "Even if you can't fight, the fact that you can do all those things, especially since other guys can't, that makes you a badass in my book."

The blush on Jaune's face made Ruby's giggle fill the room. The redness in his cheeks continued to grow even as he looked away scratching his head and muttering a thank you. Somehow hearing Ruby saw those words had evaporated everything that been eating at him. How was that? Was it the fact that she was a prodigy and had acknowledged him? Had her acknowledgement done so much? Whatever reason behind it Jaune felt like grabbing the redhead and giving her the biggest hug possible.

"So um," her voice had gone from confident to shy. "If you're free tonight then I was kind of wondering if you could help me with something."

"What is it?"

"Well you see Blake's birthday is next week and I wanted to go out and get something for her in advance. After seeing how good a cook you are I was also wondering if you could help me bake her a cake."

"You want me…bake a cake for Blake?" _Thank God Yang isn't here. That sounded horrible enough coming out of my mouth. _"I-I can do it but I'd need the right ingredients first." The knight paused putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Come to think of it I actually need some ingredients to keep making breakfast."

"Great!" She jumped out of her seat and gathering all their papers and school books. "Then we can catch an airship into town, go to the store, and be back before ten!" Half a second later she was out the door.

"O-Okay just me go to my room to get a bag to carry everything." Jaune didn't realize he was talking to himself until he heard the door slam shut. As he began making his way down the stairs a question wormed into his head, _Did I just say yes to a date?_

* * *

The moment the duo got off the airship Jaune made a beeline for the nearest bathroom to hurl. Ruby didn't hold it against him knowing how much he hated the mundane weakness. He came out declaring one day he'd conquer it and they set out on their way.

With the earthquake a little over one month ago it was clear Vale City was almost completely back on its feet. People were walking the streets, businesses were bustling, and life had begun marching on. As they walked they noticed some of the older structures had been torn down in favor of new, more high-end businesses. Some of the little shops they used to pass were no longer there, some even had for sale signs showing that the owners were still waiting for new businesses to buy the building.

Ruby found it saddening to see some of the little shops were gone and some of the buildings were now empty. "Why do you think some of these people had to move out?"

"A whole number of reasons probably," Jaune answered. "It's possible some of these people had lost too much to stay in business, the business couldn't be salvaged, or some just thought it would be best to move to a new location. Notice how we're seeing more brand-name stores."

The two continued talking about the changes that had been made including what they liked and didn't like. One thing they could agree on was the strangeness on looking up and seeing skyscrapers dominating the northern end of town. They loomed over everything else below them like trees in a multi-colored grassland. When Ruby mentioned how in the following week she'd be in one of those buildings courtesy of Weiss Jaune had a brief moment of depression.

"Could I ask ya to bring me some super rare experimental Dust samples back?" He joked.

"I'll see if I can sneak any out." She answered with a wink.

They stopped at a bus stop realizing it would save time if they had a ride to get around town; not to mention some parts of the district had no doubt changed with all the reconstruction. Jaune grabbed a map of the current layout to make sure he and Ruby didn't end up getting off at the wrong stop while Ruby put her headphones on.

"Do you have a metro card on you?" Jaune asked as he saw the bus approaching.

"No I don't. Usually because I'm fine with walking everywhere." Ruby answered reaching into her pocket to get her money.

As both suspected the bus was half full when it stopped in front of them. The redhead and blond ended up taking their seats near the back. They were the only teenagers amidst a growing bus full of middle-aged men and women, elderly, and parents with children. While Ruby tuned out the world with her music Jaune became ever more aware of how some of the occupants were looking at them. They were the only teenagers on board and Ruby was sitting awful close enough to him to give people ideas. He'd ditched his trademark armor for a dark blue windbreaker with yellow outlines. Ruby still had her cape but in addition to it she'd found an old coat in her closest and just thrown that on top of her normal outfit. Couple with the bag Jaune kept folded in his lap and the way he kept glancing at Ruby's small smile it wouldn't be wrong to assume they were a young couple on a date.

Lucky for Jaune Ruby was far too innocent and zoned out to notice any of these things or realize it. Throughout the whole ride Jaune couldn't help but think the idea had some appeal to him. More than once he'd had to stop himself from thinking this was a date, because of course it obviously wasn't. _Just a shopping trip. Just a shopping trip. Just a shopping trip. _

Once their stop came up they rushed out and down the street towards the nearest grocery store. It wasn't Jaune's first trip to the grocery, but it was his first with Ruby Rose at his side. "Okay I'll focus on getting the base ingredients, Ruby, focus on getting some stuff Blake might like." When he got no reply he looked to his left to find Ruby had already left his side. "Or I can go get the basic stuff and you can go stock up on candy. That works too."

Again, he had people looking at him strangely as he moved down the aisles with Ruby occasionally zip by to drop something into their cart. As they went on a fair share of people began to turn their gaze towards Jaune causing the knight's cheeks to heat up considerably. On the bus they looked like a couple; in the store they looked like parent and hyperactive child. Mentally groaning the blond gently tapped Ruby on the shoulder just as she was about to zoom away. "Um Ruby, does Blake like any kind of cake in particular?"

"I don't really know." The redhead decided to stay with Jaune as he continued his trip and down the aisles. "Blake never really eats much in terms of sweets. Usually when I offer her any of my cakes or strawberries she says no." It was true, Ruby could actually count the number of times on her fingers she'd seen Blake eat a cupcake, a slice of cake, or even a piece of pie. Despite the rarity of such an event she couldn't exactly remember what flavor Blake liked. "What are you laughing about?" While she'd been thinking Jaune had broken out into a small fit of snickers.

"Nothing." He lied turning his cheeks. "I'm just trying to imagine you sharing any of your strawberries with anyone."

"Hey!" Ruby started with a cute pout. "I do share my sweets! I just don't do it often."

Their journey took them into the diary section and eventually where the meat and fish were being frozen. "You don't think Blake would ever eat fish-cake would you?" the redhead offered looking over the various fish on display.

"Fish…cake?" The knight asked clearly confused.

"Ya' know fish-flavored cake." The reaper specified.

Both teenagers paused to envision what Ruby was talking about. A moment later they both cringed and after that their faces turned an interesting shade of green. Jaune felt like he was on an airship and Ruby felt like she'd just eaten rotten chocolate.

The two looked at each other and simultaneously looked at each other and spoke, "Let's just get her some sushi."

"Blake isn't allergic to peanuts or chocolate is she?" Jaune asked after they turned away from the fish display.

"No why?"

"Well I have an idea of what kind of cake we can make for her." His voice had gone from soft to slightly commanding surprising Ruby. "It _is _going to be for Blake right?"

Immediately Ruby straightened up. "Definitely."

"Okay here's the model; milk chocolate, with cream cheese icing, and small cherries around the rim. Sound good?" When he finished Jaune noticed a small puddle of drool forming around Ruby's feet courtesy of her mouthwatering. "Is that a yes?"

"YES!" She shouted surprising everyone in the vicinity. Shocked and embarrassed she dropped her hood over her head to cover her reddening cheeks. She wasn't blind to how everyone had been looking her before but now she'd practically given them a big neon sign to look out. Damn her sweet tooth, damn it and her inability to control it!

A comforting hand fell on her shoulder while another lightly pilled back her hood. Her eyes went from the ground to a pair of sparkling blue eyes and a kind hearted smile. Quickly a blush spread over her cheeks keeping her from meeting Jaune's eyes for the next ten minutes.

She didn't speak again until they were at the cash register at which Jaune took out a platinum colored credit card. Ruby made a mental note to ask him about it later. Once they had paid for everything and Jaune had put everything into the shopping bag he'd brought she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for earlier."

At first he didn't know how to respond however a smile soon crept onto his face. "Don't mention it." A growl from both their stomachs created a blush on both of their faces. "What do you say before we head back we grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure."

By luck they came across a diner two three blocks from the grocery store. A large silver rectangular box with yellow, orange, and red neon signs lining the roof and corners. A triangular sign read Frosch's Diner in red-orange colored letters bright enough to be seen three blocks away. Inside the building resembled a typical diner a red colored ceiling and orange and red color scheme present in the chairs, booths, and counters. Drink name brands and posters were strewn over the walls alongside portraits of famous singers, athletes and Hunters. By the left end of the diner was an old school jukebox. A little over half the diner was filled with occupants of all k: young, middle age, and old. Very few people were sitting alone; therefore an ever present chatter filled the diner causing Jaune and Ruby to relax somewhat.

They took their seat at a both on the right side and waited patiently for their waiter to get to them.

"Ever eaten at this place?" Jaune asked lightly thumping his fingers on the table.

"Nope, in fact I never knew this place existed. Then again I really don't do diners, I'm more into bakeries."

"You know I get the feeling if you weren't a Huntress you'd probably be owning a bakery in some quiet part of town." Jaune said with a smile.

"That would be great…if I knew enough about cooking." Ruby laughed. "Maybe if I had someone like you working with me then why not."

It was probably their laughter that gave their waitress the idea to suggest the couples special when she came around with their menus. She was maybe in her mid-twenties with cherry red hair and bright green eyes. "Might I suggest the spaghetti?" She jokingly asked just to the reactions on their faces. "I'm Chloe by the way and I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders."

The two teenagers practically buried their noses in the menus to hide the redness in their respective cheeks. Their eyes scanned every corner of the menu in an attempt to keep from looking up and seeing the other's cherry colored face. Once more they'd found themselves in that familiar awkward silence. This time though it was in public with countless eyes to observe them.

When Chloe came back still wearing that sly grin on her face she asked, "Do you guys need more time?"

"No," Ruby said putting her menu down, at last having regained her composure. "I'll have a large hotdog, ketch-up, mayo, and cheddar cheese with cheese fries and a strawberry shake."

Jaune stared at Ruby with wide eyes for a second before Chloe's green eyes zipped to him.

"Double cheese burger with cheddar cheese, barbeque sauce, lettuce, and pickles with a side of onion rings, and a medium Sprite." He answered sitting his menu down.

With a wink Chloe left them alone promising their food would be ready in a few minutes.

"So…did you hear about the Lockjaw that's been running around in the sewers?" Ruby innocently asked trying to start up a conversation.

"Hear about it? The minute I saw it on the news I knew that was the same one that nearly turned me and Ren into meat chops in the CCT." Jaune groveled. "I wish I'd been able to kill that thing when I had the chance. It's already killed eight people and they still haven't caught it."

"Someone will eventually get it." Ruby shrugged. "I'm more surprised it's still around given all the repairs that have been done."

"It's not impossible to imagine." Jaune said crossing his arms and leaning back. "The moment I saw that thing I guessed it had to been a few years old, maybe eight or almost ten judging by the scars it had on its noise. When Nora showed it realized the situation had turned against it and retreated. From there odds are it decided to stay in the sewers and gorge itself on corpses, trash, and whoever was dumb enough to wonder around in there." His face screwed up as a shutter ran up his spine. "Like that Chandler guy."

Ruby herself bristled as she recalled the memory of seeing the Lockjaw's eighth victim show up on the news. Like the others his body had been mangled and half eaten. "The next time you see it you're going to kill it right."

"That's what I'd like to do but…" he hung his head low. "Let's face it me against a giant crocodile; I'll be the guy that either gets eaten alive or need to have his butt saved from getting eaten."

"Don't be so down! All you have to do is get on top of it and then cruch!" She made a stabbing motion with her knife he couldn't help but find both laughable and cute. "I'll be there to help you if it comes to that. I'll distract it and you go in for the kill."

Jaune gave her a hopeful smile. "Promise?"

"Promise." Ruby cheerfully answered.

Chloe arrived not a minute later with their food in hand. "Enjoy your date." She laughed walking away to another customer.

Jaune and Ruby let the comment slide by in favor of digging into their meal. Neither of them had eaten since they left Beacon just over three hours ago and they were starving. Half way through their meal their conversation turned to a more serious direction.

Jaune looked down at his half-eaten burger then at his redheaded companion. "Ruby…is it okay?"

"Is what okay?" she questioned with those silver eyes Jaune had come to enjoy looking at. "Oh." She whispered realizing what he was getting at. "What you told me doesn't change anything."

"But I lied to you, lied to everyone." Jaune countered balling his fist.

"Jaune," Ruby began grabbing his attention again with the sudden seriousness in her voice. "Do you remember how I got into Beacon?"

"Yeah, you stopped a robbery, Professor Goodwitch was there with you, and Headmaster Ozpin decided to enroll you." He answered in a manner that seemed to asking her to get to the point.

"The point is I never graduated combat school either."

Jaune appreciated Ruby's attempt to cheer him up but her statement had several holes in it. Holes he quickly pointed out, "Ruby's there's a difference between skipping grade levels because of skill and skipping combat school altogether." He took a sip from his soda then looked out the window at the night lights. "Besides even if I had gone to Signal I never would have passed anyway."

"Even though you're passing now?" The little reaper countered having grown tired of hearing Jaune tear himself down. One day she was going to have to ask him where his depleted sense of self-worth came from. "If you keep going the way you are you could graduate near the top of the class. Now compare that to how you would have done at Signal."

And by some divine power she'd done it again. Jaune could count the number of times he'd fallen into a depression only to have it be cured by this silvery eyed reaper and her boundless sense of optimism. He showed his gratitude through a smile. In return Ruby shot him the peace sign then went back to eating. The rest of their diner didn't stray one bit from the blissful serenity they were in until they'd both finished.

Chloe returned to their table wearing an eerie smile on her face that reminded the teenagers a little too much of Yang. "So I take it you enjoyed your meal."

""Yep!" Ruby smiled.

"Definitely coming back if that's what you're asking." Jaune responded with a smile.

"Great! Now would either of you two like anything for dessert?"

Leaning out of his seat Jaune noticed the various pastries that had been on display. "Yeah, one slice of chocolate cake, to go."

The expressions on the redheads were opposites; Ruby's was shock and Chloe's was approval. With another wink she went of towards the counter to place their order.

Once the older woman was gone Ruby looked at Jaune with worry present in her eyes. "Jaune are you sure about this? Did you check the pricing and how much money you have?" Throughout this whole night out Ruby hadn't spent one cent of her own money expect for the bus ride. "I don't want to blow all your money on me."

The concern in her voice was met with a small chuckle. "It's not a problem. Trust me I made sure to bring enough money with me so we would could eat out."

"And there you go, you're prepared." Ruby laughed.

After picking up her piece of cake and paying the bill Jaune and Ruby caught the bus to the airship harbor. Just before stepping on Jaune braced himself for the ride back. It helped a little as he only had to run to the on ship bathroom twice. After the second time he's face simply remained a light shade of green for the rest of the trip.

"Hey Jaune," Ruby started getting his attention. "Thanks for tonight."

Through the whirlpool in his stomach Jaune managed a smile. "No problem. And thank you for making me feel like I…for making me feel like I'm useful."

Placing a light kiss on his cheek Ruby giggled. "You are useful. Your team sees that and I see that. We just gotta work on making everyone else see it too."

Some might have wondered if the blond haired knight had eaten some rotten food or caught some strange disease based on the interesting mix of red and green painting his cheeks. They would have been far from the truth. What was running through Jaune's mind and beating down his motion sickness was something more comparable to a cool glass of water; pure and refreshing. What was running through him was the relief that came with liberation and the happiness he felt from being accepted.

* * *

**Was that a date? It definitely felt like a date. Do you guys think it was a date? Did I have enough fluff in this chapter? Let me know in the reviews. I will say this; this chapter was fun to write, mostly because it was about my favorite pairing. In the future I'll be doing more little quiet chapters like this for Arc Rose and other pairings. Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11: Dragon vs Wolf

**I do own anything expect Izaak and the OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Dragon's Fury vs. Wolf' Cunning **

That Monday morning Yang could feel something was off with her sister. For the past week or so her instincts had been warning her something was going on with her sister though every time she confronted Ruby over it she always found some way to wiggle out of it. Her concern went unnoticed by her teammates; Weiss simply ignored it all together and Blake told her to simply let Ruby look out for herself. As much as Yang wanted to she couldn't shake the thought Ruby was into something she didn't want Yang to know about. All that did was make Yang want to learn exactly what it was that was making her little sister get up ten minutes earlier than usual. Usually it was near impossible to get Ruby out of bed before the allotted time, a sentiment Yang had shared with her since birth.

She'd gone to sleep a tad earlier than normally that Sunday night so she'd be able to get up just in time to catch Ruby as she made her way out of the dorm. At precisely five-fifty three she could hear Ruby quietly tip-toing out of bed, the ruffling of clothes and lastly the quiet squeaking of the door opening and closing. While she was far less graceful than her red-headed sister Yang was able to sneak out of their room and into the dim hallway. Tip-toing through the hallways after her sister she could just barely hear the feint murmuring of students preparing to start the first day of the week. Tracking her sister wasn't easy as Ruby seemed to be slightly aware of the fact she was being followed, that made it so Yang had to keep her distance least she be caught and the situation go from bad to worse.

Yang cursed herself for not grabbing a coat when her spying lead to the dining hall. Not only was there little cover for her hide behind but the morning hair was absolutely chilly. It served as a not so slight reminder they were in the last week of fall which reminded her she'd yet to buy one set of winter clothing and neither had Ruby. If her sister was going to keep doing this then she was going to have to remember to bring a coat. That however, depended on if Ruby was into something dangerous or not.

The last thing she saw was Ruby enter the backdoor entrance into the kitchen before something else caught her attention. She could hear the familiar sound of humming, and it was coming from a certain person Yang had been devoting a great deal of time lately into figuring out. Breaking off from her pursuit of Ruby she walked over to the dumpsters and was surprised to find Izaak, not exactly dressed in uniform but none the less in warm clothing hefting bags of garbage over his shoulders and into the dumpsters. There was a cart right next to him containing about four other bags that Yang knew had to have come from the dining hall.

There was something about the whole scene that made her temporarily forget about her sister's little morning escapades. He didn't show one sign of discomfort at handling trash and garbage early in the morning. He was humming the same way he did when he was reading, studying, or working or schoolwork. Not for the first time Yang wondered if he secretly sung when one was looking. The image of the axe-wielding Viking singing to in a quiet and secluded part of Beacon definitely peeked Yang's imagination.

He was on the last bag when he turned in her direction startling her. "Ya' know I know you're proud of your sex appeal but I don't think now's the time to show it." Laughing at her blush and rapid covering of her body he tossed the last bag into the rest of the pile. "So what are you doing out here? Odds are you're not out for a morning stroll in your pajamas."

"I came here looking for Ruby." She huffed feeling a cold breeze send chills down her spine. Now she seriously was wishing she brought a jacket or coat. "How long have you been doing this? Come to think it why are you doing this? You could be catching a few more minutes of sleep."

"I offered some help to the kitchen and cleaning staff." He put both hands in his pockets. "Aside from that getting up and doing work helps my body wake up. I actually kind of like winter."

"Really? I hate it. No sun, too cold to go anywhere," The blond started.

"Nice time to cozy up with a book by a fire place." Izaak countered with a dreamy look. "Nice cup of hot chocolate or maybe to go snowboarding."

"Ever gone snowboarding?" Yang asked somewhat excitedly.

"Yeah," he grinned. "Three times, broke my nose the third time but the last one I think I did pretty well. You ever gone snowboarding?"

"Nope but this winter I think maybe I should give it a try. Back to my original question, have you seen Ruby around here lately?"

There was a pause as Izaak looked back at the dining hall. He was careful so Yang couldn't read the playful glimmer in his eyes yet he was doubtful if she was that good at reading people. Over the past week he'd seen Ruby and Jaune together in the dining hall and his nose had caught the faintest hint of food being cooked and readied. It was their little secret even if the blond and redhead didn't know he was in on it. "I've been seeing her sneaking in some cherries out of the kitchen and food storage. You're sister's a little sneaker you know that right?" He said with grin.

"Oh she's always been that way ever since we were kids." Yang explained feeling her shoulders ease back. So it wasn't something she needed to be worried about. Wait, that meant she'd come out here for nothing then! "One day it'd be nice if she could curve that sweet tooth of her's."

Without her noticing Izaak easily slid off his jacket and held it out for Yang. His expression was ninety-percent neutral as opposed to the shocked look on the boxer's face. "Can I have it back at the end of the day?"

"How about I just give it back after first period."

"That's fine."

Most men would have been staring either at her bust or her bare figure but Izaak kept his eyes on her face throughout the whole conversation. Even more, he'd offered her his coat without a hint of embarrassment or stuttering. She didn't say it out loud but she was impressed with the Viking. He had character, she'd give him that even if he was a little hard to figure out at times. She kept a small smirk on her lips for the rest of the morning. It slightly unsettled her teammates since it was her infamous 'I know something the rest of you don't' smirk. Ruby seemed the most affected, more than likely guessing she knew her secret. Yang wouldn't say anything so long as Ruby didn't get in trouble with the kitchen staff. Or if she shared any of her beloved any if her strawberries.

* * *

The rumor mill was something Yang made it a priority to stay tuned in too. Over the weekend she expected the team IONC fights dominate most of the mill. Apparently something more interesting had happened Friday night in the city. That led to her asking her classmates exactly what it was that had so many of them talking in hushed tones behind her back. _What the hell is so important about this date? _She was close to grabbing the nearest person and demanding the whole story out of them. _Wait a minute, why do that when I've got a pair of sea monkeys to tell me. _

There was a longer than usual break after each lunch period that afforded every student almost ten minutes to get to where they need to go or finish whatever chit-chat they were having with their friends. The blond decided to use that time to get the whole story from Sun and Neptune.

Before long she was staring down a confused and startled Neptune while Sun stood off to the side, quietly eating his banana-flavored frozen yogurt. Both boys were beginning to sweat due to the barely visible but still present aura of heat building up around Yang. They were pinned against the wall in one of the back rooms of the dining hall. Somehow while the rest of her team had left the dining hall Yang had managed remain hidden from their view and corner them. Now they were hosts to her interrogation. And they were wishing like hell they hadn't stayed in the dining hall like they usually did.

"So guys," She started keeping her violet eyes on Neptune, causing him to start shaking in his boots. "On Friday you say something about a guy's night out for Jaune, right?" The two boys quickly nodded their heads hoping they would be able to walk away without a bruise or a burn. "Now on Saturday you both said neither of you were able to find Jaune, Ruby also happened to be missing that night too. She didn't get back until almost ten o'clock last night and the next morning she spent all day in the training room. Sunday she was all over the place. I couldn't find Jaune on either of those days either. This morning I heard rumors about those two, a date, a trip to the supermarket, something about fish-cake, and opening a bakery." Embers were starting to flick off of Yang scaring the two boys greatly. "Explain. Now."

Mustering up some courage Sun spoke up in defense of his best friend. "It's true we couldn't find Jaune all weekend. We did see him with Ruby a few times but that was it."

"And?" Yang snarled, the embers now growing brighter and brighter. In a swift motion she had Neptune raised a few inches off the floor by the front of his shirt.

Sun and Neptune exchanged silent arguments as Yang's aura steadily began to rise in intensity. The once frozen yogurt in Sun's head was quickly growing warmer and warmer and Neptune was beginning to feel like he was strolling through Vacuo in a winter coat. Small blisters were beginning to form on his skin due to his close proximity to the blond. The blond haired Faunus was torn between his devotion to his best friend and his own self-preservation. Not to mention he had the sneaking feeling if he did make a run for it he'd never reach Blake before Yang caught him and beat the shit out of him.

"I'm waiting!" The blond snarled raising her left fist threateningly.

_Jaune we're sorry! _

"Jaune took Ruby out for a night on the town! They had dinner at some diner called Frosch's!" Neptune cried.

It was at that second that the boys saw the rest of team RWBY, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora walked in. Obviously the first thing they saw was a now smoldering Yang holding up a panic-stricken Neptune and almost tearful Sun. The same thought went through all their minds, _What the hell is going on here?! _

The moment his eyes sat upon his fellow Faunus Sun scrambled away and behind the safe cover of Blake's backside. Snapping her head from the now totally terrified blue-haired boy Yang's eyes fell to Ruby. Her silver eyes widened in fear while her sister's narrowed in fury. Weiss merely stood with her arms crossed and with an annoyed expression on her face. Why did it have to be on a Monday, and the beginning to such a stressful week to boot too?

Still holding the now almost comatose Neptune by his jacket Yang barked, "Where's Jaune!?"

Common sense kept each of their mouths shut…expect for Nora's. The orange-haired girl was roasting a left-over hotdog on a stick with a care free grin on her face. "He's doing extra-credit work for Professor Goodwitch in building F-3! Did you guys hear the news, Jaune got a date Friday night!" Leaning over her blue eyes fell onto Ruby nearly making her jump out of her skin. "You two went out and had spaghetti or something right? Then he bought you a piece of chocolate cake for dessert? That was awesome!"

"NORA!"

Neptune was lost to the eruption of flames that exploded from Yang's body not a second later. Windows shattered and the temperature of the entire room did a complete one-eighty. A tower of roaring flames erupted from Yang, completely engulfing Neptune and knocking everyone else off their feet. When the flames dissipated Yang was jetting out the door and leaving a trail of fire and fear in her wake, screaming only one thing.

"AAAARRRCCCC!"

If it was possible Ruby's silvery eyes grew larger than they did a moment ago. "Yang, wait please!" Pushing herself upward she activated her Semblance and was soon racing after her sister leaving a trail of rose pelts and her confused teammates behind her. "It's not what you think it is!"

The rose pelts hovered in the air due to the Jetstream created by the sisters. Sadly some of them began catching fire due to excess flames left over by Yang's sprint. Some of them began drifting throughout the dining hall and landed on…

"RUBY! YANG!" Weiss screamed trying to put out the flames that had begun gathering on her sleeve. In a minute the flames were put out but now her uniform was covered in burn marks and small patches of dark soot thanks to the imprint of the burning rose pelts. "You two are going to pay for this!" Before long she was out the door as well screaming at the two sisters that they were going to pay for her uniform repairs.

Groaning Blake took off after her wayward team with Sun in toe, now fearful of what Yang was going to do to his fellow blond and friend.

"Awesome! A race to get to Jaune and next class! Come one Ren, we're not losing this one!" The Valkyrie declared grabbing her partner and zooming off after their friends leaving a stunned and startled Pyrrha alone in the empty room.

The Spartan was about to take off after everyone when she heard a low groaning sound coming from the wall. She'd had the feeling she'd forgotten something and now she remembered exactly what, or rather who it was. "Neptune!"

The blue haired student's stylish way of dressing may have been enough to keep him warm in the fifty-degree weather but at the epicenter of a fiery explosion Yang had produced it'd only served to make his experience worse. His red jacket had been entirely seared off along, his undershirt had multiple burn holes and black patches in them, his legs felt like jelly, and his face was covered in cartoonish burns and soot patches. His eyes were almost totally white, his hair was completely singed and out it's usually sweep, and lastly he was coughing up smoke. "I…I…sorry…next time…no…squealing."

Not for the first time Pyrrha had a truly daunting decision; either go after the others and hopefully prevent Yang from sending Jaune to the moon or get Neptune to the nurse's office. Panicky she looked between the door and Neptune's twitching form before her face hardened into determination. She trusted Ruby, Blake, and Ren to protect Jaune, for now Neptune needed her help the most. "Neptune, I don't know if you can hear me but I'm taking you to the nurse's office! Hang as tight as you can!"

If he was still coherent he probably would have said something smart about being carried in Pyrrha's arms bridal style half way across campus. Lucky for him there was another, far more interesting spectacle for the eyes to see on the other side of campus.

* * *

He should have known the run of luck he'd been on since Friday night was going to end. He just wished it didn't come in the form of an angry, fire-breathing golden dragon.

Jaune had left during the last ten minutes of lunch to turn in some extra credit work for Professor Goodwitch's class. Out of all his classes it didn't come as a surprise PT was his lowest scoring class. If it weren't for those few rare cases of book work and painfully basic exercise drills he'd probably have an F if not for a med C. He spent almost the whole weekend going everything Pyrrha and Ruby had taught him. It filled his heart with relief that he was finally putting the knowledge the two redheads had given him to good use. Now if only he could do that in an arena then his life would be almost perfect compared to what it was at the moment.

His pride had been recovered thanks to his night out with Ruby and the looks and snickers of his classmates didn't bother him as much as he thought it did. There was however the issue of how some of the ladies looked his way then looked away quietly laughing to themselves. More than three times he'd checked himself all over to make sure he didn't smell or have anything on his face or hanging off him. When he couldn't come up with anything he just shrugged it off as another girl thing he'd never understand. Besides a few jokes and jabs at him about his match against Olivia Jaune had gone through most of the morning and day undisturbed.

Stepping out of the building he couldn't help but notice it'd grown a great deal hotter. It was the last week of fall and the sudden heat wave immediately struck him as odd. "Someone must have set off a crate of fire Dust or something." It certainly wouldn't be the first time something like it happened; however, for some reason Jaune could feel like the heat was being directed at him. "Uh did a fire or something break out over there?"

"No but I got a call from my teammate. Apparently some first year student went-"

BOOM!

The students jumped as the tower of fire rocketed upward followed by an ear-piercing, ferocious roar. "AAARRRCCCCCC!"

Jaune froze in his place. He knew that voice but he was hoping like hell it hadn't screamed his name in such fury. The heat wave grew stronger and stronger; moreover, he was now sure it was being directed at him. Soon he was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Suddenly his eyes began scanning the surrounding area looking for someplace he could hide or find shelter in. A handful of other students were already doing that, having recognized the roar of the dragon now coming towards them.

The explosive wave of flames grew closer and closer towards the F-3 Building until the dragon exploded through a collection of bushes and trees. Her hair was a mass of swirling flames and her eyes were miniature firebombs constantly exploded. Her fists tightened at the sight of the only heir to the Arc family. When she roared it sent the mass of students and teachers scrambling for cover. "JAUNE ARC!"

No one could ever say they'd seen Jaune Arc move as fast as he did in that moment. One minute he was standing there dumbstruck and the next he was racing all over campus with fire breathing dragon close behind him.

As he ran Jaune quickly deduced there was only one reason why Yang would be coming after him with such fury. Within his brain all the gears started grinding together leading his common sense to smack him over the head. He was a fool for not realizing it sooner, for not seeing what was right in front of him the whole time.

The fireballs came at him at speeds he normally never would have been able to dodge. Those that saw them coming shrieked once then dove to the nearest piece of cover they could get to. Jaune wasn't so lucky. _Where the hell's a cardboard box when you need one! _He ran and ran, through classrooms, through buildings, through school workers carrying objects or heavy loads hoping that would shake the dragon off his tail.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! _

While the scene was terrifying to on lookers there was a certain awe to it. Yang Xiao Long was known for her fury and power when enraged and Jaune Arc was known for…well he was known for a lot of things that don't really need to be explained by this point.

The amazing thing was the blond male was still alive. The blonds ran up, down, and every direction over the school campus yet for all her anger and ferocity Yang couldn't land a solid blow on Jaune. His uniform had been singed and burned in various areas but otherwise he'd managed to avoid the worst of Yang's fireballs. His senses were open and screaming at the smallest detail in his ever changing environment. Jaune could hear the sound of Yang's fireballs as they blasted through the air and his brain calculated which way they were coming from and how fast they were going. From there his developing instincts took control and jerked his body in the appropriate direction.

Mind's Eye as it often been called was not something Jaune had ever thought he'd develop but what he was experiencing definitely matched the descriptions he'd read.

A veer in direction, sudden change in direction, and knocking things over all fell under the list of things Jaune did to throw off the dragon now screaming for his blood. "YANG IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS! IT WASN'T A DATE! I SWEAR!"

Every time he opened his mouth she just launched another fireball at his face. At some point he began to subconsciously do it just so she'd stop aiming at his arms, legs, or body. Truly there was nothing like a ball of fire wheezing past you to keep your brain alert and active.

Strange as it was Jaune felt calmer with his brain working at such a high capacity. It was just like he said to Ruby that Friday evening in the tower, whenever he tried to draw his hidden abilities to the surface it never worked. When the time called for it however he was always amazed at the things he could do. As it was now, it was staying alive. Faintly he was aware of the fact they'd probably gone through half of Beacon and Yang still hadn't caught him nor was his body screaming for a break like it should have been. That last one he chalked up to the power of Aura and fear. The question was which one would give out first; Yang's fury or Jaune's fear.

Someone stepped into his field of sight as he rounded another corner. "Get out of the way!"

It was Izaak and unlike the others he wasn't scared. He looked confused. "Jaune? What happened? Why's everything on…"

Thanks to the alertness Jaune was able to see the change in Izaak's eyes. They went from confused to something else, something Jaune couldn't describe. He screamed for Izaak to get out of the way as he pasted him but he didn't move one inch.

No, he did move, just not in the direction Jaune wanted him to.

Like he was flagging down a taxi Izaak stepped into the path of the blazing dragon that had been chasing Jaune for the last seven minutes. Roaring in fury Yang reeled her fist back to unleash another fireball; with total disregard for Izaak's presence or safety.

_THUMP! _

When Jaune didn't feel the familiar heat zoom past him he feared the worse and halted in his tracks. His mouth was already opening to scream when he completely turned around, praying Izaak's head wasn't a smashed, burnt pumpkin. Either his prayers had been answered or somehow his brain had started affecting his eyesight.

Yang's fist had been stopped cold in its tracks by Izaak's single left hand. The dragon's claw was locked in his hand, still burning and struggling to break free. The blond beauty's face hadn't changed much but there was now confusion on her face at how her attack had been effortlessly stopped by Izaak's lone palm. You could probably count the number of people capable of stopping Yang's rage-fueled fist on both your hands and even they did so with a grimace. The bronze haired Viking had just joined that list and created a new one all his own.

Izaak's expression was neutral even as the fiery aura around Yang licked and bit away at him and his left forearm was catching fire. He didn't cry or even show a small trace of discomfort. His hazel eyes remained locked on Yang's burning red eyes. His left hand didn't buckle even as yang put more force into her hand hoping it'd be enough to break free of the Viking's grip.

Nothing changed. The blond didn't feel like she was caught in the axe-wielder's Gravitation Semblance but she was definitely immobilized. What she did know was Izaak's aura had changed. She'd felt something like this weeks ago in the library when he'd spoken to her about his willingness to kill to protect his friends. This was similar yet at the same time totally different. His eyes were so focused on her it made Yang try a little harder to pull her hand back. They made her feel uncomfortable, like she was staring down some wolf that was stalking its prey and instead found her; it wasn't angry nor was it disapproving, it was simply examining.

Around them those that had been cowering in fear were slowly beginning to poke their heads out and were shocked at what they'd seen. The dragon's rampage had been stopped but not by the knight's shield or sword but by the simply gaze of a wondering wolf.

Though his eyes remained on Yang when Izaak spoke his words were clearly directed at Jaune. "I assume this is about that little night out I've been hearing about?"

"Yeah-wait! You knew!" Jaune cried.

Turning his head the Viking gave him something of a dry stare, "Sun and Neptune talked me into taking you out for a guy's night to take your mind off your match. You're nowhere to be found. I stop by the game room expecting to find Ruby, she's not there or anywhere on school grounds. Next few days rumors about you two start floating around. Dude, it's not hard to put two and two together."

"So you did know about this!" Yang shouted. Only Jaune and Izaak could hear the hurt in her voice. Her blazing aura flared up and with renewed force she began struggling to free her hand from Izaak's grip once again.

Izaak did give a slight grimace as his entire left sleeve caught fire but he didn't show any major signs of pain. It was clear he was affected by the tone of betrayal Yang yelled at him with but he kept his voice cool and level. "What really happened?"

His explanation soon descended into ramblings until Izaak called his name. Hazel eyes slightly asked him to calm down and start from the top least he make his situation worse. Jaune did as his classmate and friend asked. With no other choice Yang listened to the blonde's tale with mild annoyance. By the time he was finished the aura of flames around Yang had burned out leaving the dragon annoyed but now far less dangerous than she was ten minutes earlier.

"Grocery trip, okay. I think that's enough to get him off the hook." Izaak said returning to Yang. 'Don't you?"

"It'll be enough when I at least give him one right hook to the face." She snarled. "You took her on a dinner date afterwards. With spaghetti!"

"No it wasn't! I had a burger and she had a hotdog!" Jaune fired back.

Unfortunately that caused the dragon's anger to blaze back to life. "A HOTDOG!"

Izaak shut his eyes with an annoyed bead of sweet running down his forehead. Jaune looked confused until his brain caught onto the same train of thought Yang's was on. And he wasn't happy about it. "Woah now, wait a second!" His arms shot up in all directions as his face went beat red. "I didn't order it for her or ask her to eat it! She did it all by herself! Besides it wasn't like I was watching her eat it or anything!"

"A likely story Arc." Yang snarled. "Admit it, you seduced my sister into going out on a date with you two when you could have just taken a straight ride home then I bet you-"

"I think he's telling the truth." Izaak broke in. To the awe of those around them the Viking didn't break under the dragon's glare. "They got hungry, decided to have dinner together, Ruby was in the mood for a hotdog, and as a thank you for cheering him up Jaune got her some chocolate cake. Sounds like something any decent guy would do."

"That or any guy who's got a plan in mind."

"Plan? What plan?" Jaune asked offended. He could take a a few harsh words but even he was starting to reach his breaking point. "What do you think I lured Ruby into all of this so at some point I could make her my girlfriend?"

"Well she is much easier to go for than Weiss." Yang countered.

"Okay on that we can all agree on." Izaak laughed. "Anyways Yang, don't you think if Jaune was doing any of that Ruby would have caught onto it and cut the line then and there?"

There was a pause before the female blond answered. "Yes, maybe, but she's not good at social interaction! She's so trusting and nice to everyone she meets! What if she makes friends with the wrong person? What if she' ends up with someone who's just using her for status or sympathy! Or worse for her body!"

A low wind blew over the trio. For the past now fifteen minutes Jaune's face had been a mask of fear but now it'd changed into one of shock and outright anger. "Yang! I can't believe you'd think I'd do such a thing!"

Before he could continue Izaak coughed once to get their attention. He looked at Jaune silently asking for his permission to speak on his behalf. As much as it pained Jaune he knew Izaak was the better speaker. If there was anyone who could keep him from having a date with Yang's fist then it was him.

Seeing his nod as permission Izaak returned his attention to the buxom blond before him. He'd be lying through his teeth if he said Yang's words hadn't struck a nerve within him. What really irked him was who they were being aimed at. "I can understand you're worried about Ruby, trust me, I've been in your shoes before." Some of the fire deemed in Yang's eyes upon hearing his eyes. "You're worried but you don't have to be. I'll tell you why; one your sister is a warrior," He looked over at Jaune with shimmering eyes. "Jaune I want you to know you're one of the nicest guys I've ever met and you've got a lot of potential in you." That made the other boy's eyes widen in admiration and joy.

"Thanks man." He said with heartfelt smile.

Then he turned back to Yang. "Yang this is Jaune we're talking about here. If he did try anything Ruby could kick his ass into the moon."

"Hey!"

Narrowing her eyes Yang related. "Okay you've got a point there. But you guys still should have told me!" she huffed.

"Yes, tell you and watch you smoke the entire dining hall or a classroom." Izaak laughed. "It would have been pretty cool right? Smoking textbooks and the sludge they try to pass off as mashed potatoes and the crappy spring water they've been serving us. Actually do you think you can use your Semblance to heat up food or make a bottle of soda burst? Ever tried doing it before?"

Everyone blinked once as Izaak's last few statements completely came out of left field. Yang more so was dumbstruck as the teen kept smiling at her with that lazy grin. Seeing that smile she felt the last vintage of her anger fade away. At that she huffed one last breath. "Fine then I see your point but I'm still angry at you two for keeping it a secret."

Izaak sighed once though a few could tell it was just a show. "How about we brawl it out this afternoon?"

"Okay but you better not be late or I'll be coming after both of you. And this time there'll be no talking your way of it wise guy." As her anger resided Izaak's grip loosened until she was able to pull her arm back and walk away with a huff. "Four-thirty Izaak!"

"Wouldn't dream of missing it Yang!" The Viking called back. Once the boxer was out of sight he turned to Jaune. "No broken bones or anything?"

Instead of an answer Jaune fell flat on his butt with his arms trembling like yo-yos. His face was rapidly turning blue and his breath was coming out in short huffs. Chuckling to himself Izaak called out, "It's okay to come out now people! She's gone!"

Taking his word for it all those in hiding soon began to crawl out of their safety corners. Many of them stared at Izaak in shock at what he'd just done. He'd single handedly stopped Yang's rampage using not swords or force but with words. Those that weren't impressed with his ability to tie Pyrrha had surely been swept of their feet with this display of cunning and bravery.

As soon as his nerves stopped firing Jaune took Izaak's hand to get to his feet. He owed Izaak big time. The guy had gone out of his way to make sure Jaune remained safe and sound. "Izaak I don't even know how to thank you for this. You saved my ass." Eventually his eyes fell to the Viking's left arm. "You should probably go to the nurse's office to get that looked at."

Izaak seemed surprised at Jaune's statement. When he realized what he was getting out he laughed and held up his left hand. Again the Viking surprised Jaune. His hand had a few singes but otherwise the burn wounds were already fast at work healing. He flexed his hand a few times to see the nerves there was no lasting damage. Besides a slight soreness Izaak's left hand was fine.

"How did you do that? Aura?" The blond asked bewildered.

"Well no, the truth is I'm just a fast healer." Izaak answered dusting his pants off. It was his little secret he now shared with his fellow leader. He'd tell Jaune half the truth and hopefully they'd be enough for the moment. "Comes in handy when you're in a tough spot right?"

Despite his grin Jaune remained uneasy. "You don't have to fight for me."

"I know but as crazy as it is, I actually want to fight Yang. She seems like the kind of person who'll only let someone pass her if they can match her blow for blow. Besides I still owe her a favor." Izaak said with a small chuckle. "Who knows? This could end up being a ton of fun, provided she doesn't knock my head off within the first five minutes."

* * *

That afternoon the amphitheater had quite the turnout thanks to Beacon's infamous rumor machine. Word passed from the lips of freshman all the way up to the staff. Most after class activities were put on hold so the fight between Yang Xiao Long and Izaak Egilson could be witnessed. Side bets and mock-food stands had been set up at least half an hour before the fight was even scheduled to start. As much as it was reprimanded by the teachers everyone knew at least a handful had taken some side bets along with the students. The crowd was made of students from all years but a good majority of them were either freshman or second year students. Those upperclassmen had come solely because they wanted to see the confirmation of the various rumors and bits of information that had been floating around about both combatants.

Amid the bleachers teams RWBY, JNPR, IONC CVFY, Sun, and Neptune waited with heated eyes for the fight to begin. Ruby had tried in vain several times to get the fight called off until Yang had told her she wasn't really fighting Izaak over her not-date with Jaune but because she honestly wanted to fight him for herself. It did little in alleviating the feeling that all of it was still her fault. Weiss had chewed out both sisters when she finally caught up with them until Blake stepped to restore order. Her only words for the boxer had been not to kill Izaak. Pyrrha had carried Neptune all the way to the medical building before sitting out to go help the others. Blake and Coco showed up right at the door to tell her Jaune was safe and the fight was on. When they did all three girls could hear Neptune moan in the background. The trident wielder didn't have anything too serious though a large portion of his body was covered in bandages and healing cream. When he saw Jaune he got down on his knees and apologized along with Sun for selling him out. When he saw Yang he jumped behind Pyrrha and demanded an apology. Team CVFY had seen the tower of flames and moved to stop Yang only to find the leader of team IONC had already done it for them. Then they decided since they didn't have a mission they'd stay just for kicks. That left Ren and Nora. Nothing phased her, the fact that the whole mess could arguable be said to be her fault didn't really bother her and Ren had long since given up on trying to convince her that and just decided to go with the flow. Ruby was much harder to convince

"We're sitting here about to watch a totally awesome fight between a dragon and a werewolf aren't we?" Nora argued.

"Werewolf?" Blake asked leaning over.

"Izaak has a thing for dogs." Neil spoke. For once he showed no signs of falling asleep but he didn't look worried either. "Besides if you've ever seen him seriously fight you'll tend to notice he fights like a wolf too; with cunning and brutality."

"That against a dragon's fury." Chicahua grinned taking a bite out of his hotdog. "Should be fun eh Olivia?"

Out of everyone Olivia probably was the least happy. She sat with next to her partner with a near invisible scowl on her face as she looked around the crowd. She kept muttering to herself but none the less she was secretly rooting for her leader. "We'll be seeing brute force versus ferocity and cunning. This is either going to quick and unclean or long and interesting." Casting a throw away glance at the remaining members of team RWBY she snorted. "I'm betting the later."

"Shhh! It's starting." Nora declared waving her arm.

"How did this happen?" Ruby and Jaune said crying anime tears.

The two combatants walked to the center of the arena with a small smile on each of their faces. Overhead their Auras were displayed for the crowd to see. Both of their Auras were near equal with Izaak just inching above Yang. Many suspected that was how the battle may end up coming down to; who could out last the other.

"Still time to back away." Yang spoke cracking her knuckles.

"Nah, too many people watching and this is too fun to pass up." Her opponent laughed.

_RING! _

Yang leaped at Izaak with a straight forward jab. Izaak stepped backwards so the attack just fell short. Yang scoffed in amusement then let loose with a volley of jabs and hooks aimed at the teenager boy's head. He had to give her credit, she lived up to her reputation as one of Beacon's best boxers. She kept him moving backwards with a series of jabs aimed at his face or hooks that flew past his nose with such speed he could practically feel air rush through his face. Lesser fighters would have been forced to shut their eyes but Izaak kept his on Yang's arms.

Five minutes into the fight and Izaak hadn't thrown one single attack. He'd totally let Yang dictate control the flow of the fight. Or so you'd think if you didn't see the glim in his eyes.

The blond knew Izaak was setting her up for something, she could see it in his eyes. She hated fighting people like him because there was only one way to deal with them. Take them out before they could finish their planning. Throwing two quick hooks she waited for Izaak to take another step back before throwing a speedy left jab with Ember Celica flashing bright red and yellow.

_CLING! _

Storrdetta spun once, one of its blades smacking against Yang's left fist knocking her attack off course. Its trident like tip slammed into Yang's braced himself as she came charging at him again. Now he had her attention. He waited and analyzed her fighting style and was ready. She was a brawler with a touch of in-fighter thrown in thanks to her Semblance.

With Storrdetta at his right side he made an upward slash that forced Yang back. Before she could swarm to take advantage of his blind spot he flipped his axe into horizontal position and swung it forcing her back another step. Where's earlier on she'd been pressing him he was now turning the tables and attacking her with powerful, one handed swings that Yang was cursing herself for forgetting about. He swung Storrdetta then let its weight carry it the rest of the way.

That wasn't the problem though, he attacked she flew in for a counterattack only to be caught in another attack. The problem was he could do something she'd never seen before.

Usually with any bladed weapon there exists three types of slashes: vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. Once one was initiated there was a pause before another slash could be attempted.

Izaak was the expectation to that rule. He could change the angle of his attacks mid swing or at the end of another slash to create one hell of a follow up. That was how he was keeping Yang on her toes; one attack that left an opening usually led to another of either equal strength or served as a trap.

She rocketed off her feet in an attempt to knock him off his game with an uppercut. Sidestepping it he swung Storrdetta at her midsection. To his surprise Yang threw another punch, one faster than he could see. Their attacks hit home sending them both skidding back a few feet. Yang's Aura had protected her from getting any kind of gashes or cuts and Izaak's skin was tough enough that Yang's punch only left a thumb-size bruise. While the damage hadn't been great both regarded each other with a certain respect.

The blond grinned as she ran towards him in a low crouched position. He still had one-up on him and her pride couldn't let that stand. A jet of flames erupted from her reeled back right arm while she fired off shots at Izaak. He couldn't activate his Semblance just yet so he moved Storrdetta to block the oncoming shots. When he moved it aside he saw a human sized ball of flames moving towards him. His eyes widen for a fraction of a second before his Semblance kicked in. Instead of going up like he originally planned he moved backwards, dodging the shotgun rounds that hit the ground from above.

Coming down with a thud the blond boxer stopped holding back and just starting firing blast after blast. Izaak threw up a G-Shield then dropped and took a running charge at Yang as well. Both of them wore grins that only grew the closer they got to each other. They could feel the blood bounding in their ears and pumping through their arms. Letting out a loud cry Yang threw a powerful left hook to counter Izaak's horizontal slash. At the exact moment her fist would have collided with his axe his grin grew wider.

Right before her eyes Izaak disappeared flew over her head and landed on her twelve o'clock. A series of clicks alerting Yang to a shift in Storrdetta's form. The whistling of a rocket leaving its chamber gave her cause to curse loudly.

_Boom! _

Yang was able to get off one shot at the rocket before it hit her. The explosion threw her back against the wall. She had to give Izaak credit, she thought he'd lost himself to the clash of strength just like her but he'd remained in control and she'd fell right into his trap. Rolling aside she could hear the sound of rockets slamming into the walls and blowing them apart. She kept her distance this time and watched Izaak easily brush off her shotgun rounds and continue firing off rockets. Unlike him she was forced to keep moving to avoiding the oncoming projectiles.

_Time to make you use this big blade of yours smart guy! _Instead of retreating Yang soon began running at Izaak. Her shots meeting the rockets head off filling the space between them with explosions. _Either he evades using his Semblance or he stands his ground and fights me, either way I'm not letting him get away! _Her knees were ready to jump into the air in needed and her eyes locked onto Izaak's legs. Whatever he did she'd know through how his legs bent.

His eyes were unreadable and his smile was unsettling to her. It only made her want to knock it off his face even more. Inside Izaak could feel his nerves getting jittery again. Even though she hadn't landed a second hit on him Izaak was still deeply enjoying fighting her. If he slipped up once she'd take the chance to give him a few nice burns and bruises. _Am I fantasizing about her hurting me?_ Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't, whichever one it was didn't matter. What would is the look on her face. He always enjoyed seeing it the faces of his opponents.

Just after he fired his last rocket he threw Storrdetta then launched himself into the air with his Semblance. As expected Yang was thrown off but not by much. Dodging the rocket was easy but the spinning axe nearly split her apart if she hadn't jumped using Ember Celica's explosive payload as a booster. Just as she was about to come into striking range of Izaak he did something that completely threw her off guard.

He threw a chunk of rock at her.

She was so stunned she almost let it hit her in the face before swatting it away. When her eyes refocused Izaak was in front of her already throwing a jab at her. She met it with a cross counter.

Or rather that's what would have happened if Yang hadn't been hit but some unseen force from Izaak's fist. She hit the floor with a thud then skid across the ground before regain her balance.

_What the hell was that? It felt like a freakin tornado hit me! Was that another feature of his Semblance? _Yang didn't get much time to ponder what had just happened as Izaak was about to come down on top of her with a helm splitter.

She rolled away just in time to see Izaak's axe cleave a good chunk out of the floor and leave a whole series of spider web cracks around him. Pieces of stone and metal flew up from the sheer impact before falling back down.

Like the audience Yang was shocked at the level of strength Izaak possessed. Before she knew he had to be strong to wield a massive axe as big as Storrdetta but this was beyond what she thought possible. _Okay so he's strong and smart but I can still beat that! _

This time instead of aiming at Izaak's body Yang fired at his feet. To counter this he used his Semblance to glide towards her then make a horizontal swing. She ducked but didn't step back putting her in close proximity with the Viking. Storrdetta came back again at a diagonal angle as it did earlier on. Izaak knew something was up when she didn't dodge it like she normally would. His realization came too late. Yang directed her first blast at the floor covering both of them with dust, debris, and pieces of tile. In the four seconds he was blinded Yang landed four solid jabs on him followed by a powerful right hook.

Through the pain Izaak felt himself laugh a little. _Okay so maybe I am a little bit of a sadist. _He wasn't quick enough to see through her deceit and paid for it. Her punches were powerful and those shotgun shells had hurt like hell even though she'd probably switched out lethal rounds for non-lethal rounds. Taking up Storrdetta as she came charging at him he got into his traditional combat position; left foot forward, axe held back to his right and his grip loose. _You've been wanting a direct clash, well here it is Yang! _

Again, both of them wore grins fit for mad men when their weapons collided against each other. Storrdetta against Ember Celica.

On that day Yang caught the eye of every student and teacher with her deflection of a five foot long axe using her knuckles and gauntlets and Izaak made his mark with his mastery and high intelligence.

If it weren't for his highly prized self-control Izaak's smile would have been a shit eating grin with every blow he and Yang exchanged. The girl was amazing, she had strength, beauty, and courage. That was a rare combination and he felt lucky she'd talked to him as long as she did. Maybe if his luck held out their friendship would continue after this battle. That was something he was hoping for more than victory.

Despite the show of force Yang knew eventually she was going to have to withdraw. Even with her Aura protecting her fists the impact of Storrdetta was beginning to make her fingers numb. Every clash took a bit off her Aura leaving them every vulnerable to the Storrdetta's blades. Unless she acted fast she was going to be missing a few fingers.

_CLING! _

_Shit! _Her whole body was frozen again! It felt like both her arms had been tied to cinder blocks and her feet were encased in cement. _His Semblance! I totally forget about his Semblance while we were fighting! _Judging by the grin on his face Yang had the sneaky feeling he'd planned this out.

Storrdetta moved away then began moving towards her with its owner grinning like an idiot. With her whole body weighted down by gravity there was little the blond could do besides scream profanities in her head. _No way! There's got to be something I can do! ANYTHING! _As the axe continued to move towards her in slow motion cloud of embers began rolling off of Yang only to grow into whipping tendrils of orange and yellow. Just as quickly as they were given form they grew into a raging column of that engulfed both the boxer and the Viking.

At the base of the explosion was a loud boom followed by two forms jumping out of the smoke. Izaak had burns all over his body and clothing as well as beads of sweet running down his forehead while Yang was in a similar condition.

"I didn't see that one coming." Izaak laughed placing his axe into the ground.

Yang reloaded Ember Celica and crossed both her arms. "I'll admit Izaak…you're pretty good." Her eyes fell to Storrdetta. "What was that just now? You were out of rockets but it was like a blast of air pushing you out of the way. Same thing when I was about to knock you out of the air."

"That was a white hole." He answered with a smile. Seeing her confusion he laughed once then handle up one finger like he was a teacher giving her a lesson. "See a white hole is the opposite of a black hole. A black hole sucks in matter and light while a white hole expunges it, nothing can enter it meaning your attack or rather whole body is blown away."

Yang snorted in amusement. "I knew you were a bookworm but a nerd too?"

All he did was grin at her then heft up his axe and release five violet and black colored arc-shaped slashes. Just from their color Yang knew something was wrong and did her best to avoid them. They flew at her with speed rivaling that of bullets. When she came to close to one she could feel the tug of each slash like they were trying to drag her in their direction. _Gravity slashes. _The blond mentally groaned. _Guy's able to fire gravity slashes with that axe that could probably blow right through my shots! _

_WHOOSH! _

Izaak stopped firing off G-Cutters then got into a defensive stance. _Now comes the hard part. _If before he'd poked the dragon in the snout then he'd now just insulted it to its face.

A collection of hair strands lay helplessly by Yang's left foot. Her hair covered her eyes and her body trembled. The audience could feel the rapid change in temperature and silently questioned if Izaak had realized the full scope of what he'd just done. Orange and yellow flames erupted from Yang's hair and body while her eyes took on a red colored light. There was no mistaking it the dragon's fury had been awakened. "You're dead Izaak! You hear me! DEAD!"

Izaak's Semblance was the only thing that saved him from getting a hard jab to the gut, it was the only thing that kept him from getting burnt and pulverized by Yang's roaring fists. Dodging was easier before when she wasn't enraged as expected. Even when her blows missed his face the heat left searing imprints that stung for a moment before healing.

Rapidly the arena became littered with craters due to Yang's wild firing. The shield that kept the audience safe came in handy when her attacks went way off course.

After zipping to his left to avoid a right hook Izaak parried an attack from his right. The shotgun blast flew over his shoulder, searing it slightly. He snapped his head to the right to avoid a high-power cross. That was only the first in a new flurry of rapid fire crosses, jabs, and uppercuts, that required all of Izaak's dexterity to avoid. The blows were getting closer and closer to his face to the point he prepared to launch himself into the air.

Just as he prepared to activate his Semblance Yang stopped her right fist before it could completely its full trip towards Izaak's cheeks. Ember Celica delivering its payload right there forced Izaak to shut his eyes least they be blinded or take some kind of damage.

"GUGRH!" Izaak coughed felling the right half of Ember Celica drive its way into his gut. _Here comes the pain! _

The Viking flew right into the wall shocking the audience. That was hardest blow in the whole fight and Izaak had taken the brunt of it. On the monitor his Aura, which had remained only taken a few bites now had a good chunk of it bitten off in one blow. Most wouldn't be getting back up after taking a direct hit from one of Yang's punches. Even the upper classmen talked of how strong her punches were.

Despite her anger Yang had enough restraint left in her to halt her attack and wait for Izaak's surrender.

Instead of a surrender she got a stream of debris and G-Cutters nearly pummeling her. A few more strands of her hair feel to the ground due to her hasty evasion. Her red eyes saw Izaak, blood falling down his lips but still very determined to fight watching her. If one hit didn't do it then another one would. Yang roared in fury again and came onto Izaak with every intention of making him stay down. Izaak didn't make that easy.

Yang's fist hit a stone wall whenever they did touch Izaak's skin, no doubt his Semblance at work again. She was growing increasingly frustrated with her inability to inflict any lasting damage on him. If he couldn't dodge he used his Aura or Semblance to halve the damage from her rage-fueled fists. Besides a few bruises and burns Izaak was still standing and that sent Yang over the edge.

"Why the hell won't you go down!" She screamed as he brought his axe up to defend himself. "Just stay down already!"

After parrying a rather powerful jab Izaak jumped back, reloaded, and fired off rockets. They didn't slow the dragon down.

The fact he'd survived one of Yang's punches was enough to earn Izaak the crowd's awe now he was close to getting their respect. He stayed active in his dodging of Yang's attacks. Her moves grew more and more wild each time they missed. The Viking kept pelting the ground with rocket shells that came close to knocking Yang off her feet but she only pressed forward. Her Semblance wasn't slowing down, only growing stronger and stronger as her frustration mounted.

"Hey Yang!" Izaak shouted with a grin.

"What!?"

"You might want to watch where you're stepping!"

At first Yang didn't understand what Izaak was getting at until her eyes wondered over to one of the sites of his failed aiming. Her red eyes grew wide as she spotted a purple orb of swirling gravity no bigger than a baseball. Snapping her head around she saw the arena was now littered with said orbs. The orbs went off creating miniature black holes that literally sucked all the air out of her flames and almost dragged Yang into them if she hadn't locked her legs using her Aura. While she was focused on trying to avoid the black holes pulling her in different directions Izaak moved in and landed an upward slash followed by four horizontal blows. Snarling in fury Yang managed to get in two cross jabs before he fell back into his defensive ways leading them right back to where they first started.

"Yang's…lost." Jaune spoke with slightly wide eyes as the battle lagged on for another five minutes.

"What do you mean she's lost? " Ruby questioned. "Izaak hasn't gone on the offensive yet."

"No Ruby," Pyrrha explain. "What Jaune means is Yang's lost because she fell into Izaak's trap."

Jaune took the chance to explain it to the younger redhead. He could scarily believe it but over the course of the battle he'd begun to see why Izaak had kept his cool even when Yang managed to send him into the wall. "He knows Yang becomes reckless when she's enraged. That's why earlier he specifically targeted her hair. He did it so she'd activate her Semblance and go all rage mode. Every time she misses she's burns off a good chunk of her own strength without knowing it. Izaak's tiring her out."

Ruby's eyes widened as she saw Jaune was right. Yang's Aura was beginning to take dangerous dips and it was showing on her face. Her sister had walked right into a trap and she probably never saw it coming.

"It's like a dragon that's constantly turning on itself, not realizing it's tied itself into a knot." Weiss clarified. She was watching the battle with her focus now being squarely on Izaak. "He probably had this planned before the fight even started." Her next words were directed at the remaining members of team IONC. "He's cleaver I'll give him that."

"You have no idea." Neil chuckled lightly. "You wouldn't believe a guy that nice could be capable of underhanded tactics but you'd be surprised. He can think up some cruel stuff."

"That's why he's our leader." Olivia spoke solemnly. Her gaze had gone from disapproving to borderline disdain. "All this over stupid rumor." She repeated over and over again in a bitter voice. "Just end it already Izaak!" She shouted. "We're all wasted enough time over this stupid farce!"

Before she was full of energy but not Yang was huffing and puffing with every punch leaving her more drained than ever. She could see the end in sight but she wasn't ready to admit her defeat yet. She wasn't going to with all these eyes locked on her.

Grunted yang grabbed Storrdetta with both hands then summoned every ounce of strength she had left creating another cloud of flames around her and Izaak. Either he would give in or she would burn out and with her frustration fueling this one last blaze she was sure Izaak would give in first. His face showed the roaring flames were working their way through his Aura; causing the damage she'd failed to inflict for most of the fight.

With the heat licking at his skin Izaak bared his teeth in determination. Since he wasn't getting Storrdetta back it there was only one thing left for him to do. It was time to bring the dragon down. Through the pain in his fingers from the heating metal and the inferno eating away around him he focused his mind' eye on Yang's shoulders. For a brief second his eyes glowed purple then Yang's body visibly sagged like a weight had just been dropped on top her shoulders. Still, she didn't let go of his axe or release the firestorm covering them.

Their eyes locked and in between a silent admiration passed. Izaak had done something very few men had done; he'd won her respect. In return she'd definitely made herself a person he wouldn't miss with in the near future but she would be someone he could rely on in a fight.

_You're not half bad bookworm. _

_Praise from a dragon, my first big accomplishment at Beacon. _

Shouting in pain Yang backed off giving Izaak the time he needed to rip Storrdetta free and deliver a short five hit combo that brought her flat on her back and put Storrdetta at the base of her neck.

The last of Yang's Aura disappeared while Izaak still had a good deal left. The bell sounded sending the audience into a stunned silence that soon spilled into wild cries of victory and applause.

Upon hearing the gong Izaak planted his axe into the ground then fell right on his butt so he was sitting cross legged in front of the blond boxer. "I'd say we gave them a good show."

"You know a lot of guys probably just lost their money thanks to you." Yang spoke rubbing her sore shoulders.

"Memh," he shrugged leaning back. "That's why I don't gamble. I didn't hurt you too bad did I?"

"You hurt me? Hah!" She busted out in laughter that Izaak soon joined her in. "You're lucky I let you win this time." When he shot her a raised eyebrow she showed him her fist. "I was going easy on you."

"Riiiight." He agreed with a grin.

"Hey if I was serious you'd be crying like baby." This guy was definitely different from most of the others she'd met. There was no gloating over his victory; instead he was more concerned about her. She found that somewhat touching. "Just so you know I don't count this as payment." She shot him a Cheshire grin with a wink. "You still owe me a favor."

Hanging his head in defeat Izaak gave her a sad smile. "You're going to work me to death aren't you?"

"What? You think I'm going to let you get away with this?" She held up strands of her hair. "Sorry pal but I'm not an easy girl to please."

* * *

**Jaune managed to avoid getting his face pummeled and Izaak and Yang formed a stronger friendship over almost killing each other. I'd say this was a good chapter. A nice ending to the school days chapters I've been doing. *laughs evilly* And a perfect contrast to the next chapter. See ya later! **


	12. Chapter 12: Hidden Hell Pt1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Hidden Hell Pt.1 **

"Just for the record I blame you for this Sun." Neptune groaned adjusting his bullet proof vest. Most of his wounds from Monday had healed over but his pride was a different story all together. On top of being manhandled by Yang he had to have Pyrrha carry him all across campus to the medical wing. That was not going to be done crawling through the sewers of Vale City, even if it was for the police.

Sun gave him a narrowed eye glare. "Hey I got us a mission, a pretty high-ranking one too. Where's my thanks?"

"You want me to thank you for getting us a mission that's going to involve tracking through dirty, shit-stained sewers at ten in the morning?"

"It was the highest ranking one I could get us!" The blond argued. "All the others were taken or reserved for third or fourth year students. Besides, we get to work with the police department! I don't know about you but I think that's a step in the right direction for us." Just to prove his point he pointed to the Vale City PD badge on their jackets. "Don't tell me you're not the least bit excited for this?"

"I'll tell you what," he wrapped his arm around him and shot him a private grin. "I am excited I get to kill that fourteen foot Lockjaw. That'll probably be enough to get all my credit back after Monday."

"You? Dude what about me?"

"Alright fine, I'll share some of the credit with you." The blue haired boy laughed.

A grunt broke the boys out of their moment. Detective Nu lightly grabbed both of them and spun them around so they were looking him eye to eye. "What makes you kids so sure we're even going to run into that thing? This is just a routine raid." He chuckled. "But you two acting like we're about to bust a major crime lord. Ah, the joys of being a rookie."

A circle of agreements rang out from the other officers beside them. Sun and Neptune sheepishly ducked their heads now suddenly more eager to than ever for the thick steel door to come down.

It wasn't hard to see both boys were close to living the dream since their mission was to assist the Vale PD in a raid. Criminal raids had been increasingly at an unsettling rate since the restoration had ended. They'd been over everything from money to items to Dust. Dust especially had been a high list target since the Schnee Office building was close to completion. In the past two weeks alone their trucks and trains had been hit by all manners of criminal raiders and the security that was hired to defend them wasn't always able to do so fight them off. It was a painful blow to the company and it only grew worse when it was decided the police department would be used to recover the stolen products.

Neptune for one wasn't complaining about it because it meant he had a chance to win Weiss's attention. As a bonus if his luck held out he'd kill a Grimm that had been terrorizing the city for weeks on and regain his reputation all in one day.

The Aegullo crime family was one of Beacon's most notorious crime families with a hand in a great deal of businesses from small time blackmail to extortion on the level of the city council. Five years ago there'd been a purge of the city's political make-up that left them weakened and hungry to reclaim the power they'd lost. Stealing four truckloads of high-end Dust coming straight from a Schnee Company mine was a good way to go about such a fit.

The warehouses on the edge of the Commercial district was a perfect place to move items underground thanks to the sewer introduce beneath many of the old buildings. They'd been used before for legal and illegal activities so the police had grown used exploring the underground network of tunnels.

Everyone had kept saying the whole affair was just going to be a routine skirmish on the road in up until the door to the warehouse came down.

The two boys were well aware police work didn't always involve shot-outs but it was an exciting part of the job.

As soon as the doors were blown open bullets went flying through the air in their direction only being stopped by the riot shields a set of guards had been assigned. Screams and orders soon began to fly on both sides of the battle; one ordering for the cops to be held off at all coasts and the other ordering said cops into flanking positions.

The two Haven students each took different positions of the left and right of the mobsters herding themselves towards the back of the warehouse. Neptune stayed above them on the catwalk with his gun firing bolt after bolt of electricity at the mobsters. Sun leaped off the catwalk with Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang in staff form. Startled half of them turned their guns on him only to find the blond haired teenager had already taken out half of them and was easily deflecting the bullets like it was child's play.

One of the mobsters took a moment to examine Sun's bojutsu and Neptune's aiming. His eyes widened moments before he was forced to duck behind cover. "They're Beacon brats! The monkey and kid with the stupid hair are from Beacon!"

Hearing those words the organization of the mobsters changed drastically. Those in the rear began moving the crates of stolen Dust faster and with more urgency while those in front split their focus between the police and the two teenage boys smashing their ranks to bits.

"Stupid hair?!" Neptune yelled over the roar of gunfire and explosions. "Why does everyone keep like they have to insult my hair? What the hell's wrong with it? It's stylish!"

A handful of officers were advancing on the enemy with at an alarming rate. Rather than just guns they wielded gunblades of various models but with a skill that boosted of training and mastery. Nu was among them, one of the best actually. His gunblade was a red and black heavy revolver with a four-foot long dark, steel gray blade running under the barrel. The green eyed detective's skills in wielding the weapon shown through when he smashed through the line of gunfire, firing off his gun while at the same time swinging his weapon like it was a one handed sword.

With three above average fighters tearing through them in no time the last of the mobsters had been either killed, incapacitated, or surrendered. Of course that were surrendering worse grins on their faces knowing they'd bought their compatriots enough time to get away with the goods.

"Everyone form up in teams of six or more, move out in squads and proceed into the tunnels with caution. Remember, we've still got a giant crocodile running around somewhere down there." One of the senior officers ordered as they moved to the back of the warehouse.

In the basement of the warehouse was a garage sized hole in the back lead directly into the city's sewer systems. No one was particularly happy that would be stepping into four feet of shit and trash but their job called for them to explore the underground network. Naturally there was cursing all around as twenty-four officers made their way into the darkness, shoulder mounted lights mounted on their shoulders and their guns at the ready.

Naturally the first thing that hit everyone was the disgusting smell that was powerful to the human noise but to Sun's animal noise it was almost nauseating.

"You gonna be okay kid?" One of the detectives asked him placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know Faunus have night vision but is that going to be enough for you down here?"

Sun gave the man his classic reassuring smile. "I've faced worse than some sewer crawling."

"I hear the jungle has all kinds of things you need to watch out for." One of the officers snorted.

A glare from said detective shut him and few others up. The detective Sun had been partnered with was one he'd heard about and was having an inner fangasm over. Daniel Alton was known as one of Vale City's best detective. At thirty-nine it really said something when his name was spoken off in the halls of the police departments in Mistral and Vacuo. He'd cracked more than a fair share of major cases. It also happened that unlike about half of the police department he wasn't racist. For that Sun was infinitely grateful.

Under him all the other officers kept their sly comments and glares off of Sun and on the mission at hand. Another reason why Sun was so happy to be working with him; he didn't take crap from anyone, not even his fellow officers.

At least a quarter mile into the sewers and they hadn't encountered anything expect a few fleeing gangsters who thought they could out gun a team of armed officers. For a short time Sun stared uncomfortable at the dead bodies lying in the sewage water. It took Alton softly nudging his shoulder to get him back on track. He kept asking him all kinds of small questions about police work that he was kind enough to answer. Really he was the only one he could talk to since almost every other officer had been giving Sun the evil eye or a sideways scowl. When they weren't looking at him they were glaring at the detective; silently asking him why he was being so nice to the Faunus. At least two of them leaned over to whisper something into his ear that obviously set him off judging by the snarl he shot their way that caused them to keep their distance. Sun didn't need his hearing to know it involved him in some way. It was a common belief that Faunus were thieves and murders so one asking about the law? Surely it's so they can go commit a crime then find a loophole in escape justice. Or at least the brand of justice some of the officers believed in, the kind that involved Faunus being either lynched, shot, or thrown in a cell, all without any sort of trial whatsoever.

A long time ago Sun had learned to block out what other people had to say about his heritage. Police were among the first he'd learned to block out. Now that skill was coming in handier than he ever thought.

As they continued their tenure down the tunnels and checked in with the other teams he noticed the navy-blue haired detective getting a tad bit more fidgety around him. He kept taking in short breaths like he was going to ask a question only to either shut his mouth or bark a command to one of the other officers. The blond haired Faunus was actually growing tired of people doing that. Blake did it, Sage sometimes did it, Izaak did, and now his idol was doing it.

Careful not to make it look out of the ordinary he edged just a little closer to Detective Alton. His words were extremely quiet so only he could hear them. "If something's on your mind sir then I'm all ears."

For the first time the ace detective looked uncomfortable. "Well yeah, there's…something I want to ask you." Alton was hoping this could wait for after the operation was complete but he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Not at the snail's pace they were moving. "It's about…is it true that Neil Liath is going to Beacon?"

Mentally Sun slapped himself for letting such a detail slip his mind. "Yea…Yeah he is." Now he felt uncomfortable. More uncomfortable about where this conversations was heading then about God knows what was crawling around in his shoes.

"Ah." Alton's shoulders didn't relax. "Is he doing alright?"

If they ran into the Augello gangsters or even that stupid Lockjaw both the young Faunus and detective probably would have been grateful. Since neither happened Sun was forced to answer the question. "He's doing fine." _Okay the guy probably deserves more than that, besides Neil is doing more than fine. _"He's on a good team, good teammates."

"That's good news." Alton said with a relieved breath. That was another reason Sun idolized Daniel Alton; the guy was a human being with feelings and emotions. "Does anyone, ya know, talk about him?"

"All the girls do," He answered with a grin. "Trust me ladies can't stay off him. Graduated in the top ten at Sanctuary." As much as it made him happy the older man smiled at his humorous answer his orange eyes grew serious. "People do talk but he's good at ignoring it. Something you get used to when you're carrying a big neon sign over your head."

Alton didn't ask anymore after that. The dirty little secret Sun didn't tell anyone was he wanted this mission so team IONC couldn't have it. So Neil wouldn't have to go through what he was going through.

Another matter came up that caused the detective to put his professional face back on. Following his hand signals all the officers lined up in two by two formations. Chatter started coming through on the radios about how there wasn't a signal sign of the mobsters or the Dust crates they'd stolen. What they were finding were shell cartridges and casings. They puzzled every officer in the group.

Judging by the painted signs Sun guessed they were getting close to one of the homeless dug-outs. Another common but rarely discussed secret was how Vale homeless tended to find homes in the underground tunnels and sewers throughout the city. From a humanitarian stand point it sounded awful but some reports said the folks living underground had a knack for making home out of such nasty places. Police were well aware and used it to their advantage in tracking down criminals and rogues. Before Detectives Alton and Nu had told him and Neptune to start memorizing the signs, they could come in handy one day.

Turning the corners and finding nothing but darkness and emptiness began to unnerve everyone in Sun's party somewhat. A handful of them knew they were standing in the heart a camp out area and for those that didn't all they had to do was shine their lights on the empty makes-shift beds or stools scattering around more roomy parts of the area.

The unease grew when many felt around the beds and searched the areas to find the same thing. The beds and mats weren't warm nor had any of the lamps and other items been in use for days. Not one sign that anyone had made a home in the subterranean veins.

"Shouldn't this have been on the news or something?" Sun asked scanning the area with his night vision. "Or at least have been a spot on the 'need to look into list' at headquarters or something?"

His question was met with various grunts and glares. Once again it fell to the famed detective to answer his question. "The department's been tied up fixing up the damage from the earthquake, robberies, murders, rapes, thefts, and all kinds of other things." Releasing an aggravated sigh he made no show to hide the anger he felt. "Basically people with lives are more important than the people living down here. As far as the brass upstairs are concerned, unless the under dwellers are mutating into rat people it's not an issue."

"Let me guess until they bite someone upstairs and there's mutants running around?" The monkey Faunus asked.

"That's police life kid." One of the officers grunted. "You don't get to decided what makes a case and what doesn't. You can't handle that then get into another line of work."

As peeved as Sun was he let the comment slide. The question was now where were their mobsters and under dwellers? Despite the rapid conclusions his mind jumped to he had the feeling the mobsters had come through here but the locals had already been cleared out. Going deeper into the tunnels provided them with no answers though Sun became increasingly aware of a chill running up his spine. He wasn't like Chicahua who had such high instincts that boarded on precognition but he'd been through enough scraps to know when something was about to head south. His animal instincts were screaming for him to bug out now or at least say something. Of course if he did any of those things the officers would no doubt accuse him of cowardice, and he'd been damned if he let them go that far.

Chatter on the radio soon was cut off by the sounds of gunfire and sporadic yelling. It was hard to tell what was going on but whatever it was obviously wasn't fun or pretty.

His animal senses picked up movement in the tunnel about ten yards down. Alerting the others they all flashed their lights to see nothing but complete darkness in front of them. Instead of seeing anything they could hear footsteps, multiple, heavy footsteps pounding through the sewage water. Countless gun barrels stayed locked on the darkness as the pounding grew louder and louder.

A familiar, terrible howl pierced the silence of the sewage curiosity of the screaming manic that came into their sights. The moment the lights fell on his eyes the order to fire was given. Bullets slammed into the man sending him face first into the water. A choir of snarls and roars broke out ahead of the darkness that grew louder in the short seconds that followed.

They came through the darkness like lightning from storm clouds, swift and violent. All their eyes were the same burning red and orange that screamed out their humanity was gone. Their clothes were torn and bloody in various places. If they weren't carrying weapons then their hands were stained red.

"Open fire!" Alton screamed bringing his gunblade up and slamming down on the trigger.

Lights lit up the sewage tunnel like fireworks going off in the darkness. Bodies thumped to the ground yet the horde didn't end, instead they just grew angrier. They jumped at the officers like wild cats even if they were bleeding from the arm, shoulder, or even missing a limb. With savage shrieks they began beating at the officers with anything available besides the guns. The screams of the officers were either silenced quickly or fizzled out as their faces were rearranged through a combination of hard-hitting blows to the face or having their cheeks torn apart. Bullet cases and bodies fell into the water in near perfect union yet the surge did not end. Unless the shot was fatal the attackers simply kept coming; moreover a fatal shot was the only thing that _kept _them down for good. Even if they lost their legs they roared in fury and crawled through the sewage water further terrifying the law enforcers.

Among the more skilled shooters they knew they were screwed. Orders for back-up and to pull out came in over everyone's radio. "There's too many of these things!"

"We need to pull out now!"

"Someone get us the hell out of here!"

"This Squad Four requesting immediate back-up now! Shit get the hell off of me!"

Sun was never more grateful for the fact Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang was part shotgun than he was at that moment. The crazies converged on him just as much as they did any downed officer. A single shot sent three of them falling backwards into each other or into the water. Blood exploded from their chest due to the close impact of the shotgun shells, spraying Sun's upper body and even face with the crimson liquid. If it weren't for the fact his life was in mortal danger he probably would have had a momentary breakdown. Every blood splatter, every explosion of flesh and bone was visibly thanks to his night vision.

The vile rising in his stomach was only held down by the adrenaline pumping through his body. _Christ what the hell is going on here! _His mind screamed for an answer as to why the homeless, the very same ones whose disappearance had concerned him moments earlier were now trying to rip his guts out. What had happened to these people down here? Hearing the click of his weapon made him step back to reload.

Alton, who was busy trying to organize his men spotted Sun and instantly screamed over the chaos. "SUN!"

The blond haired boy was surrounded. With widened eyes he stopped his reload of Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang and changed it into its nunchunk form. Shooting these people was already going to leave a mark on his conscious but this was going to stay with him for weeks on end.

_BANG! CLING! CRICK! CRICK! CRACK! _

Red metal collided against flesh making for a truly horrid sound that joined the chorus of battle. Teeth flew from the mouths of his attackers much to Sun's disgust though it didn't stop some of them. They continued surging towards him, pressing into a corner against the wall. With a quick motion his nunchunks combined into staff form. Twirling it once he slammed it into the water releasing a yellow colored shockwave that knocked all his attackers across the tunnel into the opposite wall.

"Everyone fall back to position D! Rolling retreat people! Rolling retreat!" Alton yelled.

More of the crazed people came through outer tunnels. Judging by their clothing they weren't homeless. A new wave of bullets slammed into the growing tide but it did little good. The wounded were toppled over by the others in a desperate grab for the flesh of the police officers and SWAT team members.

Again it was Sun's night vision that alerted him to the strange objects attached to the backs of some of the attackers. They had straps across their bodies that connected a blinking red box no bigger than a blitz ball. With wide eyes and a terrifying gasp Sun realized what they were. "EVERYONE GET BACK NOW! THESE THINGS HA-"

The Faunus's words were lost to the miniature inferno that lit up the whole tunnel in a blaze of fire and light. Sewage water exploded along with bodies while all eyes were blinded first by the intense light then the falling pieces of gray and black stone and metal. Screams were lost to the roaring flames and resounding cracks that followed. For Sun, Alton, and the few officers remaining the whole world vanished in a horrifying mixture of stone, water, and flames.

* * *

"Eyes open boys and girls." Detective Nu barked taking point with Neptune. "Ever been down here in the dumps kid?"

"Nah, I prefer the beaches. Ya' know, lots of chicks in swimsuits, surfing, and chances to impress them. I do that kind of stuff. Sewers," His face screwed. "After this I'm taking a nice long bath."

Chuckling the older man shot him a leery smile. "Got a girl waiting for you upstairs?"

Neptune's chuckle was nervous and pain-filled. Sure he wanted to say of course he had a girlfriend waiting for him. A cool guy like him should have had a long list of girls waiting for him. Sadly since this was a trained detective he knew his lie would be seen through in a second. That didn't mean he couldn't stretch the truth just a little bit. "No and kind of. I'm actually hoping to hook up with this one girl. She's…"

Green eyes cackled with amusement. "The youngest daughter of the Schnee family?" Seeing the goggle wearing teenager's mouth drop made him release a bombastic laugh. "Good luck with that one kid! Why you've pegged her for that spot I have no idea but, hey, go for it. The worse that can happen is she freezes your ass as she's walking away."

Before the operation Detective Nu had shared a little bit about himself with Neptune forming the basis for their "teacher and student" relationship. He'd pestered Neptune with questions as to why he was so psyched to join a police raid. The man may have been sarcastic and blunt but he was honest with Neptune. On top of that he was pretty skilled.

"That's kind of why I wanted to this mission. If we run into that Lockjaw and I kill it that's bonus credit and it puts me one step closer to getting her attention." He replied.

"Carefully with that mindset kid." Nu warned. "I know you guys hunt Grimm for a living but if you're not careful instead of her heart you're probably going to piss her off by dying on her. Here's a better question, does she even go for stuff like that?"

"Well it helps. I'm trying to impress an heir to the Schnee Dust Company, don't you think being a great fighter helps?"

"Yeah Goggles it does help. Then again, so does having better fashion sense." In the short time span they'd known each other Nu seemed to have made it a personal mission to make fun of Neptune's outfit every ten minutes or so. It was playful but Neptune didn't see the point in it, there was nothing wrong with his choice of fashion. "Listen kid, if it's a Schnee we're talking about here then you better bulk up for one hell of a ride. Especially since you're best friend is a Faunus."

There was no denying the sliver of truth in Nu's words. "You've got a point but she's different from others. She has a Faunus on her team." Sun was probably going to have his head for that one but he felt he could trust Detective Nu.

Obviously he was more surprised than angry by that secret. "A Faunus on her team? And they haven't torn each other's heads off by now?"

"Nope. Though it's for the best if you don't mention the White Fang." Checking his watch quickly Neptune let out a low sigh. _Weiss and Ruby should be at the Schnee Company meeting by now. _His crush was probably marching into a business room while he's roaming around in sewage water, not the best order of events he could have asked for. "She's working on getting Faunus better treatment in that new company building in town. She's probably there right now."

"So let me get this right; a Schnee that stands up for Faunus's rights?" Seeing Neptune's nod the detective released something that was a cross between a grunt and a chuckle. "Man what I wouldn't give to see that." Early on he made it clear he bared no ill feelings against Faunus as evident by his acceptance of Sun. "Well Goggles sounds like you've set your eyes on one hell of lady. As happy as I am for you I need those sights down here, wouldn't want you losing an eye or a leg."

As long as Neptune kept his goggles on he was sure that wasn't going to be a problem. Like the rest of his clothing his goggles served a function besides just being stylish. They had built in night vision, could adjust to see sights a maximum of twenty feet away, and see in UV lighting. Work on them had taken weeks thanks to his secretive nature but in the end they'd saved his, and his teammates', lives enough time to it worth it.

The squad of five officers and six SWAT members went silent as they got closer and closer to the Dust trails Neptune had picked up. If there were being guarded then they were about to get the drop on the criminals and the whole matter would hopefully end in a one minute fire fight. The sloshing of boots trudging through water and trash were greatly muffled as the group moved in unified order towards their goal. There wasn't a signal doubt they could all feel the tension that would more than likely explode in the next one minute.

_SPLASH! _

Neptune nearly squeezed the trigger of his weapon until he was able to take in the full form of the person running towards them. After taking in the figure his voice broke the tension of the group, "Hold fire!"

Stumbling into the light was a blonde in tattered rags and covered in dirt. Dropping his weapon immediately Neptune threw out his arms to catch her. As she fell into his arms he noticed the sickening smell of blood. She was bleeding from her left shoulder, right leg, and had countless cuts on her body. Not one part of her body wasn't stained in some form or manner. Even as Neptune held her she kept flailing her arms about and trying to tear herself away from the blue haired warrior.

It took Neptune a second to calm her down. Her dark green eyes were frantic and fearful. "Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get me the hell out of here!" She kept screaming over and over again with tears streaming down her face. He had place both hands on her cheeks to get her to stay still and calm down. "Down here! Everyone's who's been missing! They took us down here and they…did, they di-did something to us. T-T-They…they I-" Her eyes went wide as an eye-piercing howl caught everyone's attention.

What started as a lone howl soon turned into a chorus of animalistic screaming. Neptune and Nu felt their muscles tense instantly. They'd heard these sound before and last time it hadn't ended well. It still haunted their respective dreams.

Grabbing his radio he began shouting frantically into it. "This is Team Two we are falling back! I repent we are falling back along route D!"

No sooner was the order given that all hell broke loose and right on top of them. From the front, left, and right crazed attackers came out of the shadows screaming in rage and for blood.

"Oh hell not again!"

Neptune hadn't told anyone but he still had nightmares about Greensburg Intersection. Twice he'd woken in the middle of the night with the scenes of fire and death running in his mind and now he living the nightmare. Only it was worse.

The girl they'd rescued was clinging onto his waist like there was no tomorrow and it was throwing his aim off a little. With his goggles he could see the approaching hordes and he only kept snarling one word over and over again, "SHIT!" His rifle shot arcs of blue electricity everywhere, some of his shots coming close to hitting some of the officers huddled around him.

Nu's face was twisted in a snarl as he continued pouring lead into their attackers. "Damn it does anyone copy!?" Pressing into his radio all he heard was scattered screaming and, much to his horror, feral snarls. "Dan! Dan! Come on please tell me you're still alive!"

His partner's voice came in scattered pieces over the com-link. "Jo-Joe! Con-con-on-down! Ro-Rolling re-re….t! JOE! Get-ev-rally…Station!"

Roaring in fury Nu let his gunblade burn emerald green light as its payload went from simple bullets to now miniature fireballs. In the dark light of the sewers the bodies impacted immediately caught fire creating for an even more horrific sight. A few of the officers paused to look at the detective in horror before he snapped his head in their direction. "Do you want to see daylight or not!?" He barked.

The girl behind him was whimpered she wanted to oh so much and Neptune really wanted to as well. That was the reason he readjusted the power output of his fusion rifle. It wasn't stunning enemies; it was blasting holes in them or frying them on the spot.

"Get the hell off me! Get off!" One of the SWAT members cried after losing an eye to a claw swipe. "Guys! Help!"

Just as Neptune turned his gun to do so he saw it was already too late. The attacker had smashed his face into the officer's face with such force he could hear his skull crack from the moment of impact. The attacker didn't stop there and continued to rain blow after blow down on the downed officer, others joining in via tearing and biting at his downed body.

Screaming in horror and fury attention was turned to the downed officer instead of those advancing on their position. It was a fatal mistake. They swarmed on top of them like mouths to a flame.

"Hold positions damn it!" Nu screamed forced to turn his attention to the whole in their defense.

It was already too late for that.

Those that turned their backs on their attackers either had their throats slit or were having their eyes torn and scratched at. Their shots went astray as they were pulled into the ground or sewage water. Their screams were lost to the animalistic roars the attackers gave off.

"Goggles! The water!" Nu screeched switching his gunblade to its sword form. "Do it!"

They say you make decisions in the heat of battle you wouldn't normally make when you were calm. Neptune made one of those when he took aim at the water and squeezed the trigger. "Get away from the water!"

The four remaining officers besides Nu scrambled away from the water and hugged the walls. The blue bolt of lightning hit the water and the whole area was lit up like a Christmas tree. Neptune kept the trigger squeezed so the stream of energy was continuous. Howls of pain went up like the smoke rising from the black and green water. The girl behind him squeezed her eyes shot and hugged Neptune like he was her life line. She could look away from the horror unfolding before her; Neptune could not. If he did then he would miss something important and probably end up getting his face torn off. With his goggles still on he could see the crazed attackers twisting in the darkness as the electricity burned away their flesh.

The whole ordeal lasted less than three minutes but by the time it was over the whole tunnel smelled of burnt flesh. For the five remaining officers, frightened teenage girl, and shell-shocked in-training Hunter they knew what had just happened would haunt them for months, if not, years on end. Neptune was the worst of the lot; his weapon fell from his trembling hands and the vile building in his mouth was close to spilling out of his mouth.

"RRRROAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!"

The vile in the Mistral native's stomach was halted and pushed down. His hands shot to his weapon as he scrambled back into firing position. Further down the tunnels he could see more of their attackers charging through the darkness like a horde of crazed bulls.

Nu read the look on Neptune's face and cursed loudly. "Listen up people, we're getting the hell out of here! Price! Vickers! Cover the rear! Anders and Chang, the sides! Girl stay behind me and Goggles! Neptune! You're with me on point! Move it now!"

Just before bolting the blue haired boy reached into his pocket and produced a sizable container of fire-attribute Dust. Hurling it into the horde it almost disappeared into the darkness before he shot at it with his fusion rifle. A cloud of fire and lightning stopped the horde dead in the tracks for all of ten seconds before they pushed through it. Even as their limbs and faces were being burnt off by the flames and lightning they continued screaming for blood.

With panic and fear fueling their bodies the six now thoroughly terrified warriors and lost girl ran as fast as their legs could carry them through the darkness. Over each of their radio nothing but scattered pieces of gunfire and screaming came through until some of them threw their coms into the water out of sheer frustration. Those in the rear could just barely make out the crazed light from their attackers eyes, they were like miniature torches.

Every often an order to shot at the legs of their attackers would come from Nu. It was the best they could do since only a headshot or shot to the heart would slow them down. Besides that it served to slow down those lying in wait.

"ARGH!"

"Vickers!"

Neptune didn't dare look back to see what had happened. All he needed to hear was the sickening sound of leather and flesh being teared through to tell him what had happened. His grip on the girl tightened and his pace increased. "Sun!" he yelled over his com link. "SUN! SUN!"

"Forget it kid!" Nu shouted desperately trying to assure himself they were heading in the right direction. "Focus on staying alive!"

As much as it pained him Neptune knew the older man was right. He had to focus on staying alive so he could actually meet his best friend and partner again. And see Weiss again. And the light of day.

_CRICK! CRACK! _

Momentarily turning to his right Neptune saw a series of spider-web cracks forming in the wall. At first he didn't know what to make it until the cracks grew larger and a low growl unlike anything else hit his ears. It sounded…reptilian. _Oh God not now! _"NU! THE LOCKJAW!"

For over a month police had been tracking the elusive crocodilian Grimm through the sewers of Vale city to little avail. It had killed a reported sum of ten people though everyone suspected the number was far higher given the Grimm's tendency to eat its victims whole and the loss of remains in the sewage waters. The Lockjaw burst through the concrete walls to the group's left, roaring as loud as it could. Its amber colored eyes scanned the scene once before lunging at the humans.

What happened next was a mixture of shooting, more screaming, a four foot long set of snapping jaws. Neptune and the girl fell to the size while Nu was smacked against the wall, his gunblade still going off. The four remaining officers panicked and began shooting at the demonic crocodile, totally forgetting they had a horde of blood-crazed maniacs on their tail. Neptune could see one of them get his whole upper body ripped off by the Lockjaw then the rest in one swift motion. It roared again and swung its tail sending another section of the wall tumbling down. The horde returned now jumping at the Grimm. They scratched and pounded against its dirt stained white armor but for all their ferocity they might as well have been ants. Again the Lockjaw swung its tail now more annoyed then angry.

Neptune tried to get a good lock on the Grimm but when he squeezed the trigger he saw nothing but a blue fizzle come out of the barrel.

"Goggles!" Nu's voice came through over the chaos. "Take the girl and get the hell out of here! Follow the map on you-"

Snapping his head in Nu's direction he saw he was falling into the water with one of the crazes grabbing at his face. Neptune looked back at the girl's emerald green eyes then at the chaos around them. The Lockjaw was kicking and thrashing at everything that moved while the crazes were pouring in. He couldn't see the remaining officers but he knew even if he could spot them it wouldn't do any good. Grabbing the girl's hand he hosted her onto her feet and took off down the right side tunnel.

He kept running and running until he could no longer hear the roars of the Grimm or snarling of the crazes. Even as his legs felt like they were going to collapse on him he kept running and dragging the girl along with him until she finally fell to the floor a sobbing wreck. That was the que for Neptune to stop as well. As she lay on the ground with tears flowing down her cheeks he made his way to the edge of the water and leaned over. All the vile he'd been suppressing came gushing out for around five minutes. When he was done he stared at the crap sweeping through the sewage water in horrified awe.

Withdrawing from the edge he dragged himself over the wall and leaned back against it with a dazed look in his blue-gray eyes. Within arm's reach was his weapon but he was too shaken to pick it up and not five feet away was the blond, now on her knees and with her head in her hands. Neptune didn't blame her.

Neither teenager moved or made a sad except for their labored breathing or sobbing. Neptune simply stared at the faded graffiti on the wall while the girl continued sobbing her heart out. Not for the first time the blue haired youth felt like his entire body was weightless. It always was a strange and surreal feeling he got whenever he experienced something stressful or intense. Besides his fingers nothing else could be moved.

_That didn't just happen. There's no way in hell that just happened. _He kept repeating those words in his head however he knew in his heart there was no denying he just watched over eight people get slaughtered and there was nothing he could do about. The sheer magnitude of the past ten minutes replayed in his head until he noticed the girl he'd run into was looking at him.

If it weren't for her tears and dirty clothing Neptune would have found her pretty attractive. Odds are if they had met anywhere other than the sewers of the city he probably would have tried hitting on her. In all honesty he didn't really know what to say to her. "…" Her eyes were just as scared as his but the more Neptune looked the more he saw she was struggling to hold it together. "Um," He sat up a little more. "I know this is probably going to sound stupid but are you okay?"

Her lips trembled before her voice came out barely above a whisper. "Y-Yeah. I-I-I-I'm sorry. I'm just so…" The tears came back as she threw herself onto Neptune's shoulders. He didn't push her away instead wrapping her in his arms. Once her sobbing quieted down she wiped the tears and dirt from her cheeks. "I'm Trixie by the way."

"Neptune."

Her eyes took in his clothing then the gray weapon he'd reached over and grabbed. "So…are you a student at the academy?"

"Close. I'm from Haven. My partner and I are here for the Vytal Festival. We've been going to Beacon for the last few weeks since the festival keeps getting put on hold. I was assigned a mission to help out the police force." He chuckled without any humor. "As you can see this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. What about you?"

Trixie nudged herself beside him against the wall. She brought her knees up making her already fragile state look even worse. Her eyes were almost like fragile as was her voice, "I…I don't really remember all that well. I was…I was at my house, sleeping then I woke up thanks to the earthquake. M-My parents were trapped in the house so I-I went to go get help. T-There was this airship that I flagged down and then…" Her eyes grew widen. "It all just…goes black. I was out cold and when I woke up I was strapped to a table in some kind of operating room. There was a whole lot of other people with me." As she spoke her next words her voice broke causing Neptune to put his arm around her to steady her. "I remember they…they injected us with something." Their eyes locked, Neptune's shocked orbs with her terrified pupils. "Those people who attacked us, they were in the room with me! I kept blacking out, sometimes I was on an operating table and other times I was in some kind of cage. I saw them…they were locked in a room and they were _killing _each other! They threw people, animals. Faunus in with them and they _tore them apart_! Sometimes I…"

Neptune grew worried when Trixie's eyes widened to great proportions. Her whole body began to shack uncontrollable as new tears spring from her eyes. Once again he comforted her, quietly asking her what it was she remembered. "Trixie, what is it? What happened?"

Through her sobbing Neptune could detect the unimaginable horror in her voice as well as the self-hatred. "It was me Neptune! Sometimes I was in one of those rooms! My hands were covered in blood! I could taste the blood in my mouth! I…I…oh God Neptune what did they do to me!"

As the blond continued crying on his shoulder Neptune became very aware of the little light they had. The glow stick he'd used to light their way was only enough to illuminate about six feet around them, everything else was covered din a fog of darkness and silence. Trixie's sobbing coupled with the low leaking sound of the various pipes made him wish he could just pipe open a hatch and step right out into daylight; just leave this nightmare behind him. The blonde's pain-filled cries shattered that desire; reminding him of the reality of his situation. All he could do was whisper it was okay to Trixie over and over again even when she shook her head in protest.

Once she'd calmed down a little she continued her story. "Between my blackouts I heard them talking about what they injected us with. I think they called it IRA. There were so many of us packed in those cages…some of them were homeless and some of them were Faunus." Suddenly she turned to him. "Neptune what's today?"

When he told her she cursed loudly and slammed her hands into the floor. The earthquake was a little over a month ago and she'd been missing that whole time. _She was one of the missing._ Neptune realized sadly. Naturally in the aftermath of any natural disaster there were missing people, those unable to be confirmed either dead or alive leaving their loved ones in a constant state of limbo. "How did you end up down here?"

Trixie thought for a minute before answering back. "I remember we were in a truck, moving. When it stopped they lowered us down here then they made us breath in some kind of gas. Half of us went crazy in our cages while the rest just started coughing their guts out. I was one of them. It felt like my whole body was on fire. I couldn't see too far ahead but I saw the people who held us talking with some gangsters. They exchanged some crates then they…"

"They what?" Neptune had a feeling he wasn't going to like her answer. Hell, her whole story ahd already terrified him more than he thought possible.

"Those of us that went crazy," she shivered as her word did indeed horrify Neptune. "They let them out of the cages. Then they unlocked the rest of us and just took off. I saw them Neptune, I watched them rip those guys apart limb from limb like they were Grimm. After that they came after the rest of us. I…I made a break for it. I didn't know what to do so I just ran and ran until I saw some lights and then I…bumped into you."

Neptune remained silent as the girl's story slowly sank into his head. _What the hell has been going on around in this city? _ If she hadn't mentioned Faunus being imprisoned with her he would have jumped directly to the White Fang being involved. The fact they weren't only made things worse. That meant there was some new evil organization in town. One with apparent access to a zombie-virus or something.

"Neptune," Trixie spoke. Her green eyes were wide and fearfully. "What's going to happen to me?"

For a while Neptune didn't say anything. The smart thing to do would have been to be honest with Trixie and tell her he didn't know. Of course that meant crushing the poor girl's hope and Neptune wasn't about to let that happen. Reaching for his Scroll he pulled up a map of the sewer system. "What's going to happen is I'm going to get you out of here and to a doctor. After that we're going to find your family and I'm going to have a chat with the guys who did this to you." Like he thought even though she was physically in a horrible state she looked quite stunning when she smiled. Throwing her arms around him in joy this time Neptune silently prayed he would be able to come through on his promise. Grabbing his weapon he jumped to his feet then helped Trixie to hers. "Just stay right behind me and do exactly as I saw. My partner's down here somewhere and I got to find him. After that I'll get you to the surface then I'm coming back for Nu and the others."

Trixie place both hands on his shoulders. "Okay just…Neptune please don't do anything stupid okay?"

_Does causing random explosions count as stupid? _He mentally chuckled.

* * *

Sun's vision shifted between murky green and depressing gray as he struggled to force his eyes to focus. His body ached like there was no tomorrow and there was a ringing in his head that sounded very much like bells going off. He could feel all his limbs were still attached though he lacked both the strength and will to use them. Yes, as gross as it was lying in the sewage water was much easier than attempting to stand on his own legs. Aura had protected him from the flames but his body was still bare to the blunt force trauma of getting thrown into a concrete wall.

Voices came in though they were blurry and scattered. "Where's Alton? I don't see him anywhere!"

"I-I think I got his signal!" Another answered. "It is! I got him!"

"Good! Let's find him and get the hell out of here!"

"What about that kid?"

"Screw that monkey! We'll just say he died in the explosion! Now quit wasting time and get moving!"

The footsteps grew lighter and lighter until Sun could no longer hear them. _Wow guys. Should I thank you for not even looking for me and trying to kill me? Or maybe for not even putting much thought into what to do with me? _This wasn't anything new. This wasn't anything special. The fact he'd just been left for dead by the cops was entirely natural. For a Faunus. If you were a human they might have actually tried but if you had animal ears, fangs, or something even resembling animal traits you were out of luck. _I was an idiot for thinking something different. _ Grunting Sun began to push himself upward, barfing out the questionable contents he'd been letting into his mouth. He made a mental note to stop by the store and find the best mouth wash available.

Once he got to his feet he saw there was no going back as the tunnel had collapsed into a thick wall of rubble he'd need a rocket to break through. Blood trailed down the slabs courtesy of the mangled bodies buried within them. Sun looked away not wanting to see any more. The image on his Scroll was fuzzy but he could make out the blue dots that represented the remaining officers. There were seven of them. Neptune was represented by his trident emblem and Sun let out a breath that his partner was alive.

He walked with a certain stiffness and alertness that resembled an animal on high alert. It wouldn't have been wrong to say at that point Sun was an animal, one that was greatly out of its natural environment and now being stalked by an unknown predator. Said predator were lurking around every corner and below the depths of the sewage water. The cold truth was Sun was scared. Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang was held tightly in his hand and was nearly raised at every shadow that jumped at him. _Aw man it's a damn good thing Neptune, Blake, and the others aren't here to see me. I just look flat out pitiful. _

As he continued walked the sewage tunnel began to change in shape; it was becoming more rectangular and with more pipes running along the sides. Sun didn't bother to check to see what he was under. He had enough to worry about without causing some kind of property damage.

_BANG! BANG! _

Snapping Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang into a guarding position he advanced slowly to where he heard the officers scream. The closer he got the more he could see. It didn't feel like they'd been attacked by infected, if they had there would have been more noise.

The two officers were lying in the water. One of them had burn hole in the middle of his stomach and the other was missing his left arm and had a burn hole in his right side. Both of them had looks of sheer horror on their faces. Their attacker stood with his back to Sun with two dark blue and gray rifles in his hands. His night vision was enough for him make out the waist length leather jacket and imposing figure that now stood before Sun. When he turned around Sun was able to get a much better look at the man, and Sun promptly felt like turning his tail and running. The man was six foot three with a fairly muscular build. Like Sun his pants and boots were stained all kinds of colors. Sun could just barely tell that his hair was dark blue with a set of bangs framing his face. There was a jagged scar running from the bottom of his left side cheek to his neck. His eyes were piecing silver and his grin was positively homicidal.

In one look Sun knew beyond the shadow of a doubt this man was dangerous. Too dangerous for him to take on without any back up and with the possible threat that Lockjaw and deranged lunatics running around.

_Run! Now! _

The strange man broke out into a chuckle as Sun started back tracking. "Hehehe, sure sucks to be a Faunus huh? These guys left you for dead right?" He broke out into laughter when Sun's expression grew grave. "I'm right aren't I? Man cops sure haven't changed much since I was your age. Granted you're probably lucky they didn't put a bullet in your skull and made a break for it. Guess that's what good thing the FRR got right."

Sun wasted no time in throwing the veil of concentrated fire Dust after infusing it with Aura. He got no more than three stops before he was staring into the scar faced man. Wearing the same grin he had before.

"Sorry kid but I'm not that easy to shake off."

Sun broke Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang into nunchunk form and lashed out. Both weapons bounced off the man like they just hit some invisible force field. Sun continued trying to hit him only to for the man to casually fall back and dodge each of his attacks. Reforming the two into staff form he tried an overhead swing the man easily parried with one of his rifles. Spinning Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang he almost hit him in the head until the same force repelled his attack. Breaking his weapon back into nunchunk form he swung at the man's face while mixing in a series of kicks and leg sweeps he hoped would be enough.

Throughout the whole assault the man kept that same grin on his face. "You got some skill kid. Sad though you're stuck wasting it down here." His eyes caught Sun's right fist flying towards his left cheek moments after he dodged a shotgun blast. "Now I think it's my turn."

The blond saw the man's grin grow even more malicious but it was too late to act. His fist didn't make contact with his face.

Instead Sun watched in silent horror as his right arm twisted clockwise until he could hear the loud snapping of his bones.

For a second his mind was so numb with pain he couldn't scream. He wanted the numbness back when it left him. "AAAARRGGGH!" Stopping his attack he stumbled back struggling to hold off the supernova of pain tearing through his body. He screamed profanities into the darkness. His pain and rage filled eyes shot to the man only to find he wasn't there. Shock shined through pain until his combat senses sounded the alarm.

_CRACK! _

This time Sun could loudly hear the sound of his left side ribs breaking under what felt like a charge from a rhino. His back slammed into the wall sending him over the edge into a world of pain he never knew existed. Black spots began to consume his vision. His fingers twitched uncontrollable.

"See ya later monkey boy." The man cackled.

Sun couldn't tell where his voice was coming from; he wasn't aware of anything expect the pain in his arm and left side. Just as the footsteps vanished he heard the faintest growling and snarling. His heart rate practically sky rocketed to the mind. As the growling grew louder Sun was only able to mutter one word through the pain, "Shit."

* * *

**Hm, Sun and Neptune sure are in a tight spot huh? How will they get out of this one? Will they live to see daylight again? Is Sun's time up? Until next chapter! **


	13. Chapter 13: Hidden Hell Pt2

**Neptune: You better not be planning on killing us off Sky. **

**Cosmic Sky: Kill you guys off? Now why would I ever do something like that? **

**Sun: You've trapped both of us in a not-zombie infest sewer with a psychopath and oh, you broke my arm man! **

**Sky: Will you guys relax! Neither of you are getting killed off, well I can't really because I really like you two but that doesn't mean you're safe from danger. In this story no's going to be safe from danger. Now let's start the show! I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Hidden Hell Pt. 2**

Between the pain in his arm and the pain in his rib Sun considered it a miracle he hadn't passed out. It was only the sense of danger radiating from his surrounding that kept him from slipping into the darkness that had taken him not even a good ten minutes ago. Sleep seemed like a much better option than suffering through the pain his body was in along with the ring of pain approaching him. He saw their crazed eyes glaring down at him like he was some piece of meat dropped right in front of them. Of course he was still breathing but that didn't matter since he didn't have the ability to defend himself. Or that's at least what he wanted them to believe.

He struggled to push himself to his feet despite the pain eating away at his ribcage. His right arm was totally useless as it had been so twisted no trick with Aura could fix it. If he ever wanted use of it again he was going to need to get a hospital. That left him his left arm and his will to survive. The red eyes of the infected met the deadly serious gray of his eyes. Grunting he was able to push himself into a hunched over position using Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang as a crouch.

His field of vision was obscured by the wave of infected that came at him in a split second.

Stomping his foot down Sun slid his hand to the far end of his staff so he was holding it like a baseball bat. A thin layer of Aura pulsed through the weapon; it exploded into a brilliant golden light when he swung it in a wide horizontal swing. A circular blast of light exploded from the staff each time it made contact with a body. The blasts carried over, reaching a maximum of four feet each.

A minute later and Sun was continuously spinning Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang single-handedly, slamming it down into the ground releasing another sizable shock-wave. The strongest came when he used it as a leaver to achieve a small amount of air time before bringing it down with a pained roar. Pieces of stone, garbage, and water blasted into the area as the explosion of golden light created a six foot circle around him. The torn bodies of the infected were no match for the hidden power of the attack; many hit the ground or floor with completely shattered bodies while others had actual holes blown open in their bodies.

Falling to his knees Sun once again used his beloved staff to keep himself upright. Usually whenever he used such an attack it was when he didn't have a broken arm and was using half his Aura to hold pain the pain in his ribs and now useless right arm. Using it when he did in his current state had left him nearly drained of Aura. He barely had enough to stave off the agony threatening to send him to face first into the water. With the last bit of strength he had he scooted himself against the wall, grateful for a single moment of peace.

With some time to himself Sun knew he had to do something about his injuries. If he didn't he wasn't going to last five minutes. The first thing he had to do was treat his ribs; he guessed maybe one was broken and the rest bruised. Crossing both his legs and raising his left hand upward vertical he began to focus the remainder of his Aura to mending the damage. Sun's breath went from rigid to much more calm and steady. Around his body a feint yellow outline appeared and disappeared just as fast. The rise and fall of his chest signified the damage was slowly but surely being healed. Two minutes passed before Sun felt the pain in his ribs fade away. Grimacing his tested his body by twisting it around. A light chuckle left his lips when he found no pain ran through him. That left his right arm. Painfully his gray eyes fell upon the twisted limb; it had been twisted three times creating quite the grotesque sight. He didn't dare touch it until he came up with a plan to deal with it.

He was hoping the damage could be healed though he'd have to make sure he'd live long enough to see it. _Oh man this is going to suck. _He thought grimly taking off his vest and jacket to reveal the plain white jacket underneath. Shrugging it off he began to wrap it around his arm, turning it into a makeshift sling. Spotting several loose pieces of clothing he added them to the sling in case the initial pieces came apart. There was a good chance there was some infectious disease on the pieces of cloth but Sun didn't have time to worry about that. In the end what he had was a crude, multi-colored, and sick looking sling. No matter how sorry it looked it would work for the time being.

Now that his arm had been taken care of he pushed himself upward. Neptune and all the other officers were still out there while there were those infected maniacs and that psychopath running around. _Maybe Neptune was right, this was a bad idea._

* * *

"You wouldn't happen to know where we are would you?" Trixie asked staring at the leaking pipes all around them.

Neptune surprised her by giving her an exact answer. "We're directly below Fargo Shipping on 42nd Street. Judging by the lack of leakage I'd say this was one of the first places they strengthened." He pointed upward towards the dark ceiling. "Over three hundred tons above our heads keeping a whole city from coming crashing down on top of us."

"Do you know where the exit is?"

"Yeah," His tone gave away the unpleasant fact he was hoping to hide from Trixie. The way she looked at him with those cross green eyes made him shudder before elaborating, "The nearest surface exit's about two miles in our direction."

"I don't wanna be rude but it helps when you tell a girl the truth straight to her face." She said with a frown.

"In my defense and the defense of guys everywhere that's been done before and it hasn't saved them…or their vital organs." The neon blue haired youth replied.

"Well fine I'll give you that one." She pouted for another minute before asking her next question. Talking was a better way to keep the gravity of their current situation contained. "So what's life like at a Huntsmen academy? You know all us normal kids talk about it all the time."

"I bet." Neptune sheepishly laughed. Rumors ran rampant among the populist about student life at Beacon. Some of them had bases while others were just flat out stretches of the imagination. "It's awesome for starters, all kinds of different people, cool weapons, combat tactics, and some of the hottest," His self-consciousness kicked in just in time to halt his mouth. Momentarily stopping he looked back at Trixie. She'd already deduced what he was about to say and it showed on her face. _Damn this isn't how cool guys are supposed to operate. _Why was it good looking girl he met it had to be under such wretched circumstances? "There's a colorful cast of people at Beacon. Some of them cool, some nice, and others who are just, well, they're dicks."

She seemed perplexed at his answer. "So in other words it's just like a normal high school?"

"Totally, granted one with a lot more excitement than just a blitz ball game or who made prom king."

In combat schools all over Remnant it wasn't uncommon for the students to be looked at like they were zoo animals on a stroll. Neptune himself had to admit when he was a kid the idea seemed vague and somewhat alien. Kids who willing put themselves through life or death training to become Huntsmen and Huntress to protect the world from evil? No doubt it sounded like some cartoon plot yet there in lied the beauty and romance of it. The training, the relationships, the memories, all of it were very much real and present. He'd learned that as he went through Sanctum and through Haven. After a time the awe faded becoming natural and the 'normal life' became civilian life. A life they once knew but were now alien towards. In the times of old when the schools were surrounded by secrecy and myth the rest of the population made up wild and sometimes dark stories about them. Even to present day they hadn't changed much as evident by their little conversation.

"I know this may seem like out of the blue but…did you have a boyfriend?" He phrase the question so it came off as innocent. There was no hidden motivation behind where he planned on taking the conversation. His only goal was keeping the blond calm, for her sake just as much as his.

The question unsettled her slightly though not by much. "Had three. The last one decided he wanted to go to third base, I said no, and we called it quits after that." Those green eyes were now examining him. Truthfully she wasn't interested in getting into another relationship so soon, especially with a guy with such an apparently hectic life style. "What about you? Judging by the way you were trying to act cool I'm guessing you don't have much luck with the ladies do ya?"

His easy going smile dropped causing her to giggle a little. "How can you tell that?"

"Just a hunch." She continued giggling. "I'm good at guessing. So what's the story? No girl interesting enough at the school for warriors and future heroes?"

"No way! Trust me there's plenty of hot chicks at Beacon and Haven." He countered.

"Anyone in particular?"

"Picky aren't you?"

"It's turned some people off." She replied somewhat disheartened.

In order to keep her spirits up he gave her another answer. "There's one, she's one of the coolest girls I've ever met."

Trixie didn't press him for any more information on his romantic life, instead she began questioning him on what life at Beacon had been like. She bristled just a little when he told her he had a Faunus on his team who was also his best friend. She admitted to his face she usually didn't hang around Faunus all that much; however, she bared them no ill will. They kept their little talk going even as they made a track through pitfalls and waist-levels of sewage water. Through it all the blond didn't complain as much as Neptune thought she would. Odds were the past two weeks had been enough to make trudging through the sewers seem like a stroll through the park. He liked that about her, most people wouldn't be able to operate given the amount of stress they were currently under.

"Do you smell that?" He asked sniffing the air. There was something funny filling the sewers besides the foul odor of garbage. "Trixie?"

The blond was coughing into her arm, her eyes tearing up. Before he could comfort her his Scroll went off like an alarm. Countless red dots were converging together further ahead. His eyes widening Neptune grabbed the girl's arm and began running in the opposite direction. The splashing of their footsteps echoed through the circular sewage line, carrying for miles. The echo hit the ears of the infected some twenty yards ahead of them.

Their deathly howl filled the sewer causing a flood of panic within the two teenagers. Thanks to his training Neptune could hear the stampede of infected approaching them. Briefly he let go of Trixie's hand to grip his trident with both hands.

_Right around the corner, ten yards away. _He calculated positioning the bladed end near the water. Just as he saw the first one round the corner he swept his weapon up, the sewage water rising alongside the blade. Half a second later and the water wall had changed into a two feet thick block of dirty yet hard ice. Not taking the time to admire his work Neptune grabbed Trixie's hand and continued running. Behind them they could hear the sound of the infected slamming against the ice wall. _It won't hold! _Snarling in fury he shot Trixie a frantic glare she read quickly. While she didn't slow down Neptune kept sweeping his glaive creating thick walls of ice.

After the fourth wall he ran down a mental list of alternate routes they could take to reach the nearest manhole. The longer they stayed down here the more their choices of survival decreased. _It'd be real nice if I could just blast my way through the walls. Better yet I could just blast every one of those things out of the way! _As tempting as the idea of blasting his way through sounded he knew it wasn't a good idea. For one he'd likely use up most of his ammunition, two Trixie probably wouldn't survive the melee, and three he still had the Lockjaw running around. "I knew this mission was a ba-"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

A familiar bestial roar snapped his head to his rear. "Damn it!"

He saw Trixie running toward him with her eyes wide with fear; right behind her was a set of white jaws smashing the stone walls to pieces. "Trixie get down!" Taking aim at the Grimm's open jaws he let loose with a charged blast of lightning from his fusion rifle.

The bolt hit its mark though that only slowed the Grimm down temporarily. Dropping his goggles back over his eyes he saw Trixie cowering underneath the Grimm. His weapon shifted from rifle to trident form as a blue aura surrounded him. If he made one mistake the girl was a pancake. Tendrils of sewage water began to rise up around the weapon as well as Neptune himself. Thrusting the weapon forward the tendrils combined forming a fist of rack but powerful sewage water that slammed into the Lockjaw's snout much like a bullet would. The snarl of fury was followed by the sound of rock and steel being broken a part.

Twisting on his heel Neptune spun the trident around so it was facing the opposite direction. Another blast of water cut through the infected horde that had been advancing on them not five minutes earlier. The unexpected attack knocked all of them to the side of the tunnel, some with broken bones while others were just stunned.

Before Neptune could even open his mouth he felt Trixie's hand grabbing his shoulder. Wasting no time the two took off running forward; through the dazed horde. It didn't need to be said neither of them looked to the side even as some of the infected got over their shock and made wild lunges toward them. Far behind the Lockjaw shook off the pain in its jaws and began tearing through the sewage tunnel once more. The duet of inhuman screaming and primal roars were pure terror to both though Neptune was more annoyed than scared.

The smell that had kicked off this little serious of events grew stronger and stronger the further they ran. Trixie's coughing and hacking grew worse however she didn't stop running. The fear pumping through her blood was far stronger than whatever foreign substance there was in her veins.

The closet intellectual's face was constantly lit up by the short bursts form his fusion rifle every second. It'd been a long time since his heart had been racing as much as it was at that moment. His brain was working on overtime recalling every map of Vale City's underground and cross referencing it with whatever little detail he could pick out. If it weren't for his goggles he knew he'd just be running in some random direction which was the last thing he needed.

Ahead the short bursts he'd been using were enough as the horde of infected grew in size and strength. While their shape was humanoid their behavior were suited more to rapid Beowolves or wild animals. They howled at them before pouncing on them like jungle cats.

Keeping his hand squeezed on the trigger he swung his rifle in a three-sixty circle Those in the front died instantly, those in the back were stunned for about a minute then climbed over the bodies of the first line.

_THICK! _

Smashing through the wall to their right the Lockjaw sent both teenagers reeling through the sewage water. Their grip on each other was lost and their vision was blanketed by waves of green and black. Neptune awoke the painful thump of his head smacking against the cold stone floor. Jumping to his feet he vomited out sewage water before searching the area for Trixie. He spotted her on her knees, her back arched back with her vomited being much worse than before. Not only was that but the odor they'd been smelling before now assaulting his nose in full force.

In the center of the square cellar they'd landed in was a cylinder like object releasing brownish red clouds of gas, surrounding it was a ring of infected barking and snarling. All around them through the various holes in the cellar the moans of infected rung out creating a larger ring around the two youths.

All it took was one for Neptune to realize what the machine was and what it was giving off. _Pheromones._ Taking swift aim he fired a bolt of lightning at the machine turning it into a metallic candle.

Snapping their heads in Neptune's direction he switched his weapon back into trident form. "Trixie curl up and no matter what happens don't move!" Switching out his lightning attribute Dust for ice type he channeled all his strength into his weapon.

Filling up the cellar within seconds countless infected leaped at Neptune with the attention of tearing him to pieces. Their slobbering jaws and bloody claws were disgusting to look at yet at the same time was able to invoke pity. _These used to be people. _He thought sadly before slamming his trident down.

Upon touching the water a light blue pulse raced through the area followed by the sound of water instantly freezing up. Racing through the all twenty by twenty feet of the cellar and as well as some of the tunnels the sewage water turned into ice, trapping whatever was caught in it like a fish in a net. The infected were frozen solid, the pulse didn't stop at their knees but traveled up their body; hitting every drop of liquid on them before freezing it. Their savage appearances were soon little more than icy statues frozen mid attack. Replacing the howls was a cold silence broken only by Neptune's labored breathing and Trixie's lingering cough.

Only the water around the blond had been spared the sudden freeze the rest of cellar had undergone. At first she was scared to step out then she spotted Neptune's huddled body. Scrambling over the ice she positioned herself underneath his shoulder then began helping him up.

"Could you always do that?" She asked taking her time crossing the dirty ice.

"I prefer to do it with clean water. Looks better with people watching right?" Even though the joke fell somewhat flat he still managed to make her smile a little. "How are you feeling?"

"Better thanks to you." Trixie muttered staring in amazement at the ice sheets he'd created.

It took a five minutes for them to find the right tunnel then another five for them to catch their breath. During their little rest stop they caught the familiar woof of the pheromones. Groaning they stood up and continued walking, this time doing their best to steer clear of where the scent was strongest. This led them to going up and down slopes that lead into drainage pimps. Their eyes kept drifting back to the water whenever it rose to a level above their knees for fear of some infected jumping out of the water.

Bodies were what they found floating down the water. The bodies of infected.

Despite Trixie's weak argument Neptune pulled one of the bodies onto the catwalk to examine it. It was grisly sight for anyone; the body was torn and covered in garbage. What drawed the teenage boy's attention were the eyes; they were still wide open and bloodshot. "Heart attack." He confirmed checking the body over. "He died of a heart attack." Turning his head to the other bodies floating down the water he spoke again, in a quietly horrified voice. "They all died of a heart attack or some kind of blood vein burst."

In retrospect he probably shouldn't have said that. Trixie scooted herself against the wall and held her head in her hands. Cursing himself for being so careless he moved his hands to her shoulders.

Facing him with tear stained eyes she just shook her head. "Don't Neptune. I know what you're going to say but please don't even try it. My life is-"

"Going to keep going." He finished forcefully. "You are _not _going to end up like these guys okay? That's not going to happen as long as I'm still breathing."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you going out of your way to help me? What if I…"

"One because as a future Huntsman I can't turn a blind eye to people in danger and two it's against my personal code to ever abandon a person in need." The blue haired boy answered.

At last that sad smile shined through. "Are all guys at Haven this chivalrous?"

"Only the cool ones."

_Boom! _

"Like the guy you're about to meet." Picking her up he guided her around the corner to where the explosion had gone off. "Trixie Sun. Sun meet Tri-what the hell happened to you!?" He shouted eying his partner's condition.

To be blunt Sun looked like crap. It was the worse Neptune had ever seen the simian Faunus: broken right arm, blood leaking from various wounds and bruises over his body. Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang was in its nunchunk form though only one half of the weapon was active due to Sun only being able to use on hand. Dead bodies lay slumped against the wall with holes blasted in their chests or skulls. Turning his head between Neptune and Trixie he managed to crack a slightly cheesy grin, "He hasn't tried to hit on you yet has he?"

At first she didn't know how to react to the injured Faunus standing before her. "Uhhhh, sort of. So you're Sun? It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine." The male blond winced. "We need to get the hell out of here, now."

"Trust me Sun you don't know the half of it."

Transforming their weapons back into their gun forms the two boys took point down the tunnel encountering a new horde of infected only this time they had bombs strapped to their backs. Neptune cursed and began taking precise aim at the explosives strapped to them, the blasts lighting the darkness while taking out chunks of the wall. Both of them kept their faces locked in sneers even when pieces of clothing and drops of blood hit their bodies. To her credit Trixie had grabbed a pipe lying around to use as a melee weapon in case one of the infected made it past the two in-training Huntsmen.

Or as the three found out when they started coming from the rear end. Screaming in horror she brought the pipe smashing across the infected's face. Three more followed only to end up with their skulls bashed in. Acting on protective instinct Neptune moved in front of the blond leaving Sun to hold the front. There was no complaining from the other boy as he had too much to focus on.

Their eyes became accustomed to the sight of bodies being blown apart in the flashes of light and fire mere feet from them. The shaking in their arms never returned due to the adrenaline fueling their actions. For Sun and Neptune all the training they'd been put through came rushing back into their minds with frantic clarity.

Bodies soon littered the way filling the tunnels with the foul stench of blood. This was the first time Neptune had the stench assault his nostrils with such ferocious fury; worse he was responsible for it. For Sun this scene was an eerie reminder of his early days in Vacuo; things he spent nights trying to forget. The lone 'normal' among the trio swung her pipe with reckless abandon to keep up with the two boys. If she made it out of this nightmare it was going to take years of therapy to get over this.

The sewage line split into two catwalks separated by a ten foot strip of sewage water. Neptune informed the two the manhole was right up ahead giving both blondes reason to sigh in relief.

Soon the relief turned to dread as they found more corpses stacked against the wall and floating downstream. Neptune and Sun got their weapons ready while Trixie tried not to break into another fit of coughing. The sickening smell of pheromones blasted their noises like a fan.

Even though the manhole was within eyesight the two warriors halted in their tracks, their faces showing a clear alertness that sounded all the alarms in Trixie's head. Evens he could sense the pure uneasiness coming from up ahead. What was strange it didn't feel like more infected, it felt more sinister rather than primal.

Clapping bounced off the walls then grew louder in ordnance with heavy footsteps making their way towards them. Stepping into the light was a blue haired man wearing a lazy grin.

Beside them Sun visibly shrank back. In that one motion Neptune immediately knew this man was trouble with a capital T.

His silver eyes slid between the two boys who were doing their best to keep Trixie hidden from view. "Monkey Boy! I gotta hand it to ya I wasn't expecting you to live but hey, nice work! Especially given your, heh, drawbacks." The cold glare the staff wielder shot him didn't faze him in the least nor did the one Neptune shot him. If anything he seemed amused by the boys' attempt to act tough. "It's nice to see Haven's still able to pump out half-decent warriors." Seeing the slight change in their expressions made him chuckle. "I bet you are wondering how I know you're both from Haven and not Beacon, well the cops seemed to have that much down." In his left hand he held up a com the officers had been using to keep in contact.

"You bastard," Sun sneered dropping into a semi-crouch.

"You seem to care a lot for guys who had no trouble leaving you for dead. Still that's a nice departure from all those White Fang nuts. Hell I can't even get any of those guys to play cards with me."

Neptune took a small step forward keeping his rifle trained on the man's chest. "Who the hell are you?"

His grin didn't drop, "Name's Hoyt. So how'd you like the pheromone dispensers? I bet once you figured out what they were you were picky about which tunnel you went down." Hoyt's eyes drifted between the boys then he broke down into another fit of chuckling. Leaning against the wall he dug into his pocket to fish out his own Scroll. "By the way which one of you is planning on taking that chick out when this is over? I'm not sure if she wants to hang out with a monkey; then again being seen with a goggle wearing guy with sky colored hair may not be what she wants the town to be talking about."

Flinching both boys craned their heads ever so slightly to look at Trixie. To their shock she wasn't trembling with fear. Her face was ashen like she'd just seen a ghost. Pushing them aside her green eyes scanned Hoyt who just continued playing on his Scroll like he was in the middle of his living room. Looking up to see her broken face he put his game on pause to laugh.

"I didn't think you'd survive long but hot damn. Seems like the kids today are built tougher than they were in my day." The way he spoke was totally void of any kind of malice or ill-will. If none of the three knew better they could have sworn he was honestly complimenting them.

Trixie's mask of shock stayed on for about another ten seconds before it became a face of barely contained rage. Howling with a fury that surprised both boys she took four threatening steps toward the blue haired man before her body froze like a statue.

Her knees hit the ground hard while she began clawing at her chest like she was having a seizure.

Hoyt looked on in amusement as the boys got down on their knees to help her up yet they had no idea what had set her off. Neptune looked up from the blond to him with eyes smoldering with pure fury. "Temper, temper."

His voice was sounded more like a snarl than his usual calm tone. "What did you do to her?"

Reaching over he grabbed one of the bodies lying against the wall. The way he handled it spoke volumes to the three about what kind of man they was facing. "See she's got the same thing these guys had, we call it IRA. Catchy right? Well to save your brains the trouble what it basically does is send the victim into a blood rage." Grinning he pointed a finger towards his head. "See it goes after the cerebellum which controls motor functions. A temporary boost in strength and speed occur at the gradual loss of balance. That's why if you try to make these guys jump through hoops it'll be a sad sight. Anyways it sends the amygdala, which controls emotions, into total rage mode then it plays ball with the rest of your brain."

"It sends the body into rage mode overdrive, because the body is stuck in a nonstop rage they can't produce acetylcholine to cool down the adrenaline rush." The goggle wearing youth finished with panic. "Without that their body just keeps going and going until…" Eyes darting to the bloody corpses his eyes grew wide with terror.

"Bingo." Hoyt cackled. "Now what triggers IRA is of course anger. You don't get angry you're good as gold. If you get a little upset though…" Trailing his eyes in Trixie's direction Hoyt threw the body away. Amusement danced in his eyes as the boys struggled to keep the girl from turning into a raving maniac. "We've be testing it for a while don here."

Neptune was ready to throw caution to the wind however a firm hand gripped his arm pulling him back. "Sun…" Trixie's strained voice came through clinched teeth. "Take Neptune and run like hell!" Another seizure locked her body. Her voice was directed at them even though her forehead was practically kissing the ground. "Don't…look back either of you! Just…shit!" Her words shocked the two to their core. Neptune spoke frantically trying to dissuade her from her path. Sun was silent. "Neptune…you're a nic…gu-argh! Listen to me! Arrrgh! Find that, argh girl! Find her!"

In a virus-fueled burst of speed she sprinted toward Hoyt with a bomb from one of the corpses blinking in her right hand. Neither teenage boys saw the end result of the girl's frontal charge as Sun grabbed Neptune and began dragging him down the tunnel. It took all his strength to pull Neptune away and all his mental strength not to look back.

At first they heard the explosive go off rattling tunnel. Not stopping to look back they felt their blood run cold when they felt a rush if air blast through the tunnel in Hoyt's direction followed by that same damn chuckle.

"The girl had spirit. Damn shame her luck wasn't quite up there."

Yanking his arm away Neptune blasted his fusion rifle at full force. His singular line of blue lightning slammed against the two foot wide wall of bluish white light zooming towards them.

* * *

"I understand fully well what I'd doing sir. Yes sir. Yeah, screw you too Brenks." Nu barked into the com. "Okay so Goggles and Monkey Boy are heading east to the old Caughlin Cellar. I'd figure it'll take us about fifteen minutes tops to reach 'em, provided we don't run into any roadblocks."

There wasn't an amused smile on his face when his partner's eyes bore into his. "We can cut that time in half if we use Aura."

"You may get further using that than me, Dan. After all I'm not the ex-Huntsman." Placing relaxing hand on his shoulder the taller man gave him a little squeeze. "Those two are tough. They can handle a few zombies and an overgrown gator without our help."

If either of the previously mentioned boys were standing before him Alton probably would have gotten an ear-full from the two of them about how he was underestimating them. With his mind somewhat at ease Alton decided to find out how much of an impact the blue haired youth had on his partner. "So did you think of Neptune? Did he live up to your expectations?"

"The kid's got a bit of an odd choice of fashion but his heart's in the right place and he's not afraid of danger." Nu spoke with a small smile. "What about Sun?"

"He's thick skinned, or furred if you'd like." Alton responded grinning a little. "We need kids like them coming out of the academy now more than ever."

If there was anyone else with the two men they would have laughed off the younger detective's statement. It was well known that over half the city police department was racist against Faunus. In the past twenty years the number of anti-Faunus officers had steadily climbed higher and higher until it'd reached a point where crimes involving Faunus were almost always black and white; the human was wronged and the Faunus had to be the criminal. Both Alton and Nu had seen it in their tenure has officers up to their earning of detective.

Looking down at his map Nu snorted, wishing he could have a smoke to take some of the stress off. "Can you blame the rookies or their parents for teaching them that?" During his early years he'd been given the evil eye for actually sticking up for Faunus. His reputation soon proved enough to silence his critics though not all of them. "You realize Sun was probably left down here on purpose right?"

Alton shot him a look that spoke how insulted he felt. "You think I didn't notice when I asked Fitz and Patrick were Sun was? The way they flinched told me they didn't even try to look for him." Slamming his fist into the nearest wall he let his voice come out as more of a snarl, "You'd think since he's a student at a combat school that'd be enough for them to at least _try_!"

Giving his same old chuckle Nu patted his shoulder playfully. "Well normally yeah but then they saw his tail and probably thought, "hey there's psychos and a Lockjaw down here, poor kid should have been more careful" or something along those lines." Only Alton could detect the hint of frustration Nu was doing his best to keep sealed up. That was how he usually handled dealing with things he didn't like; racists and screw-up superiors being two of his most hated things. "Heads up Dan, company coming."

Like before the deathly howl their voices had been reduced to was all that was heard before an almost literal wall of crazed infected came into view. The dozens of red-orange eyes screaming for blood all homed in on the two detectives yet they didn't flinch or panic.

Nu took aim with his gunblade, Conviction, and fired three bullets into the approaching horde. Tendrils of lightning broke out through the horde then the water paralyzing the first three waves. Beside him Alton fired three ice type bullets from his weapon, Razor Carbine, into the stunned masses. The shot froze the entire first three waves before they were obliterated by a shot of charged flames from Conviction. A blast of wind joined with the stream of fire to create a torrent of flames that cut through the horde of infected or burnt those that weren't killed on the spot.

The four foot blade on Conviction's barrel slid upward and extended an extra foot. Besides that the handle switched positions completing the transformation from gun to sword. Razor Carbine folded outward as was its design turning it into a five and a half foot of bluish gray sword that glowed a feint blue color as opposed to Conviction's green outline.

Nu took the front swinging his weapon in wide circular arcs cutting a part bodies while at the same time taking off limbs. Not pausing to cut down an infected in front of him he left a path of bodies and torn limbs for his more nimble and more refined partner to follow. Unlike Nu's wild broad strokes Alton's Razor Carbine's strikes were far more precise and deadly. It left clean cuts on the countless infected Alton cut down that attacked from the side. Reloading a clip of special Dust he gently tapped his partner on the shoulder to let him know he was planning on clearing the path. Ducking his head he allowed the navy blue haired man to leap off his shoulder with Razor Carbine glowing yellow.

Slamming the blade through the water into the concrete floor four dragon shaped blasts of lightning rolled through the tunnel. The four beasts didn't need to twist and turn to catch their prey in the small space so much as try fly right past them, the residual electrical shock they gave off was enough to fry them on the spot.

Both men switched their weapons back into their rifle form as they rounded the first corner. Usually Alton wasn't for the guns blazing approach but the situation called for him to do it the hard way. The roar of the two gunblades overwhelmed the howls of the infected. They'd burned through half the Dust rounds they'd brought along by the time they felt the first tremors in the tunnel.

Nu and Alton shared a quick look then shifted their weapons back into sword form. _Straight hack and slash. _They both thought swinging their swords with cold determination in their eyes. It wasn't spoken but they were both worried about the two in training Huntsmen. Their instincts were telling them they were was something worse than the infected they were currently slicing through and the Lockjaw running around. And whatever it was it had found Sun and Neptune. The tremors constantly shaking the tunnel was further proof.

Alton was the one to point out how the further along they ran the less infected they encountered. Hell, the infected weren't even coming after them but running in a specific direction. Along with that both their noises picked up a rather foul stench coming from the direction they were heading.

"This isn't gas is it?" Nu snarled reloading Conviction.

"No, if it is then I haven't been paying enough attention to city-"

_BOOM! _

Knocked to their knees the two detectives immediately pulled out their Scrolls hoping their worst fear hadn't come true. According to their Scrolls the explosion that had gone off was equal to thirty sticks of TNT. Alton himself knew only a person with exceptionally strong Aura could survive something like that; Neptune and Sun weren't at that level yet. Shouting their names he took off down the corner with Nu in toe.

Rounding the corner into the light his mouth went agape at what he saw.

* * *

It was probably the tenth time Sun's face met Hoyt's boot; by this point if it wasn't for the pain ringing in his skull Sun was sure he would have been able to relay every little detail of the shoe to Neptune. Everything from shoe size to texture to material, and of course the fact that it left dirty imprints on his tan skin quite well. Sliding out of control once more he fell through the pipe line into open air then into another flooded cellar. Pushing himself up once again he sensed Hoyt's vile presence behind him. Flipping Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang he fired off two shots. Hoyt appeared right in front of him grinning. Spinning Jingu Bang to his front he almost made it to his face before the man's fist slammed into his stomach again, sending him spiral back five feet.

A shadow loomed above Hoyt though he didn't drop his grin. Swinging one of his dual swords in an upward arc he easily parried Neptune's downward strike. Dropping into a crouch Neptune made several attempted slashes at Hoyt who easily parried every last one of them. "Not bad fighting after everything you've been through. You got some skill kid; however," His grin grew malicious.

Neptune was about to jump back but Hoyt moved faster than he expected. The sword in his left hand came down onto his glaive while the left went for his ribs. Shrugging off the other sword he twirled his weapon to deflect the blow though with his left hand free Hoyt brought his sword towards Neptune's throat. Ducking under the blow he got a knee to the face followed by two swords cutting into his chest. The butt of two swords slammed into the pit of his stomach, what came next was another blade cutting across him, starting from his lower left side to his right shoulder.

As he hit the water he struggled to get his Aura shield back up before Hoyt attacked again. Rather luckily or unlucky he'd turned his attention from the downed trident wielder to the monkey Faunus. From his hazy vision Neptune could see Sun wasn't using Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang's gun form which meant only two things; Sun was either running low on ammo or was out of shells.

It didn't look like it would be any good as his bojutsu was barely enough to hold off Hoyt's dual blades. The man fought like Neil; ferocious and fast. His two swords constantly clashed against Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang's red form though every time they did Sun was forced to take a step back. While the two swords came back again Sun ran his Aura through his weapon giving it a yellow glow as he tilted it to meet the swords. The monkey Faunus saw a blue blur before he found himself glaring at nothing but empty air.

"Behind you Sun!" Neptune screamed getting to his feet.

Perhaps it was because of his dulled senses that Sun didn't sense the laser blast heading towards his back until he could feel the heat from them searing the hairs on his backside. Whatever it was it sent him face first into the sewage water groaning in pain.

Walking into the light with his two laser rifles in hand the silver eyed man looked down on the two boys like they were a pair of dogs playful fighting. It was infuriating. "Gotta be faster than that Monkey Boy. How'd you expect to become a Huntsman with that kind of reaction speed? Then again I could cut you some slack for the broken harm and I'm guessing ribs." Fixing Sun with that same lazy grin he held up one of his weapons in his head. "How's about this, I'll only use one hand, that sound fair boys?"

Summoning up the sewage water around his glaive Neptune sprung upward sending a blade shape wave of water directly at their attacker. Both boys were expected Hoyt to dodge the attack instead of cutting through it. His eyes narrowed giving his grinning face a new air of danger. "Fighting even in the face of impossible odds, now that's a Huntsman's spirit! That's what Cadellcanaid likes to hear just as much as the howling of Grimm!"

Besides the fact the two swords had combined to form a zweihander neither boys saw the swordsman advance towards them. He brought his weapon down on top of Neptune who nearly dodged his attack. Switching to trident form he used his Aura to launch himself forward. His three blades were caught by Cadellcanaid's four inch thick blade.

The guard of Cadellcanaid was a dark blue, almost black, hexagon with two metallic blocks meeting at the base to form a V shape. The blade's dark blue outline hummed angrily against the light blue tips of Neptune's trident. Various blue lines raced up the blade's length meeting up to form an arrow at the sword's tip.

While the two blue colored weapons remained deadlocked just as their owners were Sun came up behind Hoyt holding Ruyi Bang and Jingu in a reverse grip behind his waist. At the exact moment he took his leap forward he spun three times before bringing his now vibrating staff on top of Hoyt's shoulder. Even though the damage was little it was enough for Neptune to push forward, transform his weapon into its rifle form and blast the scar faced man point blank.

Still standing he placed hand over the darken patch where Neptune's shot had made impact. "Damn guys, I was so busy playing with you I didn't think you could actually tag me." Then he broke out into another fit of chuckles. "You guys are fun to hang with! So let's take it up a level!" Drawing Cadellcanaid back he made a wide sweep that resulted in a five foot wide blast of air zooming towards them.

Sweeping his trident upward Neptune created a thick wall of ice that blocked the air blast. Equipping his lightning type Dust Neptune shattered the wall then sent the electrified shards directly at Hoyt. Cutting through the pieces of ice effortlessly he split Cadellcanaid apart to combat the two youths.

_This guy's an ex-Huntsman. _Neptune thought bitterly twirling his glaive/trident in various arcs to get at Hoyt's face.

_That's the only way he could be this good. _Sun supported mentally growing increasingly frustrated by their inability to land another decent hit.

The two swords now known as Cadell and Canaid clashed against the two weapons in various displays of sparks and gonks. Jumps, parries, and counter attacks went on between all three with the two younger boys just narrowly missing their target, rather it was by a centimeter or an inch neither one was able to draw blood. Hoyt's smile remained on his face though a tiny drop of sweet was running down his forehead.

Jumping back to avoid their combined attack he sized up both boys. _These kids have some serious grit to them. _ "What do you guys say we spice things up a bit?" reaching behind his back eh withdrew another pheromone dispenser. "Anyone up for inviting some company?"

"Bullshit!" Neptune barked. "If you turn that thing on the infected will come after you too."

"Even if I've dosed myself in pheromones designed specifically to ward them off?" Placing the device on the ground he flipped the switch. "Say Goggles you seem kind of tense, more so than Monkey Boy. Trixie's still on your mind isn't she?"

Usually Neptune was the calm one so when he ran at Hoyt eyes screaming bloody murder Sun knew something was very wrong.

Crossing both his blades to block Neptune's glaive Hoyt was able to see the mounting hatred in his blue eyes. In that instant he knew if the blue haired youth survived then they were probably going to be mortal enemies. He was fine with that. The kid had every right to hate him and no doubt his hatred of him would only grow as time went on along with his skills.

Breaking off Neptune swung his glaive in furious, heavy handed waves that sent an echoing cry through the cellar. He didn't let up in giving Hoyt an opening through the sheer speed of his attacks and their attack power. The navy blue haired man was forced back by the collisions against the younger neon blue haired young man. Forming Cadellcanaid he parried a slash at his left side then swung at Neptune's neck. Using the shaft to block it Neptune willed the water around their feet to freeze up. Arcs of electricity raced up his glaive before he slammed it into the ice shocking both of them. Both broke away just in time to bring their weapons clashing together again. Clearly Hoyt possessed the greater strength though Neptune's raged fueled strength was enough to keep his sword locked in its position.

Leaping over his partner Sun fired off two shots from Ruyi Bang fully expecting them to fail. They did as Hoyt suddenly broke free of Neptune's glaive and swung upward. Gray eyes could make out the line of air rushing. _Oh man it's just like Neil's Aero Blade! Is that what his Semblance is? Controlling the air? No that can't be it! _"Neptune! The infected!"

Since Neptune was the only one who could handle the infected Sun knew it was up to him to hold off Hoyt. Him with his broken right arm and his rapidly falling Aura. _Man I screwed up. _The Faunus thought miserably going after Hoyt.

By some miracle Sun still had enough strength to avoid Hoyt's wide slashes and avoid getting one of his limbs cut off by Cadellcanaid. Sheer instinct was the only thing keeping him when he would 'disappear' then reappear in his blind spot. He knew he had two shells loaded in Ruyi Bang and one in Jingu Bang so he had to use them wisely.

Taking a running swing he was blocked and received a swift kick to his right side. Rebounding stabbed his staff into the ground and used it to perform a series of roundhouse kicks Hoyt didn't try to counter. When he knocked the staff aside to bring Sun back down he unfolded Jingu Bang into gun form and fired. The shot momentarily knocked Hoyt off his feet giving him enough time to swing again at his head. A quick channeling of Aura into his skull saved Hoyt from likely having his skull ringed before he delivered a quick jab to Sun's stomach. Sweeping kicking the teenager off his feet he raised Cadellcanaid then brought it down with a roar.

Rolling to his left saved Sun from having the zewihander driven through stomach though Hoyt just twisted the blade sideways then brought up. Instead of the one armed boy Hoyt saw a yellow spectral copy collide headfirst into him. The force of the explosion was enough to penetrate his Aura causing him to groan in pain.

"I'm not done yet!" Sun's voice came from his left. Both of Sun's legs came slamming into the sides of his head leaving his hearing shot for the moment. The end of Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang burned with a golden light; a light that was no doubt being fueled by the last bits of Sun's Aura. "Let's see you smile after this!"

A nice loud crack went off as Sun slammed the end of his staff directly into Hoyt's skull sending him skipping across the water.

Around them Neptune paused in his beat down of the infected to stare in awe and part anger. He wanted to be the one to end Hoyt's life.

"Not bad at all Monkey Boy but no dice." His voice cackled shocking both teenagers greatly. Rising from the water he spit out some blood. "As strong as that attack was you didn't have enough power to crack my skull. You overestimated yourself blondie." Snapping his eyes at Neptune he found himself standing before the boy. Knocking the air out of him with a two kicks he brought the youth down with a upward slash over his chest. The sound of glass breaking echoed through the cellar followed by Neptune's scream. Picking him up by the throat and hurling him right alongside Sun Hoyt surveyed the walls of ice Neptune had created around them to keep the infected out. "Smart."

Grabbing Neptune's shoulder Sun lowered so only his partner could hear him. "Neptune I know right now you want to rip this guy's head off but I need you to focus. Unless you can think of something quick we're not going to last much longer."

For a moment Sun thought Neptune was going rebuke him until his shoulders went still. "I've…I've got a plan. Do you have some lightning Dust on you?" Seeing his nod he whispered his plan.

"Sorry boys but prep time is over." Their opponent's voice came from right above them before swinging Cadellcanaid without a care in the word.

The two boys rolled backward just narrowly avoiding the sword's blue-tinged edge. Both came at him, Sun aiming at his face while Neptune going for his feet. Breaking his sword apart once more he began rotating to his left until he was little more than a miniature whirlwind that knocked both of them flat onto their backs. Deciding Sun was the first to take out he took one menacing step towards the downed Faunus only to be stopped by his sly grin.

Jumping up from the water behind him was another spectral copy of the blond teenager only this time he was ready for it. Slicing the spectral copy in half he returned his eyes to Sun. He wasn't there and he'd lost sight of Neptune. Snapping his eyes from side to side Hoyt became faintly aware of his legs freezing up via the chill running through them. Just before he could prepare his Semblance he was blindsided by a piece of garbage nailing him in the face followed by a bolt of lightning hitting him in the back. This shock was stronger than any of the others leaving his body aching in pain even with his Aura actively working to get him back into action.

In the corner he saw brilliant bluish-white glow and the sound of crystal ice forming made his blood run cold. "I'll be damned."

Loaded into his trident was a whitish-blue Dust crystal with tiny snowflakes visibly inside. Unlike the greenish-white ice he'd made using the sewage water the ice forming around Neptune and Sun was clear and glowed with an ethereal light to it. It moved like a winter wind through the water directly towards Hoyt who could only glare in part awe and slight terror of it.

The ice tower formed with a ring of spikes around it every four feet and extended to the ceiling of the ceiling. Hoyt lay inside of it; it being near impossible to tell if he was still alive or not. Floating around him were snowflakes-like bubbles. In the bowls of the foul and disgusting sewers it was an eye widening sight.

With his one good arm Sun held up a grenade sized canister of lightning attribute Dust. Using the last shred of his Aura he activated it causing it shatter its glass container and coil around his hand. With the lightning coiled around him he slammed his palm on to the ice sheet that had formed around Neptune's.

The lightning raced through the icy road directly into tower before Hoyt's eyes. It raced up the tower hitting each snowflake causing it to glow brighter and brighter while the lightning bolts arced upward connecting each of them.

Just before reaching the last snowflake Neptune made sure his voice was loud enough for Hoyt to hear even in his frozen state. "THIS IF FOR TRIXIE!"

Connecting with the last snowflake the icy tower exploded in a blinding flash of light that shook the whole area, stretching onward beyond the cellar. Pipelines ruptured spilling their contents before coming down in burning heaps. Small fires were born, put, out then reborn into torch sized blazes as the blast carried out.

What Alton and Nu came upon was the two Haven students lying in the water with a huge hole in the ceiling with wreckage falling all around them. Though they were mortified by the damage they quickly scooped up each boy then called in for immediate rescue as well as medical attention.

Looking at his partner with crossed eyes Nu looked over the damage. "Hey Dan."

"Yeah Joe?"

"You get the feeling we're going to be up to our necks in paperwork for the next few months?"

* * *

**Author's notes: **

_**Cadellcanaid-**_**A combination of the Welsh words _cadell_ meaning "battle" and _canaid_ meaning "song", thus "battle song"**


	14. Chapter 14: Deadly or Innocent Promise?

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: A Deadly or Innocent Promise?**

The trip had started off with Ruby practically bouncing out of her seat at stepping off the airship and getting picked up in a limo. For Weiss's sake she tried to keep her excitement contained up until they arrived at the Schnee Tower. Her tongue almost literally fell out of her mouth when she and Weiss walked right through the front doors of the building. Everyone who spotted Weiss instantly stopped what they were doing, stood at point and bowed their head just a little as a show of respect. As Weiss walked by without giving the people a single glance Ruby couldn't help but stare in awe at what she'd just seen. She knew Weiss was important but even she didn't think it was 'drop everything you're doing and pay your respects' kind of importance. Judging by the way Weiss didn't even glance in any direction but the front Ruby wondered if she'd been going through this since she was a kid.

_How did she ever get used to this without, well Weiss is Weiss. _Taking a private elevator and walking through the hallways Ruby saw the same kind of treatment. Watching her partner she realized if this was how she'd been treated her whole life then she honestly couldn't blame Weiss for being the way she was. It took her five floors before she began to notice how some of the workers, rather they were wearing business suits or straight up workers and researchers, weren't just looking at Weiss with respect but with fear as well. _One wrong word and she could have them fired. _What little she saw of the Faunus population made Ruby seriously question how big the Schnee Company's racism ran.

All the Faunus bowed their heads much lower than the others when their group walked back. They were the ones who truly treated Weiss like royalty. Compared to the humans they were just one step away from getting on their knees. Ruby wasn't the only taking notice, their security detail were eying the Faunus like each of them were just waiting for the chance to attack. Doing her best to keep her face from screwing up she walked up just a little further until she was almost side by side with her partner. "Uh, hey Weiss are they-"

"Just keep walking and don't say a thing Ruby. I know what you want to do but please, for their sakes don't cause a scene." Her voice wasn't as sharp as she thought it was. She probably already figured out what Ruby was thinking and was just waiting for her to voice it. "That's why I came here."

Keeping her mouth shut Ruby stayed with Weiss. Up the almost never ending series of elevators, mile long corridors, and labs they passed. Coming set of silver doors she spun around then placed both her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "Odds are I'm going to be in there for at least an hour or two." Her frowned deepened when Ruby got a pouty look on her face. "Don't tell me you expected this to be over just like that."

Casting a glance to the side Ruby countered, "Well judging from the way everyone's been treating you I kind of did."

"That's because my last name is Schnee." Weiss spoke quietly. "The other half of the reason I came here is because Ruby when they bow their heads, it has to be to _me_, not my last name. While I'm in there this badge will keep most of the staff off you. Until I come out find something to do, go down to the Dust labs, talk with the scientist about what we're working on, go to the employee lounge, do anything _but _get into trouble." The way she spoke those last words made it sound like Weiss was both threatening her and begging her.

While Ruby may not have understood much about the business world she was able to gather how important an event this was for Weiss. Not to mention she still remembered how she came here so the Faunus working in this place could actually be treated like people. With her friend's pride and that many lives weighing on her Ruby would do everything in her power to keep from screwing things up. "Got it." It was just like a stroll through a bookstore; look, grab, put back, and nothing more. "Make sure to knock them."

With one last smile the two broke apart leaving Ruby free to her own devices. With her Scroll projecting a map of the building a sly grin took up Ruby's face. "Let's see what the Schnee toy shop has to offer."

Not surprisingly Ruby looked extraordinary out of place among the other staff. After all what business did a red-headed goth girl have inside the Schnee Tower, sigh seeing some of its most secure levels like it was some tourist spot. More than once a few of the security guards made a move towards her until they saw the special security badge she wore on her chest. It was a giddy pleasure knowing she was able to get away with seeing Dust production and creation the general public could never dream of. One of the ever awesome bonuses of being friends with the heir to the Schnee Dust Company.

Behind the reinforced glass walls shards of Dust, some as big as a blitzball and others no bigger than her palm sat in steel plates or floated in glass containers while being zapped by bolts of electricity, pure energy, and what Ruby had a sneaking feeling was radiation. She watched in awe as the Dust changed shape right before her eyes, its color, texture, and even glow transforming as it either absorbed the energy or rejected it. Explosions where common in both cases, sending out multi-colored fire, ice, pieces of dart, lava, and countless other things over the testing area. To her surprise once the blast had worn off the remains of the Dust shards were collected and tested again. This process was repeated and expanded upon through three floors of research labs.

Even though Ruby knew full well there was no danger she could still feel the tremor whenever a piece of Dust did explode. Some of them didn't even have to explode, just watching some of the more strange effects they produced was enough to throw Ruby off.

A shard of Dust shaped like a diamond with a violet color so beautiful Ruby was totally mesmerized by it, was used to create two spheres of pulsating energy that seemed to suck up everything around them. It was gravity Dust, a rare type of Dust that was rumored to still be early development.

The twin spheres continued growing and growing, now stripping away pieces of the floor causing an alarm to sound. Cries to cut the Aura flow flew out over the intercoms. With a shuddering cry the spheres warped and turned before dissipating leaving no sign of any of the objects they'd sucked up.

"So that's why gravity Dust stays off the market." Her heart rate had spiked a little when the spheres started growing larger and the alarm went off. She could only imagine what would happen if it was used on the battlefield and there was a loss of control. _I wonder if Izaak can do that with his Semblance. _

"How'd you rate it?" A female scientist with blond hair pulled back into a bun asked Ruby. Judging by her looks Ruby had to place her in her mid-thirties. "Gravity-type Dust, ever since that little leak the whole Kingdom's been pining after us for more news about it; when's it coming into stores? When will it be ready for public shipping?"

"It looks pretty cool I can tell you that much." The redhead answered back watching the workers collect whatever fragments of the Dust crystal left. "But if you tried to use it in the middle of a battle and it malfunctioned like that then it'd be a nightmare."

"Which is exactly why you aren't seeing it loaded into trucks and shipped all over the kingdom or traded on the market." Slamming her head against the wall the woman released a frustrated groan. "We've been going at gravity type Dust for three months and still nothing!"

"How far have you gotten?" Ruby innocently asked. Surely all the company's attempts hadn't ended in failure.

Casting one leery eye at the young redhead the female researcher groaned. "You thought that was bad? During some of our testing we had a_ctual people _fueling the prototypes. Yeah, it wasn't pretty for any of us behind the glass." Seeing the sick look on her face brought back all the painful memories of the early days of testing, all the failures and disappointments. "Besides creating a gravitational field about five feet in diameter we haven't had much luck. Beyond that everything else keeps resulting in black holes, spatial disruptions, and in one case half a lab being sucked into oblivion."

"Now Lois what have I told you about scaring away guests? Especially Huntsmen and Huntresses in training?" A male voice broke up the conversation. Walking in from her right was a much older man in his mid to late fifties. His dark blonde hair was spiky and combed back, his dark green eyes rested on Ruby through a set of thin rimmed glasses. "I apologize if my assist scared you. While she's right about our gravity Dust going through a rocky development I can assure you miss…"

"Ruby, call me Ruby." She answered with a smile.

The blue eyed woman now identified as Lois crossed both her arms sizing her up. "So you're Miss Schnee's friend? The one everyone's been talking about? I was expecting you to be a little…older?"

Lois question only had one real impact on Ruby, one she quickly voiced. "People here have been talking about me?" her eyes lit up like stars. "How much? Are they talking about how good I am? Has my reputation finally started taking off?"

Both adults broke off into a small fit of laughter; given their reaction Ruby simply pouted since she couldn't tell if it was good or bad. "Well there has been talk of you Ruby." The older man started. "Miss Schnee has been making her name known more and more around the company for her activities as Beacon. Maybe that'll be enough for her father to start taking her seriously. Ah, where are my manners, I'm Professor Torres, one of the Schnee Tower's top Dust researchers."

"And one hell of a slave-driver boss." Lois pipped winking at Ruby.

Shrugging off his assistance's remark the researcher eyed Ruby like he'd just been given a new toy to play with. Frankly it made the redhead a little uncomfortable. "Ruby how would you like to see some of our more successful projects? I promise you won't be disappointed in what you'll see."

"Will there be explosions?"

"I don't think we can answer that properly without giving away too many secrets." Lois giggled.

For Ruby that was the only answer she needed.

Like the teachers at Beacon, specifically Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck Professor Torres enjoyed droning on and on about everything they passed. Every lab he gave a little explanation on its function and origin. After a while Ruby felt less like she was on a tower of a Dust laboratory and back in a classroom, all by her lonesome self. Luckily the flashing lights and magic of watching new Dust being created was enough to make the long walk worth it. That and Lois's quick remarks or dumbed down explanations helped too.

Arriving in a testing room she was presented with a chest filled with geometric shaped Dust crystals. A sword and a plus could be found in half of them, those that were a reddish-bronze color. The cyan-blue ones possessed a shield and a plus inside of them. "Let me guess the red ones increase attack power and the blue ones increase defense."

"Bingo." Torres nodded. "These," he held up one of the offensive boosters. "Are government issued. They've been making the company quite the profit lately on account of how successful they are. Go ahead, try one for yourself."

Testing out the attack boosters felt like being on a sugar rush, only better. The edge of Crescent Rose glowed with a magically light upon having the Dust infused with it. Four practice bots came at Ruby at once and in one swift swing she split each of them apart at the hip. Eight came next and in a three-sixty spin they met the same fate. More came and more pieces of robotic wreckage began to litter the testing room.

"More!" The redhead cried with excitement clear in her voice.

She got her wish in form of a small army of combat androids storming the room. With a wicked grin she ran forward twirling Crescent Rose with such grace and skill it left her spectators awe struck.

_SLASH! _

"Okay…either the A-Boosters have been working better than we thought or that girl has some serious skill." Lois muttered watching the redhead create mountain of robot parts in a matter of minutes. "Seriously look at this readings!" She pointed at her monitor which were showing both Ruby's Aura, the force behind her swings, and of course her vital signs. "Why don't we sell more of these things to Beacon or Signal?"

"Something about not giving too much sugar to a bunch of little bulldozers." Torres shrugged. "That and the after effects of using it tend to leave one slightly more winded, more so if their Aura control isn't exactly up to par."

After she'd created an eleven foot high mountain of robot parts Ruby planted her scythe in the ground, now feeling the after effects of the enhancer type Dust wearing off. A quick five minute break and she was ready to continue testing however her hopes were somewhat dashed when Torres informed her they wanted to try out the defense boosters.

"Don't worry we'll only be using rubber bullets, at worse all you might get is a bruise or two." He informed her coolly.

Checking the digital cloak on the wall Ruby was quite surprised to find she'd been in the testing room for over an hour and she'd barely broken a sweet. The only real exhaustion she faced was from the aftermath of the Dust which faded as she continued to use it; slowly her body was becoming accustomed to the power surges. As Torres and Lois had explained that was the key component of the enhancers; getting them to the point where the body wouldn't go into shock or severe pain once the Dust wore off. Even though she didn't understand the finer mechanics behind it when asked for her opinion Ruby had to say it was a success.

Lois offered her something to eat in one of the research lounges; having been fighting for the past hour and a half as well as still worried about Weiss she graciously accepted. _I wonder how Weiss's doing. She's gotta be making head way right? She can down a pack of Beowolves so changing the opinion of a few old businessmen shouldn't be that hard for her right? _Since she hadn't seen a kind of disruption in the staff she assumed nothing major had gone on. The problem was she couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You're not good at hiding your emotions." Lois piped as they rode the elevator down with Torres. "You're worried about Miss Schnee aren't you?"

Did she make it that obvious? Sure she knew she could be somewhat of an airhead sometimes but was her concern for Weiss that plain to see.

Removing his glasses for a second to rub his eyes Ruby heard Torres mutter under his breath, "It's a waste of time, and over such a trivial matter. I can understand if Miss Weiss wants to assort herself over her sister but doing so over the help isn't a way to go about it."

Her noise wrinkled and her fists tightened a little. Growing up Ruby learned what 'the help' usually referred to. The same workers she'd seen all afternoon being treated as less than standard. She wanted to say something about it but her sense of self-control stopped her. "They work here too." That was all she said.

Both Torres and Lois shot her a glance before going back to their own devices. They took her to one of the employee lounges within a reasonable distance from the research labs.

**No animals allowed during working hours. **

She paused for a moment reading the sign on the lounge. It wasn't the first time she'd seen that warning painted onto the walls for everyone to see. Even as they chatted and ate their food her gaze kept returning to the big red letters. This was the thing Weiss wanted to change, the thing she was hoping she was busy changing.

Ruby was half through her third grilled cheese sandwich when she heard the sound of a body hitting the floor. Jumping out of her seat and racing down the hallway she saw a dog Faunus lying against the wall holding his head while a lab-coat wearing researcher stood above him waving his fist angrily.

"What does that sign say mut!" He screamed pointing his finger to the anti-Faunus sign. "Better yet why the hell are you dragging that stick cart through here where people are eating!" The man didn't wait for the researcher to answer, instead he raised his hand to strike again.

In just a few short strides Ruby was standing behind the man and holding his wrist with a deep-seated frown on her face. No matter who they were or what they were there for all eyes turned to the fifteen-year old redhead currently defending one of the many Faunus workers. Several of them started whispering and others took out their Scrolls to begin recording the incident. For all the eyes on her Ruby didn't much care. Sure she had her promise to Weiss but she could _not _just sit by and watch this man beat the crap out of this poor Faunus. Her stern frown as well as her tight grip made it all too clear she wasn't going to back down.

"Let go of me." The man grunted trying to pull his arm free.

The short amount of hand-to-hand training Yang had given her paid off in that moment. Even if this man had at least a foot on her she knew for a fact she was far more dangerous than he could ever hope to be. "As soon as you let him go." She directed her words towards the downed canine Faunus. Her eyes softened upon meeting his fearful brown orbs.

"He broke the rules." The researcher countered.

"Actually," One of the other researchers came out. She didn't like being in the center of this mess though like Ruby she couldn't just sit by and watch this injustice go on. "I…called him in here. We had a little bit of an accident and I called for sanitation."

Like a balloon with a hole punched in it the whole situation cooled down in rapid speed. When Ruby let go the man stormed off down the hallway cursing Faunus, her, and a whole list of other things she didn't bother to listen to. The Faunus muttered a quick thank one before being guided into the hands of the female researcher. Around her the other workers went back to their previous activities as if nothing had happened.

Quietly Ruby retook her seat by Lois. "I'm probably going to hear it from Weiss about that one." Seeing the freaked out look on Lois and Torres's faces gave her a reason to drop her soda. "What? What is it?" A familiar icy feeling took hold of Ruby; she knew exactly what it was because only one person could give it off. "Yeah, I know, I screwed up." she moaned turning around to find her partner glaring at her.

How Weiss had managed to sneak up on her without anyone noticing was a mystery as was the reason she took a seat right across from Ruby and asked for something to drink like they were seating in a dinner. Literally everyone blinked once at the oddity of the scene before she asked again, in a more cut voice. To her disappointment everyone kept their distance after that; moving to another table, making up an excuse to leave, or not even hiding it and just making a run for it. They couldn't be blamed, for all they knew Weiss was about to explode and start firing people left and right.

Maybe if Ruby hadn't met her all those months ago she would have thought the same but she knew her partner and friend better than that. Placing a hand over hers she gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't let this slow you down. Like I said, you've faced monsters bigger than those guys."

"No Ruby," she replied quietly keeping her eyes down. If only she knew the darker secrets of her family. On the flip side though she was thankful for the calming reassurance. "Those…idiots. At least now I was able to get some better pay for the Faunus workers and shorter working hours for some." Compared to what she wanted she'd barely gained anything at all. "All they see when they looked at me was a little girl trying to act like her father." The edge of anger in her voice was unlike anything Ruby had ever heard. It sounded like she wanted to go back into that board room with Myrtenaster at the ready to force her will upon the company. "Ruby do you ever have one of those days were you wish you could just hack away at a problem?"

"Of course I do. Some days when I'm bored I go to the training room and keep fighting until whatever's bothering me has gone away." She answered.

While it wasn't the answer she was looking for it did give Weiss an idea on how to vent her lingering frustration. She was never one for blowing off steam on practice droids but this time she'd make an exception. "I think that's just what I need to do right about now. So how'd you enjoy the Dust labs? See anything interesting?" With that Ruby launched into her long winded speech about how excited she was to get a tour of the Dust labs as well as serve as a tester. It filled Weiss's heart with a little bit of joy to know this trap hadn't been a complete and total waste of time. From the start she had a feeling Ruby would enjoy it more than her and that was why she offered to bring her along.

"Uh, I know you're still in a sour mood but is it okay if we take some souvenirs home for Yang and Blake, especially Blake since in two days it's her birthday?" The leader of team RWBY questioned fiddling with her fingers.

"Actually thanks for reminding me about that. While we're at it are you sure you're not forgetting anyone?" Seeing her confused face she couldn't help but smirk. "Like say a certain blond-haired dunce of a knight? The same one who's cooking abilities you're keeping all to yourself?"

For that entire time Weiss couldn't wipe the grin off her face nor could Ruby keep the blush out of her cheeks for the rest of the day. Yeah, the day may not have been a total loss after all.

* * *

"And you're sure Weiss doesn't mind you giving away ultra-rare still in development Dust to everyone?" Jaune questioned for the third time. "I mean she isn't going to be charging us for any of it is she?"

Sighing Ruby placed one hand on her hip. "I'm pretty sure she's too focused on her company than that. Besides she just said she wanted feedback from us."

After getting back Ruby made an almost immediate beeline to find Jaune practicing with Pyrrha. It didn't take much to convince her to let her have the blond knight and the next thing he knew he was being dragged into the kitchen by a chattering redheaded reaper. Even as they began she continued going on about the things she saw within Schnee Tower, good and bad. It both filled Jaune's heart with envy and a little bit of happiness to hear his friend had gotten to skip class for a day and spend it testing Dust. Her excitement took a slight blow when she realized she'd missed a whole day of work and would probably have to make it up; or at least she would have if Jaune didn't say he made an extra set of notes of the R and W of teams RWBY.

"Not to be rude but why didn't you just give them to her yourself instead of just asking me to pass them off to her?" She questioned took a small break.

"Well you see," Jaune started leaning against one of the counters. "I know she's not in the mood to deal with any one's crap. Not my lame flirting or even some prick messing with her for fun. Right about now Weiss probably has a lot on her mind." The reason he could tell all that was because he was able to catch sight of the two coming back. Even though he was far out of sight he could tell there was an aura of quiet rage and aggression inside of Weiss. Whatever attempts she'd made at standing up for Faunus had obviously ended in failure. Perhaps months ago he would have made the mistake of trying to comfort her. "Yang's with her in the training room right?"

"Yep. I hear she'd training for a way to take down Izaak in a rematch."

"That's good, Yang's better at dealing with people when they're in a bad mood." Both teenagers chuckled at the irony of Jaune's words. If said blond were with them they might have been driven out of the kitchen by a fire breathing dragon. "When it comes to girls I'm not all that good anyway."

Their cooking session resumed in silence though Ruby's mind was steadily picking apart the meaning behind Jaune's words. She'd hung around Velvet and listened to her talk about her psychology class as well as read enough thrillers to get her interested in sharpening her mind. It wasn't fun or easy; in fact she almost felt like she was violating Jaune's trust with taking apart his words bit by bit. "You're still bummed out about your fight with Olivia aren't you?" Okay it didn't take much skill there to figure that one out but it was enough. When Jaune didn't lose his focus on baking the cake, only nodding his head she waited until they took another break to continue. "How long are you going to stay hung up on that?"

Jaune kept biting his lips until he felt like he was close to drawing blood. Putting the cream dispenser down he placed both hands on the counter and lowered his head. "Ruby it's not the fight, it's Olivia herself. She…she scares me."

"What do you mean she scares you?"

"I mean she just…the way she looks at me. The way she took me down. She's like a combination of Pyrrha's skill and Weiss's ice queen, ya' know before she started defrosting a little. When I went down I don't know how but I think she was crushed that I wasn't able to put up a fight. She knows about my family." In the sparring sessions where he worked up the courage to ask Pyrrha about the female samurai her answers always left him feeling like he was mud. "She's like me Ruby, she comes from a family of warriors." There was no need to mention the one difference between them. "Even after the match I could tell she' always watching me."

He probably should have worded things better because Ruby's frown deepened. "What do you mean watching you? As in stalking?"

Shaking his head he ran his fingers through his hair, a cold chill running up his body. "No, more like just making a little note of every little thing I do. It's like she's trying to determine if when we fought I was just messing with her or if…" Shooting up his eyes were cloaked in fear. "What if she finds out? Oh God Ruby, what if she already knows!" With that the blond completely forgot about the birthday cake they were making and nearly went into full-blown hysterics.

At a loss on what to do to stop him Ruby began searching around for anything she could use to bring Jaune back to his senses. _Why does he always jump to the worst case scenario? _She internally questioned looking through the cans and pots around them. Her eyes settled on a bowl of left over flour. "Jaune…"

"Oh man once she tells the students all the professors will know! Professor Port! Doctor Oobleck! Professor Barnett! Professor Mulnix!" His voice nearly turned into a shriek as he stumbled back against a walk-in pantry. "_Professor Goodwitch! _She'll load my ass into a cannon then fire it into the Emerald Forest when she finds out!" Fueled by his mounting fear his mind conjured up the mental images of the headmaster followed by his family. "They'll disown me! I'll be out on the streets! No money, no family, no skills to get by! Nothing! I'll have to-!"

_POOF! _

"…Take ten deep breathes and relax." Ruby giggled. She reached into the bowl to scoop up another handful of flour. "Or was it five? I can't really remember."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"If it weren't for the smell I'd assume you kids were in here fooling around." A gruff male voiced sounded.

The blue and silver orbs turned to the left to see a six-foot three bearded man standing across from them with his arms crossed as well as an annoyed expression on his face.

Frozen to the spot Ruby took a minute to look over the scene. It really looked like they'd been cooking given the countless items laid out though the presence of flour on Jaune's face and in her raised hand was undeniable. Her first instinct was to drop the flour but for whatever reason it was she couldn't move her body; neither could Jaune who simply kept blinking at the man with his flour covered face.

_Yep. _The knight nodded mentally. _My life at Beacon is over. It was good while it lasted, sorry mom, dad, grandpa, grandma. I did the best I could. _

Scratching his head the man grunted before turning his back again. "Just make sure to clean up after yourselves. If you two want to get frisky save it for some place private. Or wait until you're old enough to get your own damn kitchen."

Even though a blush spread over both their cheeks the two remained frozen until the man was out of sight leaving them alone. Once he was gone Jaune turned to Ruby. "You can put the flour down now."

"I will as soon as you stop panicking." She countered holding up the greatly diminished flour in her hand.

"I have."

"Honest?"

"Knight's honor."

After wiping all the flour off his face and finishing up Blake's cake the duo sat back and ate their snacks in near silence. Neither could tell what was running through the others mind though they could guess. "You don't have to be so scared about anyone finding out. All we'll say is you just ranked in the lower numbers." The young reaper knew it would have been a blow to his pride but it was better than nothing. In her book it was better to be at the bottom of the top one hundred ranking than not on the list at all. She'd heard stories of kids getting heartbroken over not ending up on that graduation board. "Besides who else knows besides your team and me."

"Cardin knows." His answer was unexpected and quiet. He bit into his Snickers bar disregarding the look Ruby gave him. She must have forgotten Cardin was one of the primary reasons his secret ever got out in the first place. "But we don't have to worry about him. He's been…quiet about it."

"Fine but seriously you don't have to worry about Olivia or be scared of her. How bad can she be?" Jaune wanted to say something more but he kept his mouth shut. She wasn't going to pry the reasoning from his lips. "Look even if she tries to I won't let that happen."

Looking at her with wide eyes Jaune sturred in his response. "W-W-What? W-Why would you do that?"

"Simple," She smiled lightly tapping his noise. "Because we're friends."

Unbeknownst to Ruby her words had a dual effect on Jaune. On one hand he felt positively ecstatic that the scythe-wielding prodigy was willing to go that far for him yet…he also felt like he'd just signed her death warrant. The feeling in his stomach tasted like seaweed. It churned inside his stomach demanding release. Why did he feel like this? Seeing her smile at him like there was nothing wrong only furthered the sickness. Suddenly the soda and candy they'd been eating tasted bitter in his mouth. "T-Thanks Ruby. It's nice to know I can count on you." The nervousness in his voice flew right over her head. If that was a good thing or a bad thing he didn't know; what he did know was the next few weeks weren't going to be fun.

For any of them.

* * *

At the end of the next day everyone got to see Blake's face go ashen when they got the news about Sun and Neptune. The minute she heard the words Sun, broken, injuries, and hospital she was on her way towards the airships. If tone of Professor Oobleck's words weren't so grim someone might have made a joke about it instead of rushing after Blake. It was a good thing the school day was over because he knew teams RWBY probably would have been willing to cut class just to go see the two boys. Team IONC going with them was nothing more than them being just as concerned. To say Blake was tense the whole ride over was an understatement; Weiss was handling herself slightly better than her.

It was during the ride that Ruby envied her sister's maternal instinct even though Weiss kept telling her she was fine. That was a stone cold lie; just as Blake had Sun on the brain Weiss was worried about the two boys. No matter how idiotic she may have found them to be she still treasured them as friends, even Sun.

Jumping right off the airship and taking a bus to the hospital the seven teenagers were soon left in the dust by Blake. The first thing they saw when they entered Sun's room was Blake by his side, his right arm in a full blown caste and his abdomen almost completely covered up. Aside from that his right eye had a badge over it. It was the most jarring he'd ever looked to any of them. In the next room over Neptune wasn't much better; in fact he seemed worse. If it weren't for the steady rising and falling of their chests it might have been possible to confuse them for dead.

The doctors informed the eight of their conditions. Sun's was primarily in the fact a good number of the bones in his body were broken, especially his right arm. Apparently that was going to take some weeks to even a month to heal and then some before Sun could use it. In Neptune's case he'd suffered massive blood loss as well as lacerations all across his body; the largest one was over his chest. Just listening to the descriptions of the injuries told them the two had been involved in combat against someone of considerable skill. Who exactly was the question running through all six of their minds even as they watched over their two wounded comrades. Those questions couldn't be answered by any of the police officers on hand. If they wanted answers then they'd have to wait until Sun and Neptune awoke from their sleep just like everyone else.

Two hours after their arrival Sun was the first to stir. Blake was right there when his gray eyes opened even if it was just a little. He didn't say anything as his memories slowly started to come back to him. Shaking his head he laughed sadly, "Sorry we had to ruin your birthday like this."

Instead of reprimanding him the ninja simply threw both her arms around him gratefully he was finally conscious again. Everyone could hear the quiet sob that came from Blake as Sun did his best to comfort her. After the others expressed their joy at seeing Sun semi-active they left the two Faunus alone. Neptune however, still didn't show any signs of coming to.

With nothing to do many of them just started wondering the hospital, asking questions or just finding a quiet place to wait out the night.

Since Blake was staying by Sun's side Yang was left to wonder about the visitor's center. She wondered for about ten minutes before she noticed Izaak. At first glance she didn't realize he was fidgeting but by the third time she realized with a silent shock he was nervous.

Neil was peacefully napping in a seat though she knew at the first sign of trouble or change he'd be up and active. For Izaak it was little things that set her off towards him. His foot kept tapping against the floor, his hands shook as he read some ebook on his Scroll, his shoulders were tense, and the closer Yang got the more she could see his eyes were darting from one side of the room to the next. This wasn't the confident warrior she'd fought nor was it the nice guy she'd often run into at the academy.

The full extent of his unease was shown when he got up to go get himself a cup of coffee. His hands fumbled so much Yang couldn't hold herself back and rushed over. He'd spilled his coffee on the counter and was now frantically trying to clean it up. "Either you've been drinking too much caffeine or you're not big on hospitals."

For the first time the boxer saw Izaak nearly jump out of his skin. "AAHH!" He completely spilled the coffee all over the place. Meeting her eyes his shoulders loosed back a little but the sweat continued to roll down his forehead. "Ah…I'm sorry about that. I just…crap that was uncool."

With a little smile she helped him clean up the mess while getting something to drink for herself. "So I take it you don't do hospitals?"

"I'm not big on them." He groaned running his hand through his hair. "Especially when my friends are lying in a hospital bed."

Before she spoke her next words Yang knew she had to be careful. She prided herself on being at least a step or two above the average person in terms of intelligence. She despised the persona of 'dumb blondes' even though she often used it to her advantage. If she tried to use it on Izaak it would no doubt backfire. The first time she'd met Neil she'd openly displayed shock that the two boys were related until they revealed they were foster brothers. Adding that to what she was seeing in the Viking Yang was able to deduce whatever had happened to Izaak's parents involved hospitals. What had happened to them? Did they die in the operating room? She could count the number of times she'd let the question float in her head; that's where they belonged anyway, silent and unasked. "I take it bad memories?"

The tension came back into his body before he could stop it. "Y-Yeah. You could say that. I probably just lost all your respect didn't I?" His laugh was messily though Yang returned it, no doubt to humor him.

"That's a pity because I'm sure you'd be able to do some good work here." A smooth make voice sounded.

In a rather out of character moment Yang went almost totally still as the two doctors approached them. One of them had green hair and couldn't have been out of his early to mid-twenties while the other even Izaak had to admit was quite handsome. He must have been in his late thirties, his dirty blond hair was well cut framing his olive complex skin. His dark blue eyes drifted towards Izaak and stayed settled on him. There was a tickle of amusement in his eyes at the light blush on Yang's cheeks.

"We were one of the first ones to treat your friends when they came in." The green haired doctor spoke. "That guy, Sun, it's going to take about a month before his arm is fully healed though he'll be able to use it again. As for the other guy…"

"We had to treat him for extreme Aura drainage and he's probably going to have some scarring on his chest but otherwise both of them are no worse for wear." The other man finished stepping forward offering his hand. "This is Doctor Pasteur,"

"Call me Verde." He smiled winking at Yang.

"My name is Anthony Rax. One of the chief surgeons here. I'd like to say it's an honor to meet the son of Rikard Egilson, your father was one of the medical world's finest."

A rush of heat flew to Izaak's cheeks. Turning his head to the side he refused to meet Yang's gaze nor did he meet the look of the two doctors before him. This was partly why he'd done his best to avoid going near the hospital. "Thank you." That's what he always said. Normally right then and there would have been the time he'd leave, saying he had something else to get to but the violet eyed blond beside him was looking at him in a whole new light.

"Did your dad work here or something?" She asked. Her curiosity was getting the better of her; overriding her respect for Izaak's privacy was her desire to know why these two were talking about Izaak's dad like he was the Oum of medicine. "How come you didn't tell me your dad was such a big shot?"

"Big shot? Miss this guy's dad wasn't just a big shot he was one of the Ivory Three!" Verde exclaimed throwing back his head in laughter. "Rikard Egilson, Giovanni Yersinia, and Ascelepius Pierce; three of the greatest medical minds Remnant ever had! Cellular regeneration, gene-therapy, and biotechnology, all credited to those three."

As the younger doctor continued on about them Doctor Rax chuckled quietly to himself leaving Izaak to suffer under Yang's ever widening gaze. Once he was finished the boxer was looking at him in slight awe. "So your dad was the Oum of doctors." She grinned playfully hitting his shoulder. "How come you didn't tell me that?"

"He's one of them." Izaak quietly corrected.

Seeing the discomfort in his eyes Rax lightly tapped Verde on the shoulder to get his attention. "Regardless we simply stopped by to pay our respects. I worked with your father he was a great man and even though you didn't follow his career path I'm sure you'll grow into a fine man none the same. Goodnight."

Once the two had walked away Izaak fell back to his seat releasing a long held breath. He knew what was coming and Yang knew he knew. "I don't answer if I'm not asked. It's just what I do."

It's not like Yang was trying to piece Izaak's past together but, she was happy she'd learned just a little more about him. For all the limited time she'd known him she realized Izaak never opened up about his past. Granted no one had asked him but after seeing him fight and fighting him herself she wanted to learn more about him. "Did your dad want you to become a doctor too?"

"No." The sadness behind his smile was unmistakable. "When I was a kid he told me I didn't have to take after him; all he did was make me promise to become good at whatever I chose to do." He laughed recalling the memory and forgetting all his unease. "He said if I wanna become a janitor, become the best janitor ever, if I wanna become a chief, make a feast fit for the gods."

"I'd say you've kept your promise, after all you managed to hold your own against me." Yang laughed happy to see the old smiling Izaak return.

"You mean I beat you." He grinned.

Despite how threatening she tried to make herself look her words and expression still ricked of joy and amusement. "I mean you got lucky. Pyrrha told me you graduated in the top ten at Sanctum. I'd say you kept your promise to your dad."

"Thanks Yang."

A moment of silence passed between. Neither noticed a certain gray haired young knight smirking to himself. If they did said knight probably would have had two cups of water, or coffee poured all over his face.

"Soooooo," She started lightly tapping her fingers on the table. "How'd you get so good with your Semblance? The only other people I know that are that good are Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha, and she only uses hers as a last measure."

The questioned didn't surprise him. He must have been asked it often. "Practice. I discovered my Semblance when I was thirteen and I trained with my foster family all the time to control it. You want help in controlling your Semblance don't you?" For the first time in hours he laughed, once again at her frustrated face. Really he was starting to find it quite cute. "Lucky guess, honest. How about I promise to help you if you promise not to dismember Jaune."

"Really sticking yourself out for that guy aren't you?" She questioned with a sneer. Raising her hand she relented. "Fine. Deal."

Yang made another promise that night unknown to Izaak. One day she was going to one up him in a conversation. Rather it was in the next few months or by graduation she was going to beat him in a battle of words.

* * *

**Jaune; *relaxes* I'm safe. **

**Comsic: For now. Please Rate and Review! **


	15. Chapter 15: On the Rails Pt1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: On the Rails Pt.1**

In the thirty years Ozpin had been a resident of Vale City he'd sampled coffee from every one of the forty-two cafes in the city. He'd built up a private ranking on which ones were the based on his personal experiences. Some people would assume this meant he didn't have any hobbies or a social life when in reality it was quite the opposite. With his love for caffeine, not quite as strong as Doctor Oobleck's, he considered it his own personal hobby. Those that knew him beyond headmaster of Beacon knew this and often used it to their advantage; be it needing a seat down with him or just wanting to have a friendly conversation. Often he'd enjoy the latter rather than the former but reality was cruel.

The Marble Haven Cafe was among Ozpin's top ten favorites. It was a nice café located in the western side of commercial district. A two story building quietly settled between a repair shop and a clothing story.

The residence of the four star café knew him and always greeted him kindly as if he was just another customer. That was another reason why he valued the place so much. He had a favorite seat, fifth from the left right by the window. Waiting for him was a familiar face he'd come to know.

"I never did like this place much. A little too fancy for my taste. Not to mention sometimes they put too much sugar in the coffee sometimes." Captain Engberg commented as Ozpin took his seat. "I'm sorry about your kids Ozpin. If I'd known what was going on down there I would have…I would have asked for fourth years."

"No need to apologize Halsten." Ozpin returned taking his first sip of his tea. "What matters now is we must decide what we're going to do next. Will the police department be looking into those missing persons reports or will we have to wait for those things to overwhelm our streets?"

"As much as I would want to say yes, more like we're diverting the office's last twenty percent to the matter."

Ozpin raised one eyebrow. "Over twenty dead officers and two injured combat school academies wasn't enough? I'm well aware the city council has their eyes set on bigger things but I at least thought they'd want to take care of the problem at hand." That was one thing everyone always found both unsettling and amazing about Ozpin. Be they insufferable bureaucrat, hard-lined military fanatics, hot shots, or even criminal masterminds he never lost his cool. There were only a handful of people that had ever seen that happen and they would never speak of it unless called forth by the situation. "Halsten," He started.

In response the man kindly held up his hand to cut him off. "With all due respect Ozpin we both know where your children are needed." The green eyed man craned his head to the side to stare out the window. "In three weeks it'll be twenty-one years since the Faunus Rights Revolution." His words hung in the air between them; shifting the conversation further and further away from the friendly chats they both enjoyed. "Every cop in the city's already being given orders on where they're going to be, who they're going to be guarding, and how long they're going to be there. Ozpin, for that full day the whole city's practically going to be on lockdown. If my shit's getting regaled I can only imagine what things have been like for you." His eyes were challenging in a playful way. It was a shame there was also a hidden sadness behind them.

He didn't make any attempt to sugar coat his answer. "It's been a nightmare." In his low, near whisper like tone Halsten knew all he needed to know. "Do you remember what the first anniversary was like?"

"For the past couple of days I've been wishing like hell we could just go back to those days." The younger man admitted slouching back in his seat. Watching all those people walk by without a care in the world made him long for the days of his youth. Compared to what he knew now he wanted to laugh at the naivety of his youth. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever believe he'd be in the position of captain. "I guess the only thing I can happy about is the fact I'm not commissioner."

"Not on paper." Ozpin interrupted. "From what I hear Commissioner Merrick has been passing a large majority of responsibilities onto you. Funny considering your rather differing viewpoints."

It was no secret that Captain Halsten Engberg and Commissioner Merrick shared a deep seated animosity for the other. You could right down a list of things they disagreed on from sports teams to literature to how certain cases should be handled. The last one was perhaps the biggest one. It could be said having a pro-Faunus captain of police was good for the city however that became mute when you had an anti-Faunus, _hardline_, anti-Faunus as commissioner.

"Within the next three weeks we're going to see more anti-Faunus crimes then we do in a while year." Finishing his cup of coffee Halsten racked his hand through his hair. One could feel the unease and despair rolling off the man. Only experienced people such as Ozpin could tell he was probably losing sleep. A condition that while sad was probably nothing compared to what he was going to go through in the next month. "Do you have any idea how many Faunus are killed, beaten, raped, or abducted in this city in one year?"

"Over nine hundred and fifty-eight." His answer was cold and short with his eyes being the only sign of disapproval. "Twenty years ago that rate was six hundred and seventy-two. Well before the White Fang changed into what it is today."

"And they're part of the damn problem! It doesn't take rocket science or a strategist to figure out they're planning something! Between the Schnee Company's labor practices and the Rama-Wilkins case the new slogan for this year might as well be 'Sorry guys but those eight hundred thousand people and two million and a half Faunus died for nothing' or something like it."

If Ozpin had still been the idealist he was in his youth he would have made some sort of counter argument. Sadly those days were long behind him. Aside from that anyone with a brain would have been hard pressed to argue the police captain was wrong no matter how much they tried. If you compared life for the average Faunus pre-FRR to the current lifestyle you'd be able to say life had only gotten worse. Ironically it was the hard fought Faunus victory that had led to the current low class view of Faunus. When the citizens of the four kingdoms weren't able to force the Faunus population into Menagerie they found torturing them daily to be a consolation prize of almost equal value. The fact that the previously viewed 'sub-humans' were able to collectively push back the efforts of all four kingdoms didn't sit well with a majority of citizens. For human kind the war had been a blight on the proud history of man, and one the average man took it upon himself to correct every time he spotted anyone sporting furry ears, a tail, or scales.

Ozpin had seen the comings and goings of countless people representing the different viewpoints. Like Halsten he wasn't proud to admit more often than not he had to serve under the yoke of men who viewed Faunus as less than human beings. Rumor was that was how the famed headmaster had perfected his unbreakable steely calm façade. "The Council is bracing itself." He started. "Everyone on the street know something's going to happen on the anniversary…and the White Fang know we know." Of the half dozen White Fang spies that had been caught around the kingdom they all told the same story; on that day they would take back freedom that they were denied. The message was grave but the details were few and far between. Ozpin had no idea what had happened those spies; however, he could perfectly picture the absolute torture they were being put through in order to get them to break. Ordinarily such methods would never be used but since the enemy in question was a 'sub-human' all laws regarding humane treatment were off the table.

The same went for the law enforcer across him. In his twenty years on the police force he'd seen many crimes against Faunus go unpunished or simply unnoticed. It took him almost two years into his career to realize all he was doing was embarrassing himself and whatever Faunus he was trying to help. "We've kicked up riot training as well as ordered anti-riot and suppression gear in bulk. Figured we might as well get the rookies read too." Halsten remembered the tenth anniversary then the twentieth; neither of them were fond memories. "What do you think? Bomb? Massacre?"

"Given the…unsettling events lately I'm beginning to think it might be worse." Both men knew unsettling was putting things lightly. Odds were Ozpin knew a great deal more than Halsten did about what was going on in the upper levels of the government. Instead of envying him or demanding that information Ozpin pitied him. "Based on the information Neptune told us when he came to we can indeed say whoever we're facing is in the possession of biological weapons. How they came by them is what the Council is currently focusing on."

Finishing off his third muffin the police captain gave a quiet snort. "Is that why all attempts at a police investigation has been meant with a federal screw you and the bodies of the infected rounded up?" All the police department had been able to get was ten autopsies before the bodies were carted away by federal investigators in bio-containment suits. The dirty blond was still more than a little pissed off that the all reason he got was 'the police department lacks adequate equipment for proper study'. When he heard that Halsten had to keep his tongue in check least he find himself in more hot water. "I got word that all the bodies the hospitals were keeping were carried out. Now that's taking things a bit far."

"Can you blame them Halsten? If we're talking about biological weapons then the kingdom is facing very real trouble. The only three men capable of dealing with something like this are all dead. Furthermore do you honestly believe the White Fang could get access to such weapons on their own?"

Locking eyes Halsten answered the question in a grave tone. "Ozpin when you hate someone so much the rest of your body goes numb just thinking about them I believe so. Thanks to, what was it team IONC, we at least have a better idea of who we're facing. A criminal mastermind named Cinder Fall who has Roman Torchwick under her thumb and some unknown PMC backing her up. Now what I want to know is why the hell those things, which are all practically neon signs, have been so god damn hard to find lately! Especially when we have a known accomplice." His eyes narrowed at Ozpin demanding answers. He'd been friendly enough but now he wanted the rest of the story. He sure as hell wasn't going to get it asking nicely and Ozpin wasn't going to if he didn't know how serious he was.

If the green eyed man could read minds he'd understand Ozpin did know what he was feeling. The only difference was time had taught him to keep a handle on his emotions, volatile or not he needed to maintain control. "That accomplice you're speaking of happens to be one of the five richest companies in all of Remnant as well as the primary medical backer for the entire kingdom. While yes they did land in some hot water for keeping their link to a wanted criminal a secret they simply had more cards to play." Pausing to return his glare the other man backed down a little. It was fully clear to him Ozpin wasn't happy either. "Whatever it is our enemy is in possession of CuraGen is our only means of stopping it. Without the Ivory Three they're the best medical minds in Vale and maybe even the world."

Drained of most of his energy and anger Halsten fell back into his seat. He was tired of talking about this stuff and eagerly wanted to move onto something else. It was the other reason he'd wanted to meet with Ozpin. He kept an eye on the teams that entered Beacon, noting which ones tended to stand out from the rest. "Is it true you've got an Egilson going there now?"

"Yes I do. Izaak Egilson, leader of team IONC and quite the fighter."

"Did he inherit any of his father's medical skill?"

"That remains to be seen. Throughout his tenure at Sanctum, Haven, and at Beacon he's shown more of an interest in the field of mechanics, literature, and combat. It remains to be seen if Rikard passed on any of his medical knowledge to him before he died." The answer was deadpan. The older man knew exactly what question was coming next.

"So then…is he like the rest of his family?"

"Halsten, his combat abilities more than prove he's an Egilson. If you carried around a legacy like his would you want to tell the world you're no different than your forefathers who are often demonized in history books?"

"…Okay so he's a capable leader but what about the rest of his team? You know since they brought that information in as well as the earthquake they've been the talk of the police department. The infamous team IONC of Haven; the team responsible for bringing down the Selikon Mob and Saturnus Fight Ring." Narrowing his eyes once again he leaned forward on one elbow. "Besides an Egilson you've got the only child of the Gray Phantoms, the Askeris Family affair child, and of course a warrior prince from one of the only Faunus tribes to push back the entire Vale Army. Ozpin you know what I'm asking."

"All of them are well aware of the weight each of their pasts carry, it's what's made them into the team they are today." Ozpin's expression remained neutral. "Izaak, Olivia, Neil, and Chicahua. They are all exceptional warriors though I'd advise you they're not the only ones you can depend on."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about here Ozpin." His words caused a slight crack in the headmaster's mask. Despite the look he was beginning to shoot him he decided to keep going. "There's been some unexplained activity going on around Mountain Glenn. I know the Council is a hair away from sending a team to investigate it. Since the sewer incident you know the Aegullo family is going to be making a move. I-"

Ozpin's voice was sharp and cold enough to send shivers down the other man's back. "Halsten." He cut him off silencing him completely. Through his glasses was a will that the younger man could never hope to overcome. "I'm very aware that team IONC has the capabilities as well as Neil's connection to that family but if you're suggesting I send them off simply because of that then you're out of your mind."

"That's not what I'm saying Ozpin!" he snarled. "Damn it the reason why I'm asking for them and not RWBY is because they have experience in killing! They _know_, Neil Liath knows, how ugly things can get when dealing with the mob! You may want to shelter those kids and tell them their past doesn't define them but sooner or later we both know they're going to have to answer to it!"

A tense moment passed between the two men with neither willing to back down. In his heart Ozpin knew Halsten had a good point. Sooner or later the Council would likely bring up the same argument and he would be helpless to resist. He could simply say no to what the police captain was implying but the logical side of his mind; the side he'd come to rely on more than he cared to admit, chastised him for such thoughts. Closing his eyes in order to retreat back into his thoughts he realized the man sitting across from them had a point. He couldn't keep thinking of team IONC as simply his children. While they all may have been touched by the sentiment he could picture all four of them sitting beside him telling him to accept. All of them were saying the same thing; they weren't children, they were warriors.

* * *

_One Week Later… _

"I've never seen a place look so…desolate." Ruby muttered looking out through the window at the remains of Mount Glenn. "How long as it been like this? How come no ever talks about it?"

"Would you want to talk about what's probably one of your biggest failures at development expansion?" Blake answered her. "Mount Glenn's been like this for years, some people say it serves as a reminder of how fragile human civilization is."

Stepping right beside was Doctor Oobleck. Neither girl could see his eyes behind his glasses though they both thought they could detect a hint of sadness in his voice as well. "That Blake may not be far from the truth. Mount Glenn was one of Vale's most serious attempts at expansion. As you all can see the attempt ended in failure, a failure that cost the Kingdom over thirty-thousand lives. Today it is nothing but a ghost town inhabited by Grimm, wild animals, and criminals."

"Or people just waiting to have their faces rearranged." Yang piped in slamming her knuckles together. "As soon as we find them of course." Leaning over so her eyes met the official Huntsman's eye she raised one eyebrow. "We _do _know what we're looking for right? Bad guys? White Fang? Some psycho scientist cooking meth in some underground lab right?"

"I cannot say for certain any of those things can be rolled out but they are on the list of potential threats we have been ordered to investigate. I will say this rather we find such things are not all of you must be on constant alert, use every ounce of your training and survival instinct for here, beyond the confines of the city's wall they are all that will keep you alive." All four girls gave the glass-wearing Huntsman collective shock. His words though fast paced were laced with a seriousness never would have suspected. "And of course I'll be there for all four of you; not to mention if things become grave enough to call for reinforcements we have the ability to. You all _did_ bring your distress beacons with you right?"

Instantly Blake, Yang, and Weiss held up the hexagon shaped devices they'd been given before boarding the Bullhead while Ruby had to dig a little deeper into her pocket to withdraw hers. Rapidly it was becoming the norm for the distress beacons to be given to teams whenever they set out. The EDB as it was called used satellite tracking locate each signal then relay the information to either the Academy, military, search and rescue, or any other party tapped into the satellite. Through countless testing it was confirmed to work even when at least sixty miles underground which was exactly what the four young Huntresses and veteran Huntsman would be needing.

Disembarking from the aircraft the four young girls were struck speechless at just how empty the city was. It was the epitome of a ghost town: broken windows, decaying metal everywhere, buildings in ruin, and the wind caring a sense of hopelessness and despair with it. No grass anywhere within the city until they got close to the destroyed walls that led to the forest. A chill went through them when they spotted the hordes of Goliath calmly lumbering through the forest like normal elephants. Ruby suggested taking them out until Doctor Oobleck explained to her why doing so wouldn't work and doing so would be a foolish idea. Despite his wise words Ruby still had the sickening feeling at the slightest sign of trouble the horde or maybe one of them would take the chance to kill them. It was well hidden but all four girls carried that seem fear no matter how much they tried to hide it.

Another three hours later and Ruby and Yang were almost wishing one of the Goliaths would break away and attack just so they could have some excitement. They'd found nothing searching the city. After the first two hours Yang secretly began hoping they'd at least run into a Beowolf or two only to be disappointed she took a moment to pout. In contrast to her annoyance Doctor Oobleck was greatly disturbed by the lack of Grimm. Even if it was abandoned the odds of finding Grimm roaming around ruins if cities and villages were usually eighty-percent or higher.

As the sun began to set he came to the conclusion there most definitely was something going on thus they were going to be spending the night there.

Hearing this Yang groaned then shot him an irritated glare. "Oh come on! We didn't find anything! Not even a single Grimm!"

"Exactly the point Yang. Don't you think it's strange how this city is devoid of all forms of life including Grimm. Tell me how often does that happen? Better yet what could possibly have driven off the Grimm?" he answered not caring if she got angry with him.

The blond was about to respond when she noticed a change in the older man's posture. Suddenly she felt Blake grabbing her hand and dragging her away. A single hand fell over her mouth before she locked eyes with Blake. Searching around she saw Ruby, Weiss, and the Doctor had done the same; taking cover behind the abandoned houses and doorways. Ruby and Weiss had drawn their respective weapons and had them at the ready while Doctor Oobleck simply kept his thermos in his right hand. Lightly shaking herself free from her partner Yang peaked out through a shattered window to try and spot whatever it was that had her teammates so spooked.

Between the decaying gray of the buildings and golden-yellow of the setting sun Yang wasn't able to make out anything out of the ordinary. A few crows flew by but that was it. She was about to question if her partner had just raised a false alarm when her ears heard the quiet humming of fan blades. If it weren't for the absolute silence she never would have picked up the sound.

Starting out as a little blip in her field of view the drone gradually came closer to the street; a red light staining the buildings. Cursing in her head Yang ducked back down along with the others. _That _was what the Doctor had been talking about.

Because they were hiding out they couldn't get a good look at the drone. Doing so would result in them being caught and end with likely a miniature army storming their location.

Three more drones passed by before the signal was given to come out. They all slowly crept back into the open with an eye towards the sky in case another drone flew by.

"Okay," she admitted throwing her hands up. "There's something strange going on here. Didn't we send unmanned drones to scout this place out?"

"Indeed we did Yang. However we lost contact with each of them leading us to our current situation." The Doctor clarified keeping his voice low. Judging by the way he was glancing around at the four they realized he was asking them to keep their voices level as well. "We need to find some place to hold up for the night as well as find out where these drones are coming from. Blake, once we settle down can you track them?" Receiving a firm nod he took charge of the group directing them back inside. "Stay quiet and alert. We don't know if any of those drones are armed or if they're only here for recon like we are."

With the light decreasing by the minute there was a notable change in all the girls. None of them save for Blake knew what to expect from a reconnaissance mission like this thus none of them knew how drastically or quickly the situation could change. It may have been a little frightening but Yang enjoyed the change; they may not have been in battle but they were finally making head way with their mission. She wouldn't complain if a fight broke out, hell, she would be almost grateful for it.

Her good mood took a little bit of a blow when she spotted the thin red line roaming the street from overhead. She'd seen a line like that before. Blake held her hand up for the group to stop before she could.

Gun torrents on the rooftops. Now Yang really wanted to know who they were up against.

For the first time Yang was wishing she'd taken the chance to ask Yang for some stealth training as she found it increasingly difficult to fade into the shadows at a moment's notice like the ninja beside her. Ruby and Weiss were having an even harder time. The Doctor, for all his characteristics was surprisingly nimble and quiet. While he still guided them he made it clear he had total faith in Blake to keep everyone quiet and undetected. When this was over she made a point to thank her for this.

Once they saw a flock of crows cross the targeting laser incurring the wrath of the mini-gun on the roof. No one needed to see the aftermath to know what had happened. Surely their Auras would be enough to shield them for at least three minutes before the bullets began to tear into their flesh. Her time with Izaak led her to the assumption if they destroyed any of the drones or gun torrents whoever was controlling them would notice it; further forcing them into this game of stealth she detested.

When they did finally find a place to camp out Yang had a solid mental image of what was going on; while drones patrolled the skies the gun torrents greased anything that moved below the roof tops. She was no strategist but based on where they were set up and the two hours it took for them to avoid them she had to guess whoever had set them up had military experience. With that knowledge she stared at the fire they'd made trying to guess just what they were going to run into. Some mercenaries operating in an abandoned city? She'd fought a wanted criminal, gangsters, monsters, and thugs but never mercenaries. Being ex-military that meant they had to be able to provide a better challenge right?

By the time she awoke the next morning Blake had returned; based on the look of her face whatever she had seen promised serious trouble. "I take it they weren't coming from a magic factory the kingdom forgot to turn off when they bugged out?" Further hammering the point home was the way she looked at her with one of those 'don't joke about this' faces. "Okay fine how bad is it?"

"Try armed men working side by side with the White Fang!"

"Blake." The Doctor spoke seemingly coming from out of nowhere. "Start from the beginning and tell us what happened."

Taking a deep breath the ninja began to recount the startling information she had attained. "It was two hours pass midnight when I finally tracked down where the drones are coming from. There's a hole on the far west side of the city. It was being guarded by full militarized men."

"What do you mean militarized?" Weiss questioned sensing Blake was holding something back for the end.

"I mean Weiss they were in fully military-issue body armor and carrying military grade weapons. I didn't get too close but they didn't look like they were with the army but I knew they had to be professional soldiers. There was an elevator about ten meters in diameter transporting personnel and equipment. Working alongside them were White Fang and they were…" She seemed to swallow a lump in her throat before finishing. "A few of them were wearing gloves and hazmat masks. I don't-!" Her eyes widen to dispassionate size before she spun around to come face to face with the cycloptic eye of the drone.

"SHIT!" Yang yelled activating her Ember Celica. Shooting out her fist she roasted the drone with a single fireball. "Someone call Beacon for back up!" Jumping out of their safe spot with a grin on her face she watched a set of drones home in on her. _Finally some action!_

* * *

_I guess I beat you this time Neil. _Izaak thought calmly rising from his pillow to see Chicahua and Olivia were already up. A minute later and all their Scrolls went off signifying they'd each received a message. The bronze haired Viking grabbed his and skimmed over it; his face not breaking one bit in concentration even as his eyes fell over the words RWBY. "Six minutes guys." He spoke jumping out of bed.

Like a well-oiled machine the other three teenagers sprung from their beds and began getting dressed. No fuss, no smart comments thrown around, just the single minded thought they would all be heading out into the field. Exactly as ordered by their leader in six minutes the four were out the door fully dressed making their way to the airship docks. Olivia teleported to the Dining Hall grab each one of them something to eat so they wouldn't be running on total empty stomachs.

Reaching the docks they were greeted by a middle aged man dressed in a brown fall coat with maroon red hair and piercing green eyes. He had sideburns that connected with a well cut mustache that matched perfectly with his square jaw. His green eyes fell on the four with a slight twinkle. "Right on time, I'm glad to see you four know how to be punctual."

"Does team RWBY always manage to get themselves into trouble Professor Mulnix?" Olivia asked being the first on the airship.

"They tend to make a lot of noise where ever they go." The forty year old man chuckled joining her. "Much like you guys eh?"

Mulnix had already read the reports on team IONC but he had to admit seeing them in person was different. The 'Problem Team' as they were called carried themselves with a professional air he had to admit was lacking in Beacon freshman class. Not only that but he'd seen they had the skill to back things up. As he explained the mission to them he noted how little change there was in their posture besides a slight rigidness. Team RWBY had managed to befriend them on a personal level so that was obviously a factor but none of the four were going to forgot the other half of their mission. He'd heard they'd become more mission focused since their transfer; now was the time to see for himself.

None of them spoke on the way over giving the maroon haired man time to observe each of them. Izaak had his headphones on and was gently tapping his foot to the rhyme of whatever he was listening to. Neil lay back against the side of the ship seemingly asleep. Olivia was going over the layout of Mount Glenn. Lastly Chicahua sat cross armed simply waiting for them to set down with their eyes closed. Mulnix had to give the kids credit; none of them were strangers to danger or possible looking death in the face. It always filled his heart with glee to see such things in his students.

Ordinarily the academy wouldn't have dispatched only a single team to act as back-up for such an important mission but given who they were sending it was all but assured it would be enough. The Problem Team and one of Beacon's best tactical and strategic instructors; what could possible go wrong with that combination?

Olivia whistled quietly to herself as she along with the others peered down at the two trains preparing to depart. The first time she saw the situation she cursed; on one hand at team RWBY for getting themselves caught and on the other that stopping the first trains from leaving would be next to impossible. "On a scale of one to ten this is a seven."

She was expecting some kind of sass from her teammates but not from the senior Huntsman. "How so Olivia?" The way he phrased the question made it sound like they weren't talking about the lives of their classmates and friends.

"Twenty-nine Faunus that we can see and some twenty-four unknown soldiers wearing Generation III H.I.R armor equipped with high power assault rifles and grenades, HF blades, power axes, a few combat staffs, and if I'm not mistake at least two of them are carrying plasma weaponry. Based on their formation they're expecting us so we're going to have to tread carefully." Turning her eyes to the various White Fang mulling about with Roman giving the orders her face turned into a deep seated scowl. "Professor, do you think it's possible Roman Torchwick knows anything?"

"The man's a wanted criminal and now we have visual conformation of him allying himself with wanted terrorist and soon to be bioterrorist." He replied casually. "How much is debatable but he must know something. Regardless our primary concern is rescuing team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck."

The four men gave the olive haired onna-bugeisha their full attention. The voice she spoken in was familiar to the three young men but to the professor it sounded like he was listening to a trained commander heading out orders. "They know we're coming so we're going to need one hell of a distraction to draw their attention." First she turned to Neil. "Can you operate down here or inside that train?" As his teammate he knew the full meaning behind her question. A single nod was all she needed to know though she made a mental note to keep an eye on Neil. "Fog clones, enough to qualify for two or three teams of Huntsmen; use Auto Dust to create the sound of gun fire. Chicahua, go for the White Fang then free team RWBY and the Doctor. Izaak disable those trains. Professor you and I will hold off the soldiers and whoever the hell that lady is with them."

Mulnix was truly impressed with what he'd just heard. _The rumors were true, this girl is quite quick. _More than that he was impressed with the manner the three young men agreed. Not a single shred of doubt or defiance in any of them. They all had total faith in their teammate's plan; Izaak didn't raise one word even though he was the leader. _Ah, _He thought looking between the two of them. _One's the heart and the other's the brain; or rather one's the primary brain and the other's the secondary. _

"For added measure I'll make a little noise to split their attention." Izaak started. "Professor Mulnix mind if I take your EDB?"

"Not at all. Just what do you plan on doing with it though?"

He grinned popping the back off. "Turning it into a nice little EMP. It may be useful later on." He turned back to Olivia letting his grin drop a little. "I can create an earthquake to shake things up but that might attract some Grimm. Between us and them you think they'll go for the Grimm?"

After thinking for a minute she looked back down keeping her eyes on the two trains. "The Grimm because with the White Fang I'm guessing each and every one of them is thinking something crude. After all Weiss is down there."

"If that's the case then they'll forget about us and start those trains." The smile almost fell from Izaak's face leaving only a ghost in its place. "I can do something about that." As they all stood up Izaak felt the need to address one last issue he felt they'd missed. "I have no idea what's in those crates but if something is spilled or gets released grab the nearest gas mask you can find. Don't want anyone catching smallpox or something."

The only question that kept running through team RWBY's mind was how the hell they'd let this happen. Blake more than any of the others kept cursing herself for not realizing she was being followed. At least she thought that way until she saw some old faces she recognized as her former comrades in arms manhandled them, tying their arms together, taking their weapons and threatening to shoot them almost nonstop. Some of the Faunus holding them captive were canine while others were feline like herself. The way they glared at her only furthered to empathize how stupid she was. Scent, it was a constant cause for Faunus to be mocked yet it was also one of the greatest things their animal genes had given them. Because she let that one thing slip her mind her teammates and instructor were now paying for it.

Naturally Weiss was getting the worst of things with various White Fang constantly growling and barking at her. Very few of them had passed up the opportunity to take a swing at her. To the snow haired girl's credit she didn't crumble under their words or their blows, merely returning their hateful gaze in full force.

What unnerved them more than the fact they were surrounded by human-hating extremist and a wanted criminal was the mysterious force commanded by the dark skinned woman currently discussing something with Torchwick. Not much could be seen thanks to the sand colored cloak she wore around herself though from what they guessed she must have been in her mid to possibly late twenties. Her crimson streaked dark hair ran down to the base of her neck since it was tied in a ponytail. When she turned to look at them all four girls visibly flinched and Doctor Oobleck felt the need to break free grow stronger.

She was more dangerous than the White Fang or Torchwick. Her gold colored eyes screamed murder every time they fell upon him. Somehow they carried the same burning hatred the White Fang carried for humans. It lessened when she looked over the girls, no doubt realizing they were just children but immediately hardened again falling upon him.

Another sure sign the White Fang were the lesser threat was how they seemed to avoid the armored soldiers. Normally it would be next to impossible to get the terrorist group to work with any human organization yet they seemed to follow the orders of these humans almost without question. That was troubling to all of them. Hell, even Roman seemed to be in slight fear of the woman he was currently talking to despite the fact he was her senior. Then again it didn't take much to realize all it took was one word and she'd no doubt break every bone in his body nor would the soldiers hesitant to gun him down if he did anything stupid.

Taking those things into account all five Beacon residents could were silently cursing the fact all their weapons and items had been confiscated, including their Scrolls. Saying they were screwed would be putting it lightly.

All Yang needed was one chance to get free and she was sure she could get to her weapons. She did a head count and while she had to admit she may have been overestimating herself she could still free the others in time for them to counter attack. Rather she'd be able to do it with or without any bullet holes in her was in question though. Yang wasn't counting on back up arriving for some time. IN that time frame odds were more than likely they would all be dead or worse.

Her fears went unfounded when a sudden earthquake rocked the underground city shocking everyone. In the half second their enemies were shocked the four girls and Huntsman exchanged silent glances; help _had _arrived, and in less than an hour after they'd activated the distress beacon.

At least a quarter of the White Fang and soldiers were called away when the sound of gunfire erupted.

"Okay that settles it!" Torchwick shouted directing the Faunus onto the train. "We are now leaving station people!"

No sooner was the order given out that an orange blur zoomed through the area, two glittering pieces of blackish silver leaving crimson streaks in their wake. The blur got closer to the handcuffed girls leading them to realize who it was.

While their Faunus captors panicked the soldiers reacted with much more discipline; opening fire on Chicahua despite. The sound of bullets bouncing off his strong Aura rang through their ears until it was interrupted by the sudden sound of flesh being pierced. Two soldiers stepped in front of team RWBY with the intention of stopping them only to have a well thrown knife implanted in their throats. With the professionals down the group's Faunus captors jumped aside fearful of their own lives.

The four girls' faces lit up only to then turn into looks of horror just as Chicahua was about to free them. Reading their expressions as well as feeling his sixth sense blaze to life he activated Xolotl. The saw shield deflected the maul with a heavy thud that left Chicahua's ears ringing a little. The attack had come from the cloaked female that had been conversing with Torchwick early. Their ears met in a sharp exchange before she hurled her weapon back at the eagle Faunus.

Olivia appeared completely out of nowhere swinging Bishamon in time to deflect the maul. She disappeared then reappeared in front of the cloaked woman expecting to hear the sound of her tonfa cracking against her skull. Instead the woman skillful fell back to avoid the attack as well as withdrew her weapon.

"Get the trains moving now!" She barked surrounding herself with the soldiers who all kept their trained on Olivia.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening." Mulnix's sharp voice cut through the atmosphere like a knife.

Bullets were deflected every which way as the red headed Huntsman made his appearance known. With the twin blades he held in each hand he began cutting into the surprised Faunus and deflecting the gunfire of the soldiers. Immediately he made a bee line for the woman who simply stood where she was with the same stone cold expression on her face.

_BOOM! _

From the other side of the trains columns of smoke began to rise up flowed by the sickening sound of bodies snapping like twigs. What followed was the sound of metal tearing then being bent apart; Izaak came through the hull of the train with Storrdetta raised overhead. The bullets and rockets that flew in his direction never made it to him, instead veering upward towards the cavern ceiling. Upon contact with the ground the energy within Storrdetta was transferred into the earth creating yet another earthquake, one strong enough it knocked almost everyone off their feet.

As the White Fang and soldiers attempted to combat Izaak, Olivia, and Professor Mulnix they completely forgot about the eagle knight. Grabbing the weapons of his comrades and delivering them he jumped into the fight drawing Sprekelia.

Weiss struck first once she had her beloved rapier back in her hands. There was a clear fury in her eyes as she began striking down every White Fang she could. Blake was far less serve in the way she went about attacking, focusing less on her former comrades and more on the armored soldiers pelting the area with gunfire. Ruby followed Weiss's league silently concerned the heiress was being too reckless.

One way or another the two senior Huntsmen found themselves fighting side by side, dodging blades and rolling out of the way of gunfire. "Oobleck you let your guard down this time!" Mulnix shouted driving one of his blades into the chest of one of the soldiers then using him as a human shield.

"I'll admit I did rather drop the ball this time." The green haired man countered creating a shield of flames around him. "I trust you'll keep the finer details of this little mess between us Blaine?"

Whatever the redhead said was drowned out by the tornado ripping through buildings and enemies alike. Once it dissipated to reveal the scar faced young knight many of the remaining Faunus dropped their weapons and hopped on the train leaving the remainder of the fighting to the soldiers.

"Does this square us off?" Izaak questioned seeing Yang blast her way towards him.

"It's a mission, so therefore it doesn't count!" She shouted with a grin delivering a painful right hook to one of the soldiers after dodging a stream of gunfire. "That was a nice little rescue you planned!"

Just as she thought the soldiers were a much tougher challenger than the untrained terrorist that had taken them captive. They knew she was a brawler and wisely kept their distance even if they were wielding power axes strong enough to cleave a stone block in half. Their armor held up well against her blows, knocking them back but not hurting them as much as it should have. Izaak, because of his difference in fighting style as well as weaponry, had better luck. The way he was able to easily infuriated causing some of her hair to begin catching fire. She wasn't unaware of this fact and used the rush if energy to enhance her punches. What were original dents became burning holes that left first degree burns on the flesh of her opponents.

The sound of a train whistle cut deeply through the chaos team IONC had created. Followed by it was the howling of Grimm sending a sense of dread down the spines of the eight teenagers and two adults. The first train steadily began to move forward leaving an unknown portion of the cars behind.

"Everyone on the train now!" Mulnix ordered slashing a hole in one of the sides and direction everyone inside.

Through various means the ten managed to board the last car before the train left the underground city as well as the remaining train in the dust.

"Well that was fun huh guys?" Izaak started staring at the darkness. "We pull off a rescue mission, fight off some White Fang and mercs, wreck a train, and finish off Mountain Glenn by leaving it to a swarm of Grimm."

"I'd like it better if we weren't ya know, on a train heading to God knows where with a half a dozen White Fang Terrorist and more mercs. Plus if we weren't underground." His foster brother countered with narrow eyes. If one looked close enough they could see Neil was shaking a little with his eyes darting back forth between the walls. "We need to get off this train."

"After we stop this train." The cat Faunus corrected him.

The two senior Huntsmen opened their mouths to say something only to be cut off by Izaak's soft chuckling. Both men as well as Weiss and Ruby looked at him like he'd just sprouted a second head.

"That isn't going to be hard. Question is does anyone know what's above us?"

"If we keep accelerating at this rate we should pass through the city in precisely twelve minutes and forty-two seconds." Doctor Oobleck answered for him.

"Then that's twelve minutes and forty-one seconds to stop this thing. Getting out isn't going to be easy but hey, I'm sure between a dragon, reaper, ice queen, ninja, two senior Huntsmen, and us," he beckoned to his teammates. "We can do it."

Besides his teammates everyone fixed Izaak with a curious gaze. They were stuck on a speeding train miles below the surface with Grimm and danger everywhere yet he was talking like none of that existed. Weiss for her part briefly wondered if the teenager was mentally stable.

"That…is exactly right Izaak." Doctor Oobleck agreed. Beside him Professor Mulnix threw back his head in quick laughter.

"You like danger don't you?" Yang grinned elbowing him.

"Well she and I aren't exactly strangers," The Viking began Before he could speak any further the sound of rock breaking and demonic howling filled the train car. "But I'd say if there was any affectionate it's not completely one sided." He finished with a grin.

* * *

**Odds are I'm probably going to come back and rewrite this chapter in the future.** **For the last one of the summer I feel like it's a bit more on the lackluster side. I had three different ideas for what this chapter was going to be about; one involved team JNPR running into trouble in a Faunus village and the other involved team CRDL taking a trip into a seedy part of town on a rumor. Both ideas will become chapters but I decided this one with teams RWBY and IONC should come first. Anyways I hope it was enjoyable. Obviously next chapter is going to be somewhat like Episode 11 of Volume 2 but with different match ups and a different outcome. With school starting back up tomorrow my updating is going to be a little bit harder but I'll do my best to get a chapter out at least every two weeks to three weeks. Until next time! **


	16. Chapter 16: On the Rails Pt2

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: On the Rails Pt.2 **

"Just in case anyone's forgotten or doesn't know, we have about seven minutes before the Grimm show up." Olivia remarked drawing Bashimon.

"What makes you say that?" Blake asked.

"Well we're about to start an all-out fight with the White Fang and some mercenaries carrying who knows what. Plus we have Weiss on board." She answered in a dull tone even when Weiss shot her a glare. "Not to mention thanks to certain people's choice of weaponry we're probably going to cause quite a bit of damage to the cave waking up whatever is asleep. Sucks but hey, what are you going to do." She sighed.

"For some reason I get the feeling I've been insulted." Yang groaned.

"If it makes you feel better Storrdetta makes just as much noise as Ember Celica." The Viking innocently added. "Grimm show-up, they do all the wrecking for us leaving us the simple task of surviving."

"You guys should probably stop talking like that." Blake stated. "You're making them angry."

She had a point. It was clear to see their light hearted conversation had angered the dozen or so White Fang crawling on top of the train. Most of their glares went to Weiss though none of them were spared the hateful gaze. With their words Izaak and Olivia had earned half the group's ire. No doubt besides Weiss they were the first ones they were going to be gunning for.

"So get to the front of train, stop it and…" Yang asked looking over the group.

"How about we figure that part out after we've taken care of the dozen or so White Fang ready to rip our heads off? Beacon already knows where we are so we should just enjoy ourselves until then." Professor Mulnix chuckled twirling his knives.

Without a word Neil sprinted from the safety of the group directly into the White Fang. In the back his allies stared at him in shock just as the Faunus in front of him went agape wat the boy's one man charge. They could clearly see the cold resolve in his eyes. It paralyzed each and every one of them. At first their question was if this guy was seriously charging them head on with no cover from his teammates. One by one their eyes matched Neil's. In a panicked haste they all raised their weapons and opened fire. Moralltach and Beagalltach released blasts of wind with every motion, easily blowing through the gunfire. Curses rose from the White Gang grunts as the one man tornado was soon upon them in less than ten seconds.

"What the fu-"

Slamming into the first line with a three sixty spin Neil left the second line of grunts scared beyond reason. His eyes scanned through them before launching forward. The great sword and short sword cut into their shoulders quickly and without hesitation then left just as soon as the Faunus were able to register the pain. Their either fell to the ground screaming agony at their bloody wounds or in horror at their missing limbs. Neil's body and arms twisted like snakes, striking out then curling back in to parry then back out to end another grunt's life. Bullets didn't do much against him. Melee combat was quickly turned down after watching three heavy set grunts jump Neil at once bellowing animalistic battle cries. For a split second Neil's eyes narrowed and his muscles seemed to tighten. Moralltach was swung in a wide horizontal arc, cleaving deeply into the flesh of the three attackers while at the same time blasting their bodies two feet into the air. Blood from their opened stomachs stained Neil's great sword and his shoulders however the gray haired youth paid it no mind.

Neil could hear the sound shotgun shells being loaded coming up on another line. Snapping his eyes to the terrified grunts he lunged towards them next. He could see the shock on their faces moments before he cut them down. First it was two, then three with bloody lacerations across their stomachs, and lastly two who he ran through completely. Shocked gasps reached his ears over the pumping of blood and roar of the wind. He'd done his job in terrifying them; that was always part of his role on the team. They were probably wondering just what the hell was wrong with him; he had after all just murdered some twenty people in less than two minutes. Odds were team RWBY and more than likely the professors were looking at him the same way.

_I might have just lost a shit ton of brownie points with Blake after this. _If she looked at him with fear or disgust after this he wouldn't blame her. Looking forward he saw the grunts had started activating the Paladins. It didn't bother Neil, he'd fought mechs before and he'd taken them apart. What he wished was once of them ahd a drill for digging then he could escape this god forsaken tunnel. Tendrils of wind began coiling around Moralltach and Beagalltach. Breathing in a quick breath to steady his nerves he took one step forward swinging he let Beagalltach fly in a left to right diagonally swing. The body flew off the short sword while an intense, near visible, blast of air shot forward slamming into the advancing Paladin with a thunderous boom. Next Moralltach delivered its attack knocking the first Paladin off its feet and into another behind it. _Category Three it is. _Neil's stops continued in perfect tandem with his next five swings, each producing an Aero Blade seven feet in length and stunning a mech or slicing it in half. Just before taking the sixth step in his attack Neil summoned the wind rushing around them and bent it to his will. Instead of a simple Aero Blade what came from him swinging both his swords in an X-shape was a mighty tornado.

Xolotl flew outward joining with the tornado creating a much large tornado of flames that bulldozed through the first Paladin. The pilots of the other Paladins were caught totally off guard. Their monitors soon began flashing red moments before they caught sight of Chicahua, Sprekelia cutting deeply into the armored limbs of the Paladins. Sometimes the boy didn't even bother going for the limbs; with bursts of speed that blew the pilots' minds he launched himself directly into a Paladin's line of fire taking every hit before ramming his sword through the cockpits.

Leaping over the hauls and coming back down leaving the Paladins sliced half way through the boy showed no fear at the thought of charging down a squadron of armed mechs. Judging by the way he was swinging that two handed sword he didn't have any reason to be.

Behind the two the four girls stared in part awe part terror at Neil while the professors passed silent observations between each other.

Izaak had kept his axe slung over his shoulder as he ran. "We leave those two up here while we go inside the cars?"

"Definitely." Olivia agreed. "If something starts leaking will you be able to smell it?"

"Depends on what it is." He answered grimly. "I'm hoping we'll be able to stop this train before we get to that point. If not Blake will probably pick it up, her noise is sharper than mine." He faced his last teammate just as they came upon a hatch. Just before jumping in he threw one last glance in his foster brother's direction. _I know right now you're probably trying not to freak out but I need you to hold it together just a little longer Neil._

* * *

In some ways Blake was happy Neil had decided to stay above on the roof top with Chicahua and Professor Oobleck. Seeing him murder so many of her ex-comrades had most certainly made her look at him in a different light. The young knight was dangerous. As he'd fought she sensed no trace of malice within him. That was probably the only difference between him and Adam.

Clearly his behavior had affected her teammates though on what level she couldn't be sure. Ruby and Weiss seemed the most shaken of the four of them. The former was probably because it was occurring to her she'd fought that person in a sparring match only a few months ago. The later, well, Blake didn't pretend to know what went on inside of Weiss's mind half the time though she clearly looked more unnerved than her partner. She'd had her suspicions about team IONC from the start and after seeing Neil's merciless breakthrough she was no doubt hesitant consort with them. Not surprisingly Yang was the least affected, she simply kept her mind on the mission.

The I and O of team IONC were deadly quiet though the differences between them was stark. Izaak was more relaxed than Olivia who had slipped into what she'd heard was her 'Lady of War' mode. From the way she gripped Bishamon she could only guess what that meant.

Without missing a beat she swung both her tonfa at a set of grunts as they entered another car. Disc like projectiles flew from the weapons slamming into the man and woman with the force of bullets. Following this Izaak took point without much argument from Professor Mulnix or the girls.

"Weiss, take the left flank, Olivia please take the right. Ruby and Yang, would you two please be as kind as cover Izaak. Blake stay beside me for defense." The redheaded Huntsmen calmly ordered. Again there wasn't a word of argument or wit among the teenagers.

Crashing through the doors with his G-Shield was Izaak, Storrdetta firing one rocket while behind him Ruby only fired Crescent Rose once to keep take care of any lingering enemies. No matter what it was that was pointed at them, no matter who it was, nothing could stop the six as they moved from one car to the next. Above them they could hear the screams of the scared, enraged, and of metal being torn being sliced apart or melted.

Their 'shock and entry' tactic got them through six cars before their enemy wised up. The soldiers had wised up to their plan and taken steps to stop them. Just as they came through the door they saw two soldiers squeezing the triggers of their rpgs. The impact created a veil of smoke and flames before them. While this was nothing new the honed instincts of the six immediately warned them something was wrong.

Izaak's first step forward was met by the sound of metal cracking, Following the others his eyes briefly looked downward to see the floor of the car had been frozen over then blasted over.

Cursing to himself Izaak moved his eyes to the left to see one of the soldiers holding a spear loaded with fire Dust. To their left was another equipped with ice type Dust. The shock had thrown his focus off enough he'd dropped his G-Shield leaving them defenseless and_ falling _through the floor. Sweat gathered on his forehead and his eyes snapped shot to form a mental image in his head. "Hang on!" He shouted.

Of the five only Yang and Olivia had any experience being caught inside of Izaak's gravitational fields so what came next didn't surprise them. For Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Professor Mulnix the feeling of having their body's hijacked was shocking and disorienting. Both the redhead and snow haired heiress yelped, moments earlier their voices were rising in panic were now rising in shock. Blake darted over to Izaak to try and get a read on what he was about to do.

She wished he'd given them some kind of warning before he acted.

A sphere had formed around them, violet light and materializing around the edges then growing darker as they launched forward.

It felt like being compressed then fired like a bullet. And for the twenty seconds it lasted Ruby shrieked almost entirely at the top of her lungs.

Almost the entire wall of the next two cars were blown apart, scratch that they completely tore through everything within the next two walls, being metal and people alike into odd angles. They could only see the shapes twist for half a second as they came into contact with the gravity-field, then they could hear the unholy noise that followed.

Izaak fell to one knee when he dispelled the gravitational field. "Sorry about the unexpected trip guys." He turned back to face them with a light grin despite the residual unease in his legs. "Sorry but the G-train is usually a much smoother ride than that."

Professor Mulnix coughed once getting to his feet. "The important thing is we're not smears on the rail line Izaak. For that we are grateful to you."

"Warnings in the future would be nice." Weiss quietly snorted dusting herself off.

Olivia and Yang merely shot Izaak a coy smile as the Viking got to his feet. He was about to step forward when he saw a pinkish blur unnaturally appear before him. Immediately his hand shot to his chest. He hissed in pain as the needle-like blade pierced through it yet his chest was unharmed.

Team RWBY jumped back slightly as they saw Neo, Roman Torchwick's mysterious underling, shimmer into existence right in front of them. She still wore that same annoying smile on her face, even as each of them lunged forward with their weapons. Yang got to her first being the closest; she took a right swing at Neo only to have the girl disappear right before her eyes. She reappeared to their rear holding her umbrella and smiling menacingly at them.

"I'll stay here and hold her off." Izaak started flexing his right hand. "She's already drawn blood and I think it's only fair I return the favor."

"Oh no you're not." Yang countered stepping forward. "I owe this chick some payback."

Looking between the two Olivia reached into her pocket and took out a coin. "How about you two flip for it?"

Now it was Olivia's turn to be gawked at. She didn't pay any of it any mind, in fact her gaze was focused solely on Neo. _I knew we were going to run into trouble eventually, just wasn't expecting it to be dressed like…_"So what do ya say?"

"Heads." Yang snarled.

"Tails then." Izaak answered.

The coin rose and fell on top of Olivia's hand. Looking between them she answered, "Tails." Not missing a beat she took all the EDBs from Izaak. "Odds are she's a kick boxer of some sort. Lean and wily, umbrella probably can take a shot from a high-powered sniper rifle among other things. You've got the height advantage but don't let that go to your head. Disable her feet or knock her mismatched head off then join up with us." She spoke then turned to the door without a second thought.

"Aye-aye Takeko-sama." Izaak grinned watching her leave.

The Professor, Weiss, and Ruby wordlessly followed Olivia through the car door. Blake paused to give Izaak some advice. "Watch yourself Izaak. She's a wily one."

Yang shot him a cross between an irritated glare and a mild frown then joined the others leaving Izaak and Neo alone. The heterochromia girl had been giggling to herself as it was decided who was going to fight her. From the way she was leering at Izaak she didn't care who it was. Izaak would have dismissed this if he didn't feel unsure about the girl himself.

Peering around the confines of the car he sighed. _Too small to use Storrdetta and the enemy's too quick for me to get a swing off in this place. She's probably going to aim for either my neck or break my ribcage. _His hazel eyes scanned Neo's legs. _It doesn't look like she uses anything but her natural power but, _Holding up his right hand he saw the stab wound had already healed. _A quick thrust could be problematic. _Taking all these things into account Izaak released a long held breath before reaching behind his back. Holding them up for Neo to see was a Viking warrior knife in each hand. From a distance they appeared to be non-transformable though their craftsmenship more than made up for their simplicity. The double edged blades glowed a bronze color at the edges with three Norse runes starting at the base of each blade. The dark golden crown shaped guard had his Emblem carved into it. Through the leather wrapped handles screws and bolts could be seen around the metal pummel.

Wolfsbane-T, he'd only use them when fast-paced close combat was needed or he was facing an enemy he knew wasn't going to be easy to catch.

Both youths watched the other for a second longer before charging. Izaak's eyes didn't have the playful glint they usually did but instead a cautious glare. Neo's remained playful though he could see the malice building within them. If given the chance she wasn't going to hesitant in killing him. That made making his first swing aimed at her throat all the easier.

Using the handle of her umbrella to block it Neo returned the favor and made a left side round house at Izaak's neck. With his left hand he parried the attack, noting how Neo's leg remained unharmed even after being slashed. _Aura, _he thought lunging forward with a downward thrust. _Okay so she uses Aura to protect her legs from harm and give her some extra jumping power. _Neo simply stepped back to avoid his attack. She took another few steps back then performed a flying kick Izaak decided to dodge then counter. His eyes narrowed watching just the tips of her feet touch the floor before sticking her left leg out for another roundhouse, one he was in range of. _Light on your feet aren't you pinkie. _Catching her leg with his between his arm and body he waited for her to strike him again with the only limb she had available; her arm which was still holding that umbrella. Izaak watched her face as she brought it forth; he thrust his left hand knife towards it knowing full well her Aura wouldn't be strong enough to protect her from Wolfsbane-T's blade. _One leg down! _

Neo's grin might as well have been the counter remark to his mental declaration. The Viking suddenly found himself tumbling back then feeling the hard tip of Neo's foot slam into his jaw followed by two kicks push kicks to his chest, knocking him to a wall of crates and boxes.

Shaking his head once and rubbing his jaw he could taste a small amount of blood in his mouth. _What the hell was that? I didn't see anything but her…wait a second. _For probably the first time Izaak looked over his opponent from head to toe. His opinion on her fashion choice was neutral however he could clearly see the three colors that took prominence on her outfit: brown, white and pink. The exact same colors as her eyes as well. Those eyes laughed at him just as her silent giggles made his body tremble in slight anger. "I think I get it now." He whispered only enough for her to hear him as he pushed himself upright. "It's your eyes right? Some kind of illusion or magic trick."

Her smirk grew wider. Twirling her umbrella toward him as a challenge he could make out her request for another clash.

For the first time Izaak returned her grin. "It fits your personality well but it won't be enough to beat me." He attacked in the form of two small scale G-Cutters. Just as he thought the kick boxer's umbrella opened up and weathered both attacks. In the time his attack failed Izaak sprinted forward with his left dagger in a reverse grip forma horizontal slash. Neo folded her umbrella and held it a thrusting position. The expression on her face read how much she wanted to mock him for leaving himself wide open as she ducked below his blow and thrusts her umbrella forward. "I wouldn't be so quick to gloat." The Viking quietly whispered as Neo's weapon was mere centimeters from assaulting his chest.

Neo's body went rigid as it was placed on the strain of increased gravity like she'd never known before. Her grin faded from her face. Snapping her eyes to see Izaak's own grin growing boarder she was helpless to stop him from slashing her right shoulder before locking her arm at the shoulder in a tight hold. With no warning he slammed the dual haired girl into the crates then proceeded to ram his head against hers. Finally erecting a sound from the mysterious girl Izaak grinned even wider. "Lovely voice you've got, especially when you're screaming."

Pulling her disappearing stunt again this time she appeared trying to sweep kick him. Jumping he used his Semblance to extend his knives another four feet then swept them in an axe pattern. To Izaak's surprise Neo countered with her Umbrella once again. Swinging upward so she had a clear shot she was able to deliver another, stronger, kick to his chest. He swung his left dagger at the same time she attempted a reverse kick. Their attacks canceled each other back. Growling in the back of his throat Izaak used his Semblance to create a low level gravity pulse that pushed Neo back half way across the car. In a few steps Izaak was over Neo again thrusting his right dagger towards her shoulder; batting him away with her umbrella she attempted to maneuver behind him only to find he'd twisted on the heel of his foot and was now coming at her again with his left dagger.

Izaak didn't hear the sound of his weapon cutting through any expect the air. Turning to his right he saw Neo patiently tapping her foot. "You're not much of a talker are?" Her grin had gone from mischievous to almost open malice. His mistake was in looking into her eyes for just a second. One minute she was there and the next he could feel her leg knocking him off the ground. _Okay so just avoid eye-contact! _His mind chastised despite having a knee drive against his jaw again. _How hard can that be! _Her next roundhouse kick connected with left arm leaving a few cracks in his Aura. She followed up that one with two sidekicks that only got a grunt from the Viking. _That's right pinkie. _He tucked his arms in to protect his chest from the onslaught of kicks that followed. Every blow he rewarded her with a grunt or cry of pain that while it wasn't totally real, were still proof Neo was doing damage. Packing her power into her left foot she attempted to butterfly kick the side of his head. _Gotcha! _Before her foot could reach him his Semblance immobilized her leg. With almost inhuman speed he thrusted his right dagger into her shoulder.

Stunned and off guard he removed his dagger, gripped Neo by her right arm and hurled her across the car. Not giving her time to recover Izaak leapt at her with both daggers poised to either impale themselves in her petite frame or slash a chunk of flesh off her. Neo rolled backwards before springing back on him with an axe kick. After blocking her kick using both his arms Izaak dropped to one knee and attempted a sweep kick himself only to have it foiled by Neo jumping over his head. Landing gracefully she struck out with her left foot expecting to give Izaak's jaw another helping of pain. Not keen on going through that again Izaak launched his body forward tackling Neo to the ground.

For a second both were confused before breaking apart and going at each other again. Wolfsbane-T was met but both the sword and sheath of Neo's umbrella.

_CLINK! SLISH! _

"Bet you didn't see that coming did you pinkie?" The Viking grinned watching the trail of blood leak down Neo's left cheek. Using her shock he moved in, kneeing Neo in the gut then making a feint slash on her other shoulder. Flipping both daggers into their proper positions he wasted no time in slashing at every part of Neo's body: chest, arms, shoulders, face, and of course her neck.

_CRACK! _

The sound of glass breaking halted Izaak's attack and made him throw up a G-Shield all around himself. Before his eyes Neo shattered into glass like pieces. Sensing her presence behind him he kept both daggers at the ready in case Neo decided to attack again. She was still standing however clearly he'd caught her off guard. Her upper body was covered in med to deep slashes staining her outfit crimson. Her eyes glared holes into him with their murderous fury. All Izaak did was laugh.

"What were you on your way to a meeting or something? Sorry I forget to tell you this but I'm a bit of a messy fighter."

Neo wasn't looking at Izaak, instead her attention seemed to be on his hand. For some reason she seemed like she was expecting it to burst into flames. Silently Izaak noticed it was the same hand she'd stabbed earlier. Holding up his right hand so she could see the wound had healed her took a small amount of joy in the way her face fell. "Let me guess, poison? Hate to break it to you but I've got this annoying ability to shrug off things like that."

The umbrella wielder's multi-colored eyes widened for a second then narrowed into another heated glare. She shimmered out of existence leaving Izaak alone in the train coat.

Sheathing both his daggers he took off running ahead. _She's going to be back for me. Sorry Yang but I think I may have just stolen your prey._

* * *

It was a fluke they made it through the soldiers guarding the next four cars ahead of them. They'd set themselves by the wall before laying down a spray of gunfire they all nearly panicked in avoiding. The only reason why the group had been reduced to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Olivia was because Professor Mulnix had volunteered to stay behind.

Around the five burned a protective dome of ever shifting flames that burned away just about everything that touched it. The fact it had lasted as their distance from the senior Huntsman grew was a testament to his skill at Dust manipulation. It was known when the shield came down they were going to be in for a fight, but against what they didn't know.

_CLICK! _

The last member of team IONC recognized the sound and immediately sounded the alarm. "Grenade!" Grabbing a canister of shield Dust she added an extra layer of protection to their defense. Their flickering flame shield suddenly roared back to life. With a temporary boost then died out leaving nothing but the feint blue shield surrounding the four girls.

Standing before them was a six foot three grunt with tanned skin holding a chainsaw in one hand. The other grunt shocked the five girls; she was a young girl, just around Ruby's age. She had dark, somewhat unruly hair that stuck out and her face was covered by a decidingly bat like bat mask. Like Blake her animal ears, in this case bat, stuck out above her hair line. At the sight of the five she yelped and jumped back behind the older man.

"Relax Cecylia," his grown voice cackled eyeing the girls through the eyeholes in his mask. "It's nothing to worry about; just a Schnee and her dumb bodyguards."

The young girl poked her head out at the word Schnee. "Schnee? Yes! Her!"

Weiss felt the eyes of both Faunus zero in on her leaving Olivia and her teammates as nothing but background. The man fired up his chainsaw with a maniacally cackle. She gripped Myrtenaster and pushed through her friends. "This one's mine she stated."

"Oh so the princess wants to fight? Eh?" The man laughed. "Get out of here Cecylia, I've got this one covered."

The bat-Faunus sent a hate filled glare Weiss's way. "Make her suffer." She took off through the door.

"Uh guys," Ruby started.

"Weiss you better be alive when we stop this train." The female samurai stated already walking forward.

Only Yang and Weiss had taken issue with how Olivia had wordlessly taken command of their team in the absence of Professor Mulnix. Ruby, who was team leader, should have put up some kind of fight on how her team was being commandeered by this olive haired samurai yet she said nothing. No doubt Weiss planned on giving her an ear full one the mission was over about forking them over to a near total stranger without much of a fight.

_BOOM! _

Through the metal walls the girls could hear the howls of Grimm and the roar of weaponry.

"Sounds like the Grimm want to hitch a ride." Blake muttered with a frown. "If they derail this train then we're in serious trouble."

"Yep." Olivia responded. "Best case scenario; we all die on impact."

To their left the wall was torn apart to reveal a Subterra sniffing the air.

"Or worst case scenario we all die trapped fighting Grimm and the cave slowly collapses on top of us." She added opening fire on the Grimm.

To their right the walls began to shake and tear. Yang loaded her gauntlets and stood at the ready. "Blake go!"

"Get to the front and stop this train now!" The samurai commanded opening fire.

And that was how Blake ended up alone, the last one out of a group of seven well trained warriors. Besides being alone she wasn't sure if they were close to finding the main car or not, excluding they now had rapid Grimm banging against the side of the train threatening to send it into the wall. Honestly Blake didn't know how much worse things could get.

"Hello kitty-cat. Ya miss me?"" Roman smoothly spoke twirling his cane. "You know we got to stop meeting like this, people are going to talk."

Blake didn't even bother to grace his remark with some kind of smartass retort. She just drew Gambol Shroud and leaped into battle.

Just as the two were about to cross weapons a powerful force slammed into their car knocking both of them to the floor. Towards the back they could hear explosions going off one after another. For a moment Blake was horrified something might have happened to her comrades, Roman just sneered at the setback picking himself up.

"You guys just _had _to play the hero huh? Couldn't leave well enough alone could you? News flash kitty-cat; contrary to what you think we weren't planning on doing much, hell, we're _still _in the planning stage of our operation."

"And that operation would be?" The cat-Faunus questioned getting into a crouching position. "Never mind, I'll just beat it out of you because you've had this coming for way too long."

Blake never got the chance to attack. The rooftop of the train car was suddenly blasted to pieces thus showering them with pieces of metal and rock. Right in front of Blake dropped a flailing Beowolf that was quickly killed by Neil impaling it through the chest. The young knight looked up from the dying beast to see Blake's shocked eyes.

"I don't recommend getting out of the train, nosy natives out there." _Nice one pal, great way to get her to know you're not a psychopath. _

At first she was shocked but soon she found her voice again. "W-What's happening out there?"

"They're trying to derail the train. Beowolves, Creeps, Subterras, Death Stalkers, King Taijitu, oh and some over-sized Gigadeaths too. It sounds like parts of the tunnel are starting to come down too." He answered her.

Despite what she'd seen of him Blake could tell there was something noticeable different about Neil as he stood before her. His body was locked, not just from the tension of battle but as if some invisible grip was seizing him in its palm. Noticing how his fingers twitched just a little caused her to examine his face and chest. Besides a few tears in his military coat he didn't seem injured yet something was clearly stressing him out. It was when she saw his eyes did she know what it was.

It was fear.

_What? What the hell down here could he be scared off? Not the White Fang or Grimm that's for sure. _

A shocked gasp caught their attention. Neil whipped around holding both his swords in rifle form; the moment he saw Roman the tension in his body drained out. Shock spread over his face as evident by the way his eyes went wide and mouth went agape. Roman was in a similar position; he was staring at Neil like he'd just seen a ghost.

To be specific that's what he felt like he was seeing. "N-N-Neil?"

His eyes twitching the scar faced youth took in every detail about the face staring at him. "R-Roman?"

* * *

Ruby wasn't sure how she ended up lying face flat on the floor of the tenth car but she was pretty sure it had something to do with a gross, multi-legged centipede with a row of razor saws for teeth. Gripping Crescent Rose she began to rise, noting the killer headache she had. Spotting a Grimm mask to her right she confirmed her suspicion she must have been blasted through a hole on the roof of the train. How wasn't hard to imagine considering Grimm were emerging from every which way of the tunnel forcing every to stop fighting each other and focus on keeping the train from getting destroyed.

"I don't think I'm going to take anymore underground missions." She muttered lazily walking towards the door. "Too many bumpy things." The young reaper never did like going underground much. In all the old fairy tales and stories she'd read the earth always seemed to represent death or below the surface of the earth was death's domain. _Well we find an abandoned city, fought with a bunch of White Fang extremist, a few soldiers wearing power armor, and now we've probably just woke up a nest of subterrean Grimm. _"Yeah, underground definitely sucks."

The car was stacked full of crates with various warnings and symbols on top of them. While she didn't know what they meant she was smart enough to look for a biohazard sign on them. Thankfully known of them had one. Still, it left her curious on exactly what was being transported. Many of them were electronically locked however a few simply required a little leaver action from her scythe.

"What the heck is this stuff?" The redhead question reaching into the crate and pulling out an assortment of mechanical parts she couldn't even begin to name. "What were they planning on doing?" Rummaging through the gears and pieces she found something that looked like a report or mission lay out. "Atmospheric Cloud Generator prototype?" Ruby was far from a science wiz or anything resembling one but she could put two and to together. In the back of her head she remembered hearing something about some cloud generator when Ren and Pyrrha were discussing the news at breakfast, too bad she was too busy eating to listen to them. "How did they get a hold of this stuff? And without anyone noticing or realizing it. There was a logo stamped on the sides of half the crates; a chariot being pulled through a ring of stars. "Auriga Shipping." She breathed in shock reading the name below it.

"For your own sake stop what you're doing."

Whipping Crescent Rose around to meet her guest Ruby found she had a laser sight trained on her chest. Her silver eyes followed it to see a White Fang member standing at the door with his rifle trained on her. He was perhaps seventeen or eighteen, dressed in somewhat of a more personalized White Fang uniform. His gray hoodie covered most of his face though she could see the tips of shaggy gray hair poking their way through. Holes had been cut out for a pair of wolf ears Ruby found to be somewhat adorable. The outside of his jacket had white lines running along the edges then connecting to the collar of his hoodie. Strapped to his back was a plain old broadsword. Beneath his hoodie a Beowolf mask covered his face.

"Listen," he started taking a step forward. "I don't want to have to hurt you but if you don't stop things are going to get ugly."

Like she'd let that stop her before.

_BANG! _

Their guns went off just as they stepped aside to avoid the other's gunfire. Ruby's shot left a dent in the walls while the wolf Faunus continued firing at her. Keeping low she kept firing then pulled Crescent Rose back.

Frost and cold air began covering the boy's left arm. Dropping the gun he caught Crescent Rose's unfolded blade, freezing it and stopping Ruby in her tracks. He launched his fist forward directly at her face. Frantically she dodged to the side as she'd seen Yang do half a dozen times, a rush of air zoomed past her. Pulling her scythe free and putting some distance between them she watched him draw his broadsword. There was nothing special about it other than the fact it had been kept in good condition.

"Listen, I know you're just trying to do your job but give up; you're not going to beat me or stop this train." He declared putting both hands on the handle.

"And I'm supposed to just let you guys go after seeing all this stuff? Sorry but that's not how I do things." She lunged forward hoping Crescent Rose's superior size would give her the advantage over the wolf-Faunus.

He swung his sword not at her blade but at the base of the shaft, creating a loud cling as the two metals collided. A tremor went through Ruby's body stunning her. The boy flipped the sword into a reverse grip then slammed the hilt into Ruby's abdomen. Gasping for air she fell back clutching her mid-section. In her pained sight she saw her attacker standing exactly in the same spot. "Like I said you're not going to beat me."

Groaning she sat up and came at him again. This time he parried her attack though he was forced to take a step back. When she went in for another he stepped backwards while angling his sword so it skimmed against Crescent Rose's belly. The single step backwards he'd taken was a ploy, Ruby realized with sudden horror, as he pushed forward and sled her weapon to the left leaving her wide open. His fist shot out again this time scrapping against her cheek. Next she felt a knee slam into her gut.

Her Aura protected her from serious damage but Ruby was still off guard, and in that moment she'd lost the battle. Crescent Rose fell from her grasp as did the boy's sword. Both his arms wrapped around her petite neck and didn't let go no matter how hard she kicked. He was whispering into her ear, telling her to stop struggling. She kicked and screamed but slowly Ruby's vision grew dark with the loss of air to her brain.

_I-I can't lose here! I-I-I have to stop t-this train! The…others…are…counting…on…m…_All in all Ruby managed to last a good two minutes before she went under.

As gently as possible he let her down. Through his mask the wolf Faunus looked at Ruby with a mixture of pity and admiration. "You're no older than Mai or Cecylia."

"Hey Radulf! Radulf!"

"I'm here Romero." He answered putting his finger into his com. "What's the situation out there."

"Bad that's what! Shit!" The line went dead for a second then the gruff male voice returned. "Listen we're going to disconnect the cable cars! These guys have a way to ward off the Grimm but it's only going to work with the first ten cars!"

"I understand. I'm leaving now." The boy, now identified as Radulf nodded his head then stood open. As much as he wanted to leave he couldn't stop his eyes from lingering on Ruby, who he had to admit, looked somewhat cute sleeping peaceful on the floor. _Just go idiot. She's…she's a…_She was just a little girl, even if she was wielding that monstrous scythe with the intent of hurting him mere moments ago. That's all Radulf could see the redhead as. _No's one's ever going to find out anyway. _Grabbing the scythe he placed it in her arms then took out a spherical Dust shard. Infusing it with Aura he placed it by her side then left the car.

Three minutes later and it activated to shield the reaper from the tide of metal and rock washing over them.

* * *

Blake probably should have said something yet for some unexplainable reasons he couldn't find it in her to open her mouth. _How the hell does Neil know Roman? _

Roman was the first to recover his wit. "S-So…the rumors about you going straight or true." Despite how confident he tried to make it sound both teenagers could detect the shock in his voice.

"…Likewise." Neil spoke in a sober tone. Blake's eyes went to him detecting the sadness in his voice. Now she knew the two of them _definitely _shared some history. "So you made it big huh? Top of Vale's most wanted list." His eyes narrowed at Roman's proud smile. "And secret lacky to a pyromaniac." As expected his smile fail and was replaced by a heated snarl. He was probably wondering one thing; how does he know about Cinder. "Roman, for both our sakes just stop right here."

"Ah Neil, why'd you have to go and ruin the moment like that? I'm hurt." The criminal mock cried.

"So am I, and amazed at how stupid you are." Despite the quiet tone in which he spoke both Blake and Roman could feel the mounting hostility inside of him. Once again Blake was happy she and Neil were on the same side because she could read his body posture. It said one thing and it was Roman was going to get hurt. "We both know you can't beat me so just come quietly."

Roman broke out into a fit of laughter. "Oh Neil! You've changed so much since we last saw each other. What happened to that laid back kid that loved cloud watching? Worse you seemed to have let all the air go to your head. You? Beat me? Please Neil, you need to learn a thing or two about respecting-"

By the time Roman realized Neil had closed the distance between them it was too late. Moralltach collided heavily against Roman's cane. A thick crack sounded from the impact nearly giving the grown man a heart attack. Fear and shock danced in his eyes. Now he knew Neil wasn't boasting when he said he could beat him.

Out of the corner of his eye Roman saw a black blur race past him. Using is left leg as a break he spun around to parry Blake's attack. Her attack was light and easily stopped.

_Shit! _The master criminal cursed spinning around again to meet Neil's broadsword.

In a second Moralltach completely cut through Melodic Cudgel. Following up his diagonally slash he swung Beagalltach downwards, from Roman's shoulder to his waist. Too frozen by shock he couldn't stop Neil and Blake from performing a double front kick that landed him flat on his back.

Roman's face had gone pale while Neil pointed the now transformed Moralltach directly at his red stained chest. His storm cloud eyes drilled holes into him. Despite the pain he was in the criminal laughed. "T-Those eyes, they're…just like your mother's. Gah, seeing you down a family friend so effortlessly, boy would your dad be proud." Drifting his eyes between the two of them Roman did his best to keep his voice cool. "D-D-Do either of you think taking me in is going to c-change how people look at y-you two?"

The rise that came from the two was interrupted by the cackling of electricity. At the front of the car a blue tear in space opened; it stunned Neil and Blake, Roman laughed harder through the pain. Blake shoved Neil to the side seeing the muzzle of a gun through the energy haze. Shots split the air where they were standing. A trail of blue light zoomed towards Roman and picked him off the ground, not paying much mind to his injury. As the light faded the pair got a good look at the newest enemy; he was one of the soldiers that had been consorting with the White Fang at Mount Glenn. He was covered from head to toe in high tech armor that burned with plasma like brilliance. Around him the air seemed to constantly be shifting and parting. His very form distorted right before their eyes; it was like watching an actual human being put on playback then fast forwarded.

Adding to their shock was the car door behind them opening. Weiss was thrown from the darkness of it, blood trailing down her left arm. Following her was the chainsaw wielding grunt they'd encountered earlier. Even though he was wearing a mask they knew he was wearing a smug expression underneath it.

"Train's done for and all personal are to move to cars one through ten." The soldier's voice barely sounded human coming out of the spade shaped mask. It sounded more like a human growl mixed with the grinding of gears. Bright fluoresce light shined from the device on his shoulders.

Blake and Neil guarded themselves seeing the solider rush past them…and were shocked when he _literally _phased through their bodies. Grabbing the lieutenant and Roman the heavily armored soldier disappeared through the blue rift.

The knight and ninja continued blinking at the spot where the rift was even as the car began to violently shake.

"You…saw that too right Neil?" Blake asked tending to Weiss.

"Sadly yes." He groaned looking around at their car. It wasn't going to last much longer. "Weiss," he started turning to the Schnee heiress. "I'm going to need a sh-shield of ice if any of us plan on surviving this."

Weiss saw the same thing Blake saw earlier, fear, as the knight spoke to her. With time running short she prompted herself on one knee and raised Myrtenaster as Neil did the same with Moralltach. An icy shell formed around the three Beacon students just in time.

The last thought any of them had were prayers their teammates were alright.

* * *

Yang hated kissing pavement for two reasons: it was a horrible kisser, it often took more than she was willing to give, and she only went to it when she was knocked flat on her rear end. Black and gray clouded her vision no matter what she did. A constant ringing in her ears kept her rolling on the ground. Her lungs cried for clean air, not the foul substances she was breathing in. She could smell blood; that didn't surprise her. She tried to get her voice to work yet all that came out were pain filled coughs and grunts. She could taste the blood in her mouth.

Pain throbbed through her body, specifically in her left shoulder. _A…crap. _The remnants of her conscious wheezed out. _Not broken…but definitely…dis...located. _Light pierced the covering of darkness and only grew the more Yang clawed towards it.

Shocking her out of her confusion was the five foot fall she unknowingly climbed over. The pain eroded the darkness and silenced the ringing in a matter of minutes. With her strength back she was able to pick herself up to see the cloudy afternoon sky. On the ground she saw hundreds of people scrambling away in terror from the train wreck. Painfully twisting her head yang saw at least two miles of earth had been torn up by the train. The train cars were in pieces or just barley sticking out of the ground right in the middle of the street.

She couldn't even begin to place what part of city they had to be in due to both her splitting headache and general chaos around her.

For instance the giant rampaging Gigadeath greeting the sun and sky by howling at the top of its lungs.

Through the fissure Yang could make out an uncountable number of Grimm clawing their way through the wreckage. A few took the time to sniff the air but most just seemed content to start attacking everything around them. As a student of Beacon Yang should have been getting off her ass and stopping them but she was still too shuck up to move.

From her left a Subterra had noticed her barely moving form, she was easy prey. It stalked towards her claws spread wide open.

The Grimm lunged forward expecting to get an easy to kill meal, not an explosive jab that blew a hole through its stomach. "I…hate…those things." The blond boxer growled. More mole Grimm had taken notice of her and were beginning to form a tight half circle. "Come on you ugly bastards! I'll take you all on even if I have to do it with one arm!"

She killed four Subterras when Izaak made a rather grandiose entrance. He came down like meteor, breaking the already shattered ground and blasting everything in sight. Between the two of them the Subterra were quickly vanquished; however, they'd now drawn the attention of the remaining Grimm.

Shuffling to her side the blond saw Izaak had taken a fair share of damage in the crash; he had cuts all over his body and half his jacket was torn off revealing the brown t-shirt he wore underneath which also had several gashes in it. "I don't know about you but I'm not doing White Fang Express ever again."

"They seemed to like it." She beckoned to the Grimm currently running amok. She winced in pain in her arm drawing Izaak's attention. "Have you seen the others? Ruby?"

"I managed to save Professor Mulnix but I don't know about the others." He spoke without taking his eyes off her arm. "I'm sure they're fine but for now," he cut to the Grimm. "We have to stop this things. Give me your arm." She was surprised but did so none the less. Reaching into one of his pouches. "This might hurt a little." He popped her shoulder back into place electing a sharp cry of pain before applying his Aura to dull the pain. "I'm not Olivia or Chicahua but I know how to get bones back into working shape."

"A little tid-bit from your dad?" She remarked tasting her arm. "Ready for another round?"

Rising alongside her he sighed quietly. "I'd really liked it if we managed to stop the train without destroying eight blocks of the city but oh well." He hated it when carefully laid plans went off the rails.

* * *

**Not exactly the canon breach is it? **


	17. Chapter 17: Cloudman

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Cloudman **

If it weren't for the sickening taste of dirt in his mouth Neil would have been perfectly fine in the darkness. To him darkness was practically his forth parent, a fact some would have found quite sad. Neil didn't believe so; especially since his comfortability with the darkness was the only thing keeping him from breaking down into a full blown panic. That and the fact he could still hear Weiss and Blake's feint breathing. He could hear their hunkered, shallow breathes just as much as he could hear his own steadier breathing.

All three of them were alive. "Are either of you two hurt?" He couldn't see them but he could feel their eyes snap towards him. "Anything hurt?"

It was a full five minutes before either of them had gathered enough of their wits to answer him. Blake was doing her best to keep her voice level. "I-I-I'm fine."

"M-Me too." Weiss stuttered.

_Okay, they're both alive so that's good. _"Blake," he had to pause to catch his breath as he accidently inhaled another cloud of dust and rock. "What's the status of the ice shield?"

"S-Stil-Still standing but it's not going to hold much longer. We need to get out of."

"Brilliant option Blake, but I must remind you we're buried under hundreds of tons of steel and rubble." The white haired girl sneered in the darkness. "Now unless you have some hidden ability you haven't been sharing with us I don't see us getting out of here any time soon."

Blake was about to counter Weiss's rant but she realized Neil had gone almost deathly quiet. "Neil?" she pressed his shoulder yet got no response. "Neil?"

Weiss took notice of the gray haired boy's sudden stiffness as well. She took hold of his other shoulder, true concern finding its way to her eyes. The young knight had registered both of them but his mind was turned to another matter. His breathing was low, cool, and controlled. Only Blake could see the steady movement of his chest as he breathed in the little bit of air provided for them. Earlier when she'd seen him tensed like an animal ready to attack at a moment's notice; now he looked almost like he was lying back on a hammock. She watched him shift his body so he was squinting down with his knees bent and arms resting on his legs, it was casual.

_Hey there again. I didn't think I'd be seeing you for a while now but hey, it's always nice to see your face. _

"Neil?"

He couldn't tell how close they were but the sky was within reach of them; the air they were breathing was dirty but he recognized the colorfully scents of perfume, flowers, and the fall air. Opening his ears allowed him to listen to the frantic pounding of feet on concrete, screaming, explosions, and the howl of battle. Turning his senses inward he heard the pounding of Blake and Weiss's hearts. They were scared. "I'm going to get us out of here." Neil spoke in an almost dead pin voice.

"How?" Weiss asked wondering if he'd cracked under the pressure. What scared her more than the two hundred tons of rock and steel around them was how calm Neil was when he talked. Unlike the oppositely clad girls his voice was calm; listening closely she found his breathing was the same. Neil didn't responded to anything she said or did. "What's he doing?" she looked at Blake.

The ninja's face was a similar mask of confusion as hers. "I…I think he's concentrating. Weiss, listen closely."

A minute passed and Weiss caught onto what Neil was doing, he was aligning himself.

His breathing went hand in hand with the air quickly rushing into their tiny enclosure. It rose and fell in perfect harmony with Neil's breathing. Without a word he grabbed onto both girls' shoulders. They didn't understand the full guss of what the knight was preparing to do but decided to go along with it if it got them out of this mess alive. Around their ice barrier the howling of wind grew fiercer; it had become a steady whistle through the collapsed tunnel. At the brisk of their backs the W and B of team RWBY felt the wind circling around them. Even with her night vision she had to strain to see the thin cyclone forming around the three of them.

The whistle changed into a long winded hiss; Blake and Weiss could now feel the cyclone scrapping at their backs lighting up their senses. Neil's breathing had remained steady but it was now thicker just as the wind was stronger. Around them the rocks began to uncharacteristically crack. Neil removed his hands from their shoulders and wrapped his hands around their waist.

In the darkness Blake spotted a small blush light up Weiss' cheeks as he did this. Blake shut her eyes and braced herself; she didn't know if Neil's plan was going to work but she was sure what whatever else happened next wasn't going to be fun.

One of the boy's knees had been carefully bending while his shoulders tensed up. In his mind's eye he saw the autumn sky, cloudy and blue, maybe the edges starting to become a little red or yellow as evening started creeping up.

_Whatever you're feeling trapped or scared just do like you always do Neil, _His father's words whispered into his ears. _Aim for the sky. _

Like a switch had been thrown the cyclone spun into high speed, completely shattering the rocks around them while at the same time launching the three upward.

Rock and metal alike were shredding by the small cyclone around them; it grew stronger with every foot closer towards the sky they got. Blake and Weiss kept their heads down to avoid facial damage. Though he was calm on the outside Neil's soul was screaming for exposure to the open skies. He could feel it getting closer and closer by the second. It fueled his Semblance to move at greater speed and with greater strength.

_**CRICK!**_

Three mouths went agape and three hearts screamed in joy at the feeling of cool air slamming against their skin. Neil sucked it in allowing himself a pleasant smile. Weiss and Blake looked around to see they weren't just free of the tunnel but they were still rocketing through the air, well beyond some of the buildings. Quickly they were becoming colored blimps that grew smaller and smaller.

Weiss sucked in a few more mouth fulls of air before she snapped at Neil. "Are you done yet! We're out genius! You don't need to take us to the stratosphe…" It was rare for Weiss to stop in one of her rants as only a select few things could do such a thing. The look on Neil's face was the newest addition to the list.

It wasn't often she saw a person look so serene with the world.

They must have been moving at break neck speed but Neil didn't look the least bit worried. His eyes were faced forward towards the autumn clouds and sun. The lazy smile he wore was more profound then she'd ever seen. He took a slow breath to take in the rich air far from the smoke and blood below them. Weiss and Blake joined him.

It would be only be once the mission was over that she'd admit Neil looked rather handsome with the wind sweeping through his hair and his blissful gray blue eyes gazing at the horizon. Even if she did see his cross-shaped scar she had a feeling that wouldn't sway her from the surreal beauty the knight possessed.

Breathing through his noise he loosened his grasp on both their waists. "Ah fresh air I missed you too." He laughed softly. The serenity faded after another quick breath; it was replaced with the battle harden mask they'd seen on the train. Moralltach and Beagalltach found their way into his gloved hands.

A tiny whirlwind had appeared around both girls. They locked eyes with Neil then readied their weapons. For a moment before they came down Blake saw Weiss's gaze linger a little longer on Neil. Normally she wasn't one for smirking but in that case she let a small once grace her face. Maybe she'd been hanging around Yang too long but she was going to enjoy squeezing some information out of Weiss about it.

The knight and ninja came down with their weapons switched into their gun forms, Weiss channeled her Aura into Myrtenaster causing it to glow snow white. She swept the blade along the ground creating a line of ice through the street freezing or impaling the Grimm caught within her line of fire.

Seeing the cat-Faunus descending closer and closer to the ground the Beowolves leapt at the chance to rip her apart. With her fire Dust loaded and ready Blake left a duplicate in her place while using it as a jumping pad at the same time. The duplicate incinerated the gathering Grimm. Performing a single back flip she converted Gambol Shroud into kusari-gama form. Neil only fired both his plasma rifles when they were fully charged; the resulting blast might as well have been coming from a mounted cannon with the amount of destruction it caused. The ninja hit the ground running with her kusari-gama failing every way and the knight focused the wind around his foot to create a shockwave on impact. Blake ran ahead as he emptied the plasma cartridges of his sword rifles then followed her.

They were fighting in Alder Park, a fairly pleasant community area in the commercial district right across from the residential district. The area was a well-known park surrounded on all sides by restaurants, musical pubs, a few private schools by the waterfront, and one church, all standing in the comfortable shadow of a set of corporate skyscrapers to the north with the bay to the south. On a map Beacon Academy was barely a stone's throw away; that fact provided Blake and Neil with the slight comfort they'd have back up in hopefully a few short minutes.

All around them the ground was giving out thanks to the activity of the Subterra now busy creating new manholes in the streets. They didn't need to break through completely, just soft it enough for a Death Stalker or King Taijitu to break through the ground creating a new manhole. There were too many to count and too many Grimm spilling out for the two teams to cover by themselves. Worse the civilians hadn't had time to get away leaving them hapless pray for the newly freed monsters.

In Neil's opinion the worst thing about the whole thing was the fact as he hacked apart the black beasts he smelt freshly cooked food mixing with the spilled blood of the murdered and dying. One of his general rules was blood mixed with anything smelled horrible.

Blake paused in her slaying of a Beowolf to look at him, her left eye was twitching. "I-Is your…stomach growling?"

He only answered her after impaling an Ursa. "For the record I haven't eaten anything in four hours and now I'm surrounded by burger joints, pizza shacks, and almost every other restaurant you can think of." He countered with an annoyed frown. Behind him another Ursa came up expecting to take advantage of his districted form. Flipping Moralltach into a reverse grip he twisted his hips so the great sword ran straight through its guts; he then beheaded it with one swing from Beagalltach. "I'm sure you'd be feeling the same if there was a sushi bar nearby."

Shaking her head the ex-White Fang member put her full attention back onto the fight at hand. She seriously couldn't figure out what made this boy tick. The past few weeks she'd spent with him had given her the impression he tried to put in as minimal effort into anything as possibly; instead she was seeing him hack and slash his way through a swarm of Grimm without hint of fear on his face. Like her his eyes were determined, he had his partner and foster brother on the mind. She could sympathize with what he was feeling.

* * *

Even Yang had to admit with the thirty foot Gigadeath turned its bloody red eyes on them she froze for a moment. The Grimm easily towered over the destroyed diners and shops to the point Izaak and Yang might as well have been puppies barking at a bull dog. It didn't hesitant in lunging at them the second Yang reloaded Ember Celica. Both of them jumped in opposite directions, stopped on their heels, and jetted forward at the eyes. Within a second the Grimm looked between the two youths. The axe-wielder was the quicker and more dangerous of the two thus it swung its head in Yang's direction. Seeing the pincer blade coming she stopped her punch in order to move her arms into a guarding position.

Izaak watched snarled in anger as the boxer went into the air coughing up a blood then coming back down on top a truck. He was going to make the Gigadeath pay with its head for that attack. Unfortunately the centipede had just enough time to burrow underground though Izaak was able to take a chunk off its midsection before it disappeared back into the earth.

On top the roof of the car Yang groaned in pain, she could taste the blood in her mouth. Just as she was getting up a Beowolf took a running leap at her. Narrowing her violet eyes at the beast's face she enjoyed the sight of its head exploding in a small shower of bone and fire. With that she rolled of the truck to see Izaak standing protectively over her. "I gotta find Ruby." She started wiping the blood from her lip.

Izaak knew better then to argue with Yang. "And I gotta find my teammates. I know one way to do both." Planting his axe in the ground he cupped both his hands together and brought them to his lips.

Upon realizing he was doing a bird whistle Yang looked to the sky expecting to see the orange eyed eagle knight any minute. _So he has a bird call for Chicahua and I've got a cat call for Blake. _She thought sheepishly.

Answering his call was a defining shriek that could have came from no creature other than a bird of prey. Darting across the partially clear sky was a blazing orange-red fireball; the closer it came to the two the more clearly they could see the flaming wings leaving trails of fire embers.

Looking upward the Grimm stared in horrified awe at the sight before they were cut to pieces. The flaming snake and sun disc whipped at and sliced through everything surrounding Izaak and Yang.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! _

To the blond boxer's joy her sister leaped gracefully off of Chicahua's shoulder and landed in front of them. Wordlessly she enveloped her sister in a bear hug. Instead of picking up Storrdetta the Viking leaned against it a little. He was happy Yang was able to find her sister and that Ruby was alright. Looking away from the embracing sisters he saw Chicahua was still blitzing the Grimm, even those that had grown past the ten feet mark were being slain one after another.

When the two sisters pulled away they joined Izaak in watching the eagle knight combat the Grimm. "I never knew he could do that. Not even my Semblance lets me fight like that." Yang admitted impressed.

"It's because Chicahua's Semblance works differently than yours." He clarified. "You see guys Chicahua's Semblance is all about absorbing energy, of all kinds. Usually he prefers light or heat but he can make do with any form of energy at hand." Izaak tapped his foot on the ground with a light smirk. "He was gathering up all the kinetic energy the train was generating while he was down there and storing it for something like this."

"I honestly didn't think he was that smart." Ruby muttered.

"Oh you'd be surprised." The Viking added. "Believe it or not but Chicahua's one of the sharpest people I've ever met. Then again, when you're a warrior prince I guess you need to be one in order to survive."

Said warrior prince at least stopped his slaughter of Grimm to talk with the three other teenagers. Looking at him from head to toe the sisters were able to see just how similar and how different the eagle knight's Semblance was to Yang's. At up close his skin truly did appear to be covered by a layer of fire; what burned rnighter were the tribal markings over his chest, on his arms, and those on his face. The lines crossed over his shoulders and arms then connected to the circle on his chest.

"The others are alive." He answered before any of them could even ask. "They're advancing further and further out of Alder Park towards the rest of the District though they seemed to be heading for Schnee Tower or the other corporate buildings. If I may I think it would be a good idea to seal the holes first so we don't have to worry about anymore Grimm."

In the background they heard the gigantic Gigadeath demolishing another collection of buildings. Craning their heads they could see it rearing its head to release another demonic howl.

"Yeeeaaah, good plan Chicahua; expect until Neil gets here I don't think we have enough firepower for that." His leader said in a disappointed tone. "We don't have the manpower either," sparing a glance at Yang he added, "No offense."

Huffing the blond slammed both her fists together. "I can hold off big jaws over there."

"So can I." her younger sister added.

"No," Izaak shook his head looking at Ruby. "Your bullets aren't strong enough to pierce that thing's shell, it moves too fast for you to get a beat on it, and the only vulnerable spot it has is its eyes and mouth. Frankly I don't want to risk you getting that close."

Ruby was about to counter she was perfectly capable of handling the Gigadeath before she realized what Izaak was thinking. Her silver yes fell to Storrdetta, "What is your axe made out of?"

"Adamantine." He replied standing up straight.

Needless to say his answer caught the sisters off guard completely. The younger looked at the battle axe with renewed interest while the older sister harden her gaze. _No wonder my fists were hurting after our match. _

"Add that with my Semblance and I'll be able to keep it still long enough to-"

For one reason or another the Grimm had been ignoring the four teens in favor of a greater threat. The smell of ozone had begun to register in their nostrils; Izaak and Chicahua breathed a small sigh of relief upon picking up the faintest scent of perfume. A sonic boom blasted away a collection of debris and Grimm to their left revealing Neil, Olivia, Blake, and Weiss. Spotting their teammates the two teams quickly reunited.

"Sound like a plan?" Izaak asked reciting what he had in mind now that the party had reassembled.

"Yeah, Professors Oobleck and Mulnix told me Beacon should be here in eight minutes. Easy I expect." The olive haired girl chuckled looking around at the group.

With their teammates safety now confirmed Izaak and Yang felt little issue in whole heartedly throwing themselves at the Gigadeath. Before they could get to the centipede they had to clear a path through a swarm of lesser Grimm.

They were surrounded on almost every side but it didn't bother either of them in the least bit. Not stopping for anything the axe-wielder fired up his Semblance. As she was blasting a way through for them Yang kept an eye on him; she wanted to see what else his Semblance could do after having the chance to fight against it. Four tennis ball sized orbs of compressed gravity appeared around the two of them, they quickly grew in size. The orbs sucked up everything around the perimeter as they grew even when they reached their maximum size of two and a half meters. With shrieks of terror and fury the Grimm were pulled into the spheres and crushed into oblivion.

The Gigadeath took notice of the way its brethren seemed to be dying one after another and swiftly turned its attention to the duo. It burrowed through a collapsing strip mall just as Izaak launched one of his gravity spheres. It managed to tear off a few chunks of the tail armor.

Breaking on their heels the two prepared themselves as another tremor shook the ground they stood on. Beneath their feet the ground began breaking apart into massive fissures that stretched further than they could see.

"Now what?" Yang cursed minding her footing.

The boy wrapped his arm around her waist and launched into the air just as the street broke apart completely. The masked snouts and faces of countless Subterra burst through the rubble. Izaak's face tightened, he focused more power into another one of his gravity spheres causing it to double in size before sending it back down.

On contact with the earth the sphere morphed into a black hole sucking in the Grimm, water, cars, bodies, and whatever else had fallen into the manhole.

_CRICK! _

"Izaak!"

On their left side the Gigadeath sprung out of a hole with lightning quick speed. Cursing he moved one of his last two G-Spheres into the Grimm's line of sight.

_CRUNCH! _

The two had little time to savior their victory as another Gigadeath lunged at them from the opposite side. On instinct Izaak used his last G-Sphere to block its lunging attacking. He looked over its crushed head to examine its size. He snapped to Yang. "Yang get ready!"

They'd heard Grimm were capable of pulling of coordinated attacks in Professor Port's class though they never expected to see it performed in the middle of the city. With a speed greater than the last two centipedes the main Gigadeath finally emerged from the ground barreling towards the midair duo. Breaking free of Izaak's grasp Yang used his shoulder as leverage to increase her jump. The thirty-foot beast plowed into Izaak at full force as Yang landed on its head. Furious at the destruction and the attack she began pounding away at the creature's shelled head. She held on tight even as it crashed into the ground below sending a jolt through her legs.

_BOOM! _

A cloud of red flames erupted from its jaws.

_CRACK! _

With the last shell in her left gauntlet Yang slammed her fist into the Gigadeath's exposed neck. The monster reared back in unholy pain but it was going to take more than single fist to kill it. All she could make out from its broken jaws was a hissing noise before it burrowed underground, taking the blond haired boxer with it.

"Yang!" Izaak shouted looking at the hole the Gigadeath had left. He took one step forward when his senses sounded the alarm. From his eight o'clock came another Gigadeath, its buzz saw mow flying opening with blood staining the teeth and blades. "What did we wake up a hive or something!" First he cracked up the gravity around it to stop it in its tracks then he brought Storrdetta down with both hands. Pieces of Grimm blood, bone, and rock sprayed against his body. At the death of the centipede a multitude of other Grimm leaped out of the shadows ready for the kill. "Idiots." The Viking whispered under his breath holding his axe over his shoulder. "RAH!"

_SSSLLLLIIIISSSHHH! _

He had to bite down the mounting glee in his chest to focus on the matter at hand. Climbing over a field of overturned concrete and earth he searched for the next entry point of the Gigadeath. It broke the surface to his right; the beast was howling in an unholy pain that carried throughout the entire street. The Viking halted his attack when he saw the fireball attached to its neck. For safety reasons he kept his Semblance at the ready.

As any reasonable person would have guessed, holding onto an enormous centipede as it burrowed underground was not a good way to keep your hair clean.

There wasn't a need to guess what had happened to Yang's hair; judging by the eye searing fireball she was manifesting she was going to need an extra-long shower to return it to its proper golden color. On the ground he winced every time she drove her fist into the Gigadeath's exposed neck. By some miracle the beast was managing to hold out however Izaak expected that wasn't going to be for much longer.

_BOOM! _

The last straw, so to speak, at last broke, literally. Drawing her right arm backwards while it was encased it red and yellow flames Yang roared in fury one last time. Her punch blew a hole through the Grimm so large the head couldn't support the weight and toppled to the ground. With a resounding thump the boxer hit the ground still radiating flames.

Quietly Izaak strutted up to her to watch the remaining portion of the body dissolve. "So," he started not turning to face her. "Like I was saying, about that con-"

"Shut it Egilson." She growled through clenched teeth. "Don't. Even. Think. About. It"

Izaak did his best not to think about it; surprisingly it was easier than he thought it was. Maybe it had something to do with the fact Yang's flames were beginning to make him sweat more than he already was or maybe it was the fear of not knowing if she had any shots left.

* * *

Neil was gratefully there were so many Grimm out. Sure they were destroying everyone and everything in sight but that just made his pent up battle mania all the stronger. _Never pass up a chance to relieve your anger, _His mother would always say. He lived eighty percent of his life like that.

The countless Grimm had just enough time to see Moralltach and Beagalltach's flashing blades before their lives were ended. The fact that he was running on top of torn apart earth didn't stop him in the least bit; if the Grimm did then they were fatally mistaken. As a matter of fact all the upturned ramble gave Neil an idea. He ran to the middle of the road equipping his wind-type Dust and called up the autumn wind. Luckily the gathering whirlwind didn't dissuade the Grimm from attacking or converging on him.

He was almost completely surrounded with swarms of Grimm timing around him. _Perfect. You guys never learn, or maybe you don't live long enough to learn when someone's leading you into a trap. _As he crossed both his arms Neil commanded the whirlwind to grow stronger totally obscuring him from view. A half-smile half sneer grew on his face.

The Grimm that saw through the maelstrom felt the surge of killing intent or saw the dangerous glint in the young man's eyes withdrew immediately. It was like looking at lightning crackling between storm clouds; only a fool stayed in the open for such a thing.

An overwhelming amount of the Grimm were fools as they blindly surged forward believing their superior numbers would be enough to bypass the whirlwind.

Neil swung both his blades outward thus releasing the whirlwind he'd been building up. It exploded around him, not only pulverizing the Grimm but also picking up and hurling anything else caught in the blast radius. Cars, debris, other Grimm, all of them were turned into projectiles and blown outward at fifty mile per hour winds.

A resounding series of cracks and splats boomed all around Neil who remained deathly quiet. Mere moments ago he'd been surrounded, now he stood alone in the middle of the destroyed street as battle raged around him. Instead of moving he simply took a few quick breaths then dropped back into his typical stance; foot set firmly apart and his dual plasma swords/rifles held at his side. There was no need to make as much noise as Chicahua or Yang were making to attract the attention of the rampaging Grimm. He had a far more lethal, devious option at his choosing.

Like moths they flocked to him, snapping and howling like he was wounded animal making a last stay. The truth was quite the opposite.

As soon as a new horde appeared he took off like a jet, slashing and hacking from left to right in his usual form. The sheer strength of his attacks created an Aero Blade without the use of his Semblance or Dust. That was part of his pride.

The King Taijitu offered him a greater challenge than the average Beowolf or Ursa due to their size. Like many of his skills he'd learned when he was younger the strength of the serpentine Grimm was also its weakness. One head would see him and lunge forward with its jaws wide open. His rule was four feet, once a large enemy was within a four foot range it was a perfect time to dodge the attack and counter attack.

Switching Moralltach and Beagalltach from sword to rifle as he side stepped the white head's attack was child's play. Casually he aimed Moralltach at the creature's eye and pulled the trigger. The black head flew at in full force opening its jaws wide to swallow him whole. With precise aim he pulled Beagalltach's trigger sending a stream of blue plasma directly through the mouth and out the head. Spinning he continued firing stream of scorching hot plasma. It didn't matter if it punched a hole in their furry black bodies or cut through them like butter, they all died the same.

One tried to body slam him into submission, a simple but tried and true method King Taijitus often used when they could catch a Huntsman off guard. Since Neil normally never let his guard down in battle he had two counter attacks for just that kind of situation. He'd take the blow while stabbing both his swords into the beast's body. Neil transformed both swords into rifle form and squeezed the triggers. Azure colored plasma erupted from the other side of the body, severing it. Now free falling once again Neil turned Beagalltach on the other head he felt was lunging for him and destroyed it.

With a small cyclone jump he reached higher altitudes and maintained them with another small scale whirlwind. In a second he was joined by his Faunus teammate. "I'm going to start throwing some thunder and lightning around so watch yourself." He told him already calling forth storm clouds.

"There's no need." He chuckled playful bumping him on the shoulder. "The thunder has already arrived."

Confusion spread through Neil's face quickly. What did his teammate mean by the thunder had already arrived? Had one of the-

"NORA THUNDER!"

Over a set of crumbling buildings they saw a tower of pink lightning erupt.

Neil's eyes returned to their normal narrowed state. "Oh, alright. Never mind."

"Good hunting Neil." The eagle knight smiled

"You too Chi." The storm knight smirked.

He decided to come down with an aerial spin attack since he was no longer going to have all the Grimm to himself. Already the masses that had been swarming him were dispersing to find other prey or flee the battle. It didn't matter which, he'd kill every Grimm he saw.

Thanks to his foster brother and female teammate's interest in technology he recognized the sound of fighter jets and combat aircraft when he heard them. One in particular stood out against the cacophony of carnage and destruction. Appearing as little more than a blur in the sky was a silver-red blur that left destroyed severed limbs and destruction in its wake.

For one Neil wished he'd had Chicahua's eyesight. He wanted to see what Beacon's latest fighter, the DXF-22 "Condor" Fighter, with his own eyes. Following the blur another set of airships came into view over Alder Park. The storm of gunfire wasn't too far behind. On top of one of the last highest standing buildings Neil watched the medium sized sub area get blasted away with a somewhat disinterested look on his face. They could have avoided this if things had been different but they couldn't.

"Damn are they going to chew our asses out for this. Cac!" The gray haired teen grunted rubbing his head through his hair. In his mind he could already picture the grilling he and team RWBY were going to get from the Beacon staff as well as the army. Briefly he entertained the thought of pinning Alder Park's destruction on the army since they were, as all could clearly see, blasting the area apart piece by piece. Izaak would probably put a clap over his mouth. That pained Neil more than anything; he knew his foster brother was going to stay hung up on this for at least a month. Overhead storm clouds took shape. "Might as well start wrapping this little show up."

By some stroke of luck he ended up directly in the park the sub area had been named after with Jaune and Pyrrha. He introduced himself via a few strikes of lightning. Pyrrha gave him a short nod of acknowledgment while Jaune was caught so off guard he almost lost his head to a Subterra. Barely a block up was a massive emergence hole the Grimm steadily pouring out of. Judging by the fact Jaune and Pyrrha were on the outer edges he guessed Nora and Ren had gone on ahead to seal the whole. Neil could agree with that, the two could take on whatever crawled out, or rather, Nora could take out anything that crawled out.

What bothered Neil was the fact that as he fought alongside Pyrrha and Jaune he couldn't help but notice a rather disturbing fact; Jaune was moving at half the pace he and Pyrrha were moving at. Not only that, but his combat form was…mediocre at best. He observed the blonde's movement as he easily fought off the Creeps and Beowolves overrunning the park. There were traces of refinement, moves had been practiced yet executed with blind hope they'd work.

To get a closer look he cut a path towards Jaune while the boy took the blows of an over-sized Ursa. Neil was about to kick off when he heard Pyrrha yell, "Neil wait!"

Halting in his movements his ray-blue eyes shot in Pyrrha's direction. He read her expression in an instant then turned his gaze back to Jaune. _You can't be serious! If the guy's that weak then stick to the Beowolves and Creeps, not over-sized grizzlies! _For the first time he wanted to ask if Pyrrha was insane. This wasn't the time for testing! It was a battlefield! Neil wasn't having it. He sheathed Beagalltach so he could grip Moralltach with both hands, the targeting sight flipped into view giving him a semi-clear shot of the Ursa's head.

Jaune had taken three blows from the demonic bear's claws yet he was still standing. Apparently that ticked the Ursa off enough for it to use its roll attack. Good, he'd been waiting for it to do that. His shield was kept in its original guard position as if he was about to deflect another claw swipe. _Just remember what Pyrrha said. Focus! _Clearing his mind and channeling his Aura had never been easy. Doing it in class in front of his peers and instructors? There was a reason he never considered Aura usage classes beyond the basics. Doing it in a live combat zone? Yep, he had to be suicidal. Then again, he had done a few suicidal things since his entry into Beacon so what's one more to the list?

White light gathered at the emblem on his shield moments before the Ursa impacted it. The pain in his arm was unlike anything he felt but he bit his cheek in defiance. He felt his feet slide back to the point he would fall back on his back yet he moved his left foot backwards just enough to avoid it. In returned the Ursa moaned in shocked pain as it uncurled itself. With sword in hand Jaune impaled the demonic beast through its mask.

In the instant Jaune slew the Ursa he felt the ground beneath his feet give way. What combat instinct he'd developed sent the message to move to his brain. The Subterra missed its target and received a sword through the gut. Jaune dragged the blade upward a little before he kicked off the mole and into another Subterra, shield bashing it in the face.

From far off in Neil watched in slight shock at the blond knight stumbling and slashing through the Grimm. _Okay Pyrrha, I owe you one. _The gray haired knight thought mentally chuckling. Having fought Pyrrha himself Neil knew her movements when he saw them. _So, do compensate for your lack of skill you mimic the moves of your teacher. _In Neil's opinion there was nothing wrong with doing that; the only problem was one could only keep copying fighting styles for so long. After five shots from Moralltach he went back to sword play so he could get closer to Jaune.

The blond had just beheaded a Beowolf when he dropped his guard for a moment; a moment a roaming Death Stalker was waiting for. His expression grew grave as he raised his shield hoping against hope it would be in time.

_SLASH! _

Right before Jaune's eyes Neil came down on top of the Death Stalker with an aerial slice he wished so desperately he could replicate. The two swords cackled with lightning that raced into the beast's body, killing it with minimal effort. Jaune took one step back to collect himself however Neil stopped him; moreover, he asked him to stop with his eyes. For a brief second Jaune saw that stormy intensity Ruby had spoken of during her match; they gave way to a look he knew was a calculative glance.

Neil could see the kid was out of breath but he was determined to keep going. He could admire that in the young Arc. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed with his match against Olivia; like some many others he was expecting more. His form was decent though not anywhere near enough to have gotten into Beacon. On top of that his eyes were wrong. They were still too innocent. _I can see the potential but it's too soon for this guy to be fighting in some place like this. But…_Flicking his eyes in Pyrrha's direction he gave something of an amused chuckle. _If you're training this guy on top of letting him lead you guys then I guess I'll just wait and see if he's able to do his name some honor. Should be fun. _"You good?" he spoke for the first time.

Clearly he caught the Arc off guard. It took him a full three minutes to respond. "O-Oh me? Fine! Awesome!" Jaune answered with as much confidence as he could muster at the moment.

Neil saw through his lie in an instant. Still, he liked Jaune for having the guts not to run away or leave Pyrrha to do all the work. More than his courage Neil liked the blonde's intelligence. Jaune knew he wasn't that good at combat and thus sent his teammates, who are some of the strongest students at the academy, into the heart of the problem while he hung back and kept the situation from getting worse.

_Give or take some work and he could become a blond Oliva. _He thought as he jumped back into the fight with a bristle.

_THUMP! Boom! Boom! Boom! _

"How's your day been?" Neil yelled.

"Oh sorta good, sorta bad!" Izaak shouted back cutting down a Death Stalker. "You?"

Ducking below a Gigadeath's lunge and chopping its head off the knight grunted. "You know none of this is your fault right?" The foster brothers were standing side by side in front of a full grown Death Stalker with Pyrrha and Jaune in the back.

Izaak didn't reply to his words, instead he just looked at him with hi hazel colored eyes. Neil's gray-blue orbs firmly stared back at him.

Sighing quietly Izaak returned back to the Death Stalker. "I'm sorry."

"Ya know I hate it when you apologize for crap that's not your fault." Crossing both his arms while placing his right foot forward. "Save the apologizing for all those old crows." Moralltach cackled blue with lightning and Beagalltach howled with arctic cold wind.

The Death Stalker struck with its tail first, Neil swung Moralltach just in time to sever its stinger then used Beagalltach to fire off an ice version of Aero Blade attack directly at the Grimm's tail. Izaak followed the attack with a G-Slash breaking it off. With its tail gone the Death Stalker went berserk. It snapped both its pincers at the foster brothers.

Neil broke off the right pincer and Izaak broke off the left. In one unified leap the two jumped on top of the Grimm's head then brought their adamantine weapons down.

_CRUNCH! _

"Any idea how many Death Stalkers this makes?" Neil questioned drawing Moralltach out.

"Hm, no clue. Doesn't really matter though because I'm still beating you." The Viking grinned.

_**BANG! **_

The thunderous noise nearly shattered their eardrums. For Jaune and Pyrrha it was the first time they'd ever heard the sound of military aircraft discharging their weapons at close range. The rattling in their bones couldn't be helped nor could it be stopped so long as the airship continued blasting away at the hole in the ground north of them.

"B87-Alanqa Avenger-class gunship!" Izaak calmly yelled over the gunships continued firing.

A column of smoke rose up from the emergence hole though the gunship overhead continued its assault for another two minutes. There wasn't a sound coming from the area aside from the cackling of growing flames. Peering around them the four saw similar columns of smoke and flames rising from what they assumed to be other emergence holes in the area.

"S…So…ar..are…are we…"

Neil sheathed Moralltach and Beagalltach then stretched both his arms skyward. "Yep Jaune, it's over."

Even though both young knights fell off their feet they did it in very different manners; Jaune had to be caught and gently lowered to the ground by Pyrrha since both his legs near liquefied while Neil calmly lowered himself into a crouch then lay back against the weathered earth. Putting both his hands behind his head he tuned out Jaune's post-battle jitters and Pyrrha talking over her Scroll with her teammates and even his brother's humming. He wasn't going to be able to sit down for a while so he was going to enjoy the leisure time he had at the moment. Oum knew he was going to be needing it.

* * *

Weiss was almost grateful there was word classes the next day were going to be called off due to the Alder Park incident. One some level she found it horrifying her team had managed to cause an incident of such magnitude. People had died, their target had escaped, they'd wrecked a popular part of the city, and on top of that they'd gotten grilled out by the Vale Army. All in one day. Deep down inside she felt hot shame threatening to boil over and manifest on her face. It was for that reason she fled to the hospital rooftops. It was painfully cliché but she couldn't think of anywhere else to go with some privacy.

With all the wounded and dead Vale General and almost every other hospital within forty blocks of Alder Park had been filled. Even if they had stopped the Grimm from advancing further into the city lives were still lost. Lives that could have been prevented if they'd acted faster or been better.

Military and police had practically put half the city on lockdown. In a way it was a good thing the kingdom had steadily been increasing the city's security as the twenty-first anniversary of the Faunus War approached; if they hadn't the situation could have been much worse. They didn't need a room full of adults to tell them how much they'd screwed up; they got to see it in the hundreds of patients being wheeled in and just as many being put into body bags. She always ducked away whenever a messy body bag was rolled by, its foul smell nearly knocking her off her feet. She cursed herself for being so weak around blood and gore. She cursed the White Fang for traumatizing her with her uncle's mutilated corpse nailed to a wall with his blood used to spell out a warning.

Practically kicking the door down she walked straight up to the railing to let the tears out. Her head sank to the metal bars while her knuckles turned white from gripping them so hard.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"

Weiss kept cursing until she noticed how the wind had seemed to almost whisper to her. It wasn't only that, the sun overhead seemed to be poking through the clouds with a little more effort than usual. It may have been her imagination but it seemed like its rays were shining directly on her. _Wait a second! _Sensing the familiar yet almost nonsexist Aura the heiress spun around to search the rooftop.

Lying against the cooler unit with a soda and food box beside him was Neil. He was staring at her. His eyes weren't judgmental, comforting, or anything really. They were the same near blank eyes she'd seen him with on an almost daily basis. That always unnerved Weiss.

He said nothing even as he continued to stare at her with her tear-stained face. It was suffocating not having him show any emotion.

"If you wanna talk to Jaune or Ruby I don't mind." He at last spoke after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

"W-What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she snapped at him marching across the rooftop. "What are you implying? Are you saying I need someone's shoulder to cry on?! Do you think I'm that weak!?"

For a reply she got an unopened bag of potato chips pushed in front of her face. "No, I think you're human. And like any human being you want to scream, kick, or kill something to get your frustration out. Sorry but I'm pretty sure we've done enough of that for the day so why not go for door number two?"

…

…

Weiss snatched the bag from the boy's hand, opened it, sled down beside him, and confused.

Almost half an hour later with the sun half dipped below the horizon the Schnee heiress finished her rant. Sadly she found she was back at the same predicament with Neil; he didn't say one word to her, he kept staring at the clouds.

"Will you say something for Oum's sake!" she yelled getting pissed off. "A girl confesses her feelings to you and all you can do is stare at the clouds like some spaced out junkie!"

"Well hearing you talk is one thing, having you answer or reply is another." He spoke still not looking at her.

"Gah! I knew this was a waste of time!"

"But don't you feel better? Now that you've gotten all that off your chest?"

She never did get up to move. "…Yes. But it still doesn't change anything."

"You tend to do that a lot ya know." Neil said.

"Do what?"

"Keep all your thoughts and feelings bottled up. Take it from me, it's not healthy." He said rolling his shoulders. "A while ago you went to the Schnee Tower and things didn't go so well."

"H-How do you know that?" Weiss stammered. "Did R-"

"I just saw the look on your face." The scar faced youth shrugged. "My guess, they laughed you out of there thinking you were nothing but a little kid trying to act tough. Deep down inside you were hoping this mission would be what you needed to turn things around; however, as you can clearly see your plan backfired." Both his hands went behind his head in a casual position despite the heated glare Weiss was shooting him. "Worse you're afraid this whole shit, scratch that, _when _this shit storm hits your dad's people you're afraid they're going to drop you like a sack of horse shit. Maybe topping that is deep down you're scared of going back to the academy. This is your team's first, big time failure right? Before your dad gets to you everyone at the academy will and they are going to _eat _you alive. You, Weiss Schnee, and the word failure. Talk about an oxymoron."

There was nothing Weiss could say or do to dispute Neil's words, because he'd spoken the truth. He'd spoken the honest to God truth without her giving him one _hint _at what it was she was hiding. As bad as that was what really crushed her was the fact he'd spoken about it as casually as one would talk about the latest sports game or movie review. _That _made her feel like bursting into tears all over again.

With a sideways glance she heard him speak again in the same tone of voice. "So are you going to keep going or not?" The teary eyed heiress looked towards him again. "Just because I've said it doesn't mean it's going to happen. Rather it does or doesn't is irrelevant Weiss." He pointed his fingers to the sky drawing her attention upward. A set of clouds had started twisting and turning to form a familiar snow flake like emblem. "You're a proud person; what I just described is an attack against your pride. Are you going to take it?"

Passionately she shook her head. "You don't understand Neil! It's not that easy! I can't…I…"

In a second Neil's gaze and shifted from that clear sky tone to that darker, storm cloud voice she'd heard him speak only when in battle. "If you can't take on a school full of drama-obsessed teenagers how the hell do you expect run a company that uses Faunus as slave labor?"

Those words struck a sharp blow to Weiss's heart. _What the hell is with this guy and his mood swings!? _

"You failed a mission that resulted in millions of lien in property damage and according to the last report around three hundred and twenty lives. Every day your old man indirectly causes the deaths of two hundred and fifty Faunus that we know of." He let that sink in for second before continuing. "The people he works _with _beat that number in just five hours. You let your fear of failure hold you back, you don't acknowledge it, instead you play if off like fear isn't supposed to visit you. That's arrogance. Look at you now, are you scared?"

"…Yes." While her voice was no longer close to cracking it hadn't yet returned to its normal level. "I'm scared of failing. It's terrified me for years on end. It…look at this Neil. All those people…they're dead because we failed."

"You're right. They are dead because we couldn't stop that train. So next time we'll just have to try harder." Neil responded.

"How can you say that!" she yelled. "They're dead Neil! You talk like this whole thing is just a game! Don't you have any respect for life!?"

He still didn't look at her nor did his voice change. He was in control and she was the one losing control. "I do but after the things I've been through we have different ways of respecting life." His eyes fell downward for a moment then realigned with the evening sky. "Weiss, those people are dead. Yes it's tragic, yes it's sad but mopping on our asses isn't going to change things. Sitting here bending the railing isn't going to stop time. Look at the sky." With his finger he pointed towards the brightly colored horizon. No longer were his eyes cold and distant but filled with a light Weiss couldn't identify. "My Semblance lets me control the weather but I can't stop it, only bend it. I can't freeze the sunset so we could just sit here forever. Night will come and after it morning. When morning gets here it's up us to use the next day for whatever it is we've got planned out."

The young man's words penetrated deep into her heart; they both amazed her and frightened her. The sunset was too beautiful for such a sad day yet it was bound to end and with it would come night. She had one night to grieve before she had to face the world again. "You…don't seem too sad about all this."

"Don't get me wrong, I am sad. I just know being sad about something doesn't change anything. It's okay to be sad but if you let it swallow you up you won't be able to be happy again. It's like rain ya know. If it doesn't stop it washes away everything, plus it's just depressing." Lazily he fell back against the wall with a yawn. "I learned a long time ago sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, no matter who you are. Today we couldn't pick the lock. Tomorrow let's try to crack the vault, grab the gold, and make a clean get away."

A soft giggle left Weiss's lips at the knight's analogy. The undertone of joy and faint smile on his lips made it obvious he was now actively trying to cheer her up. "That's an interesting way of putting things. Did you…" Rather or not she asked the next question would depend on where their "relationship" would go. "Did you get it from your parents?"

For a moment Neil was quiet, then he answered with a little smile. "Yeah, yeah I did get this kind of thinking from my parents. They weren't shy about telling me some days you get knocked flat on your ass."

"It…must have been…odd," That was the only word in her vocabulary she could use. "To have the Gray Phantoms, Cian and Aisling Liath, as your parents must have been…I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about this."

Quietly he shook his head. "No worries. All my life I've grown up with their ghosts hanging over my head." With that same half-happy half-sad smile he looked upwards towards the sky once more. "They're up there now. Both haunting me and watching over me." He sighed. "Like I said, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. If you want to thank someone thank those two."

"You want me to thank some of the most infamous and reviled thieves in Remnant's history for that pep talk? Yeah, never going to happen."

"Heh, can't blame a guy for trying." He laughed. The joy faded from his face once again. "Weiss, next time we see those guys let's just try our best to stop them, deal? We all live through it, hooray. We die, we raise a glass to the fallen, even if it happens to be one of us."

"Neil…"

"Come one, you saw the kind of gear those guys were packing. We all know the next time we see those guys it's going to be one hell of a fight. There's the real chance some of us _could _die."

"You're making it sound as if you don't care if you die."

"In case you haven't noticed Weiss, death is part of our job description. We're warriors, you can't spell warrior without war, and what starts with war ends in death." The gray haired youth answered. "Everyone dies, all we can change is where and how."

An unmeasured amount of time passed between them before Weiss spoke again. Her voice had returned to its usual octave; however, there was a noticeable fondness when she spoke to Neil. "How come you like staring at the clouds? You find them that interesting?"

"Yeah, you look at them and they can be all kinds of shapes. Practically anything you want." Neil said laughing a little. "What do you see when you look at the clouds?"

Focusing her eyes on the far off distance she looked over the vast collection until she singled out one with her finger. "I see a pig skating on ice." An irritated groan reached her ears causing her to snap. "What! You're the one who suggested I tell you what I see."

With a sneer Neil replied, "I don't like pigs." She continued glaring at him. "Okay fine, in that one I see a chariot wheel being grounded into honey."

"Okay now you're just making stuff up."

Raising both his hands to the sun he grinned.

"Stop! That's cheating!"

The gray haired knight and white haired heiress remained on the roof top for the next hour until the sun finally set beneath the horizon at last ushering in the night. With smiles on their faces they left the roof top to rejoin their teammates, a spark of resolve burning in the chest of the heiress and a flame of determination inside the chest of the knight.

* * *

**Funny thing, this is possibly the first time I've ever enjoyed going to school (almost) everyday…and after seeing the Tokyo Game Show I want spring and summer to get here as fast as possible. Persona 5! Dark Souls 3! King of Fighters 14! Street Fighter V! The PlayStation Morpheus! Kingdom Hearts! Ah I nearly fainted seeing all the awesome games coming! It was beautiful! **

***coughs* Now that I've let my inner fanboy have its moment let me talk about this chapter. Obviously it's different from canon in a few ways. For starters instead of the Atlas Army showing up the Vale Army took care of things instead, no Ironwood either. Those things will be explained in the next chapter. I think it's obvious when the Breach happened there would have been people getting killed left, right, and center as well as team RWBY feeling some sort of responsibility for not stopping the train in time. That's what I wanted Weiss's portion to show, the guilt that would come with failure at such a mission. **

**The chapter title also refers to, of course, Neil's character. I'm hoping this chapter managed to flush some of his character out in the same way Chapter Seven did for Chicahua. Most of the chapter came from his point of view including some character observation and insight. When I first thought up this story his role was envisioned as a foil to Jaune and it will be, just not in the way you expect. **

**Etymology and background: **

_**Cac-**_**Irish Gaelic for "shit". **

**Alanqa- A genus of pterosaurs whose name is derived from the Arabic word for phoenix, al-'anqa'. **

**Asiling (Ash-ling)-An Irish name meaning "dream" or vision". **

**Cian (KEE-an)-A Gaelic name meaning "ancient", also the name of the mythical ancestor of the Cianachta people of early Ireland. **

**Please rate and review! Until Next time!**


	18. Chapter 18: Rise or Fall I'm Still Here

**I do not own anything.**

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**Chapter 18: Rise or Fall, I'm Still Here for You **

Hospitals on principle never were fun places to be. The few occasions where they were good were often outweighed by the bad. Trips to them were dreaded and stays at them were prolonged torture few would choose to experience again. Some felt hospitals were abyssal haunting places where the reaper moved from one room to the next searching for the next soul to take. In the wake of crisis one could say that wasn't too far from the truth. The smell of death seeped through the hallways no matter how well insulated they were. Combined with the fear of not knowing what went on in the operating rooms was enough to develop a fear or hatred of hospitals.

As the son of a prominent doctor Izaak should have been immune to such things yet throughout the whole night his nervous fidgeting persisted. The only indicator it was the surroundings and not the soldiers and officers were the way his eyes kept darting towards the painted and unpainted walls. To him the whole floor might as well have been a giant beehive; constantly active with one occupant disappearing then being replaced by another. He knew from experience hospital weren't supposed to be like this. At best his father taught him they should be slow and quiet, not the cacophony of groans, shouting, crying, and hushed voices. This was the worst. And it happened on his watch. _If I'd just thrown caution to the wind we could have stopped this. I could have stopped this. _He had the power to stop that train, he _could _have stopped that train. But because he didn't all this people were now paying the consequences. A unit of soldiers, maybe ten at most had been buzzing around Vale Central for the past hour. Izaak knew almost every one of them were looking in his direction. It was obvious they would since this whole mess was his fault.

Eyes closed he leaned his head against the wall and tried to block out the constant noise. Normally he'd put on his headphones though that would be disrespectful given the events going on around him. He wasn't like Neil in that regard; he couldn't effortlessly block out the world and drift into his own thoughts as easily as his foster brother could. He'd always envied him for that. While he couldn't listen to music he could create his own.

It was a combination of Yang searching for him picking up the feint tapping of his fingers on the bench, his feet on the floor, and the soft humming. Through the crowd of people it should have been impossible but she found him. He looked the same as he did when they visited Sun and Neptune. No, he looked worse. _He can't be taking this well. _Just like before he didn't notice her until she opened her mouth to speak. "I don't know about you but I think those soldiers have been giving us the look all evening." Naturally he jumped. "Ya know I think you need a buddy whenever you go into a hospital. Seriously, you could have waved me down but you were looking like I didn't even exist. Kind of hurtful." To get her point across she turned her head to the side with a pout.

Hurting lady's heart in the aftermath of a crisis, stupid me." He quietly muttered. "You weren't hurt were you?"

"Was I hurt?" She asked mouth agape. "Of course I was hurt! You were there! You laughed at it!"

With a small smile on his lips the Viking rolled his eyes. He had to pull Verde to the side when he broke off from the rest to ask if any of them had been injured. It took only one look to see the blonde's trembling form for him to agree. "For the record I didn't laugh, I wasn't even thinking about it." His eyes fell from her face to the bandage wrapping on her left arm and one around her right leg. While she may have been acting fine he knew she'd taken some nasty gashes that her Aura wasn't able to hold up against. "Your wounds aren't too bad are they?"

"Please, I've had bones broken in three different places." She snorted. Luckily none of them had been seriously injured beyond a scratch or claw swipe. Yang nearly had a heart attack when she saw Ruby holding a bleeding shoulder. Turns out she wasn't careful and nearly lost her entire arm to Subterra. To her younger sister's credit she grinned through the pain until they began treating the wound. She always hated it when Ruby hissed or howled in pain because it meant she'd failed at her job at protecting her. "Seriously you're the lucky one. Not a freakin scratch on you. You're like Jaune, Aura pools the size of trunks that take care of all the healing."

The grin faltered then was replaced by a frown. "Not always Yang." Despite his words Yang didn't look conceived. If anyone stopped by to look at Izaak they would have shared her skepticism; he didn't have one wound on his body. If it wasn't for the presence of tears in his clothing one never would have suspected he was hurt at all. He'd caught enough glares from on lookers when they noticed this. They interpreted it as one of two things; he was either that good or he was extremely lucky. "I should have bull-dozed our way through that train."

_Oh it's like Blake all over again. _The boxer groaned staring down at the bronze haired teen. _Oh well time to work the big sister magic. _It didn't matter if they drew attention to themselves. Reaching over she placed both hands on his shoulders and fixed him with a serious glance. "Let's say you stopped the train, then what? I don't know about you but I think that would have left us stranded in a tunnel with a horde of angry Grimm closing in on us. Now Izaak, could we have gotten out of that?"

As expected he opened his mouth and shut it quickly. While she might have felt proud at his silence he knew they _could _have burrowed out of that tunnel. Granted some of them might not have survived the trip up…or have made it out at all if the train had crashed. _Okay fine she's right, but like hell I'm gonna tell her that. She seriously doesn't need the ego bust. _Deciding to accept defeat he clasped both his hands on top each other he spent the next several minutes in silence much to Yang's irritation. "We're going to catch hell for this."

"Why should we? We did our job, the bad guys were just smarter than we were." Yang huffed.

"Us and the professors. They don't deserve this, Dr. Oobleck sure as hell doesn't."

"Yeah," She added dropping her head. "But if anyone accuses us of not trying I'm going to show them just how much we tried."

With bored eyes he watched her slam her fist into an open palm. "As uplifting as that is Yang I get the feeling that's off the table."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure you'll get expelled for harming an officer of the Vale Army." He answered drily.

Confused at first the blond finally noticed the glare she and Izaak were being given by a handful of the Army personnel within the hospital. Immediately they turned their attention to someone or something else when she returned the glare. _Oh awesome, now we gotta deal with some stuck up military prick lecturing us before we all get to go home! _"Okay maybe I can't hurt him but don't expect me to just stand by and let them call us slackers. We damn well tried to stop that train."

It wasn't surprising that Yang was willing to fight back even if it was against someone of higher authority then she'd met up until then. At one point Izaak might have been willing to join her, but now he knew he and Blake were going to have reel her in before she landed them in deeper hot water. Having already talked to both professional Huntsmen he knew it was only a matter of time before they were all lined up and grilled. At least he was used to staring down uniform wearing, government serving, seasoned men and women. It was an unsavory pleasure his team had learned to take pride in since their formation.

"Even if you don't have me you'll still have Nora, hell, odds are all of team JNPR's going to be standing there with us."

"Team CRDL too."

"Hahaha…wait, you're serious?"

"Yeah, in fact in the next half hour we're probably going to see Cardin and Dove get real lively." The Viking replied gently knocking his head against the wall. "Odds are later on tonight Dove is going to get a very heated phone call. Don't be surprised if he volunteers for every activity in PE. Even if it means fighting Nora or someone like Ruby."

With a raised eyebrow she leaned on her hands and knees. Craning her head with narrowed eyes she all but demanded an answer from Izaak even though her voice was level, "How do you know so much about them? You do know team CRDL's reputation right?"

"Yeah I know." He answered tapping his fingers on the bench. "We live right across from them so you tend to learn a few things listening to them and talking to them every morning."

Yang blinked three times before she exploded, "You what!?" Nearly falling out of her seat she began flailing her arms about wildly. "Why didn't you tell us earlier!? What do you mean your team lives right across from them!? What are they like when they're not being totally dicks to everyone!? Is it true Sky listens to opera!?"

If Izaak wanted avoid further embarrassment he would have placed a hand over Yang's mouth; however, he wanted to live too so he gently took both of Yang's hands and placed them back at her sides. They'd attracted a fair amount of attention from almost all residents of the waiting room, including the previously mentioned team. _I think maybe I should start hanging out around the other girls. Maybe Blake, she's nice and quiet. Not to mention she could probably keep a handle on her better than me. _The Viking mentally sweat dropped. "If I answer promise you won't do anything like that again?"

On the other side of the waiting room team CRDL leaned against the wall doing their best to remain a part of the scenery. Not one of the three boys liked hospitals in the least but for their own personal reasons. What all three of them could collectively agree on was the fact they hated the waiting. It was torture. Cardin was twitchy, constantly tapping his fingers on his biceps. Deep down he wished a call would come through for a robbery, a straw Grimm, something, so he could escape back into the peaceful void of battle. Russel kept switching his view from the patients to their fellow students. Earlier he'd momentarily spoken to Ren and Nora when they came to see him about his wounded arm. Out of all members of the team he probably had the best relationship with other teams. Dove and Sky were watching the military personnel carefully. Dove knew when a volcano was about to erupt as did Sky. Who was going to be caught in the eruption was obvious; the question was should they do anything about it.

At least two-thirds of the animosity between team CRDL and teams RWBY and JNPR had evaporated with the halting of their bullying. That still didn't mean all three teams could be left alone in a room together without something going off. It came as a shock to them when they got the order they were to head to Adler Park to contain the Grimm outbreak; moreover, the outbreak teams RWBY and IONC had failed to stop. Silent shock rolled through the four boys even as they dropped into the battle. During the battle Cardin fought his way to the train wreckage to get a closer look. There he was able to confirm his suspicion that the train had indeed been booby trapped to detach and blow in case anything went wrong.

"They were a step ahead of us." Russel heard Cardin growl before rejoining him in the fight. In Russel's humble view neither teams could be blamed for the incident. They simply had a bad day, God only knows every team of Huntsmen has one. He was the one who took note that from the minute they saw each other Jaune had gone out of his way to avoid Cardin more than anything. Russel was smart enough not to ask his partner and best friend about it though he could read his posture. _A part of you is happy Arc's still breathing. _For reasons the Mohawk haired teen could only guess Cardin seemed to go a little out of his way to make sure Jaune stayed alive on the battlefield. Odds were he only wanted the Arc alive so he could pay him back for Forever Falls.

Speaking of which Sky mentioned how Alder Park had in some ways resembled Forever Falls. As much as they would have liked to believe so the comparison fell a little short when a few details were mentioned.

It was half past seven when Sky spoke up after having finished scanning the waiting room. It was still fairly packed though things had calmed down by a noticeable margin. "It's the Forty-Fourth Regiment." He said after clearing his throat. "They're uh…they're pretty good. Taken down hordes of Grimm with little to no Huntsmen or Huntresses around."

With a snort Cardin kept his eyes on his Scroll. "So what? This means the Council got scared and sent down an anti-Grimm army because teams RWBY and JNPR couldn't hack it?"

"Well normally they wouldn't be mobilized but with the anniversary coming up…" Dove winced.

"On a scale of one to ten how big a dick is the colonel in command?" The violet eyed knight sneered.

Dove continued wincing as if just speaking the name brought him pain. "Four point five. He's Colonel Kevin Chambers. Real ambitious piece of work."

Sky whistled. "Then teams RWBY and IONC are going to be in for it."

"So is the academy." Russel muttered. "Remember Dr. Oobleck and Professor Mulnix were with them too. But Dove, isn't this a little much? I mean calling in an entire regiment just for one breach?"

The dirty blond shook his head. "Trust me Russel, if you know this guy then you'll see why this guy is called the "Leach of the VA", hell even my dad thinks he's nothing but a greedy shark."

"Well he'd definitely got the blood he needs so start the music guys." The team leader spoke seeing the rest of teams RWBY and IONC fill into the waiting room. Following them up was team JNPR. The bird themed team stood on the outside of the little group as they always did, even when they caught soften looks from team IONC. _Oum I wish he'd stop doing that. It's not like we need to be included in that little band of geeks. _Cardin wasn't about to throw his team into the line of verbal fire that was coming. He'd been caught too often in them and wasn't willing to let his friends be put through it. Plus, in corners of his mind he wanted to see the hot-shot team RWBY finally get taken down a peg.

When the saw Colonel Kevin Chambers make his way into the lobby he immediately felt a spike of pity enter his heart. The man's face was one knew quite well. _Damn is it going to suck for the next ten minutes for you guys. _

Colonel Chambers was a fair sized, copper haired man in his early forties. Like all men in positions of power he walked with purpose, his every footstep sending the silent message he was not to be tested or challenged in any sort of way. His face already had enough wrinkles to exude an air of experience as well as authority. Both his hands were curled into tight fist that loosened and tightened with every step he took. Not one ribbon or badge on his uniform was out of place. His dark hair was cut to standard regulation though some would say they wished the same could be done to his cold brown eyes. They were hard, focused, and barely contained the mounting fury within them. Those that weren't targets of that fury stiffened as he walked by with two officers flanking him like bodyguards. The doctors and nurses took notice of the frightful aura the colonel exuded as well; normally they would have rushed forward to tell him having an explosion or rant in the middle of the waiting room wasn't beneficial. Only a hand full of people could command them not to without saying a word.

Equally silent the two teams and senior Huntsmen had lined up before him. Team RWBY stood out as each girl was visibly uncomfortable under the iron glare of Colonel Chambers. To their left Dr. Oobleck and Professor Mulnix might as well have been straight faced statues. In contrast to the fairy-tailed themed team next to them team IONC stood perfectly at attention with determined looks on each of their faces. Hazel, green-gray, blue-gray, and orange-red eyes fired back at the Colonel causing his face to screw up. The four didn't back down even when they were within arm's length of the officer and his followers. Neil's face looked annoyed attracting the attention of several of the soldiers around him. Izaak stood definitely before him, his face a stone mask.

Speaking up before anyone else could Blaine cocked his head to the side slightly, staring at Colonel Chambers. "Long time no see Kevin." Clearly the redhead was mocking him.

"Not long enough Mulnix." His voice cut. "Unbelievable. Only two Huntsmen? And not even decent ones at that? What was this Mulnix? A plan, from you? I notice you're not shedding any tears for any of the people."

"Neither are you." He shot back hotly. "What do you want to hear? We failed. Plain and simple. We went in, we underestimated the enemy's resources, and we paid the cost."

"How nice of you to use the word 'we'." The man sneered. "You mean you failed. You, hailed as one of the kingdom's best strategist, failed."

"Colonel," Professor Oobleck spoke up not moving but his voice drawing all attention towards him. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses though everyone could fell the mounting glare he was shooting the colonel's way. For once his voice didn't come out in the hyperactive burst it usually did; it was a well-controlled stream of words backed by logic and truth. "I was the first one to go in. If the blame should fall on anyone then it should be me. I greatly underestimated the enemy's capabilities. I should have called for stronger reinforcements but I didn't."

"_Beacon's _fault, Oobleck. I do believe that's what you should be saying. When Ozpin was told of the situation they didn't take it as it should have been taken." Chambers's brown eyes rolled over the two teams causing the all-female team to flinch. "You sent _this _to handle a highly-dangerous, vital mission and not a well-trained team of fourth-years." Giving them another sneer his eyes grew more focused on team IONC. "It seems the rumors of Ozpin's decline are true after all."

Ruby wanted to scream, to shout, to whip Crescent Rose out and dare the man before her to continue his rant. Who was he to talk ill of the headmaster? Who was he to criticize his decisions? Who was he to criticize _them_? Hearing him continue ranting made it sound like they didn't even try to stop the train; that they just let it go off the rails right in the middle of a populated area. They did no such thing! They fought to stop the train! They bled to contain the chaos when things went south so no one else would get hurt! _This guy can't be serious! Maybe he would have liked to have been down there with White Fang, mercenaries, and cranky Grimm! _Ruby wanted to shout all those things; all she could do was bit her cheek and keep them within her mouth. Her face grew increasingly red with anger at each accusation the army colonel shot at them.

Noticing the reaper's rage Chambers gave his full attention to her. Now that the cold brown eyes were on her most of the fury left Ruby like air in a poked balloon. Under his glare the reaper's courage left her. Disgust manifested on Chamber's face. "Like I said Ozpin sent _this _to Mount Glenn? A little girl and her band of children headed by a four-eyed screw ball." Snapping his eyes to the Yang and Weiss he snarled. When neither girls backed down his attention fell on the other team. If it was possible his face appeared to screw up more. "And for reinforcements your headmaster sends a disgraced veteran and a team of…" Team IONC seemed to enjoy his pause causing his frustration to rise higher. Scanning over the four his face he seemed to be fighting the urge to yell. All of them looked exactly as the reports had said. Not one of them seemed distressed by the fact an officer of the Vale military was giving them the evil eye. "A team of…_brats_."

"Thanks for the compliment Colonel." Neil said with a blank face.

Rather they knew of him or not everyone in the room had to give the gray haired knight credit for not backing down.

"I'd watch your tone _Liath._" Colonel Chambers snarled clenching his fist. "You're already on thin ice and someone like you try know doing jump jacks isn't a good idea. Or have you forgotten your parents already?"

If the forty-three year old man was expecting to get a rise out of the scar-faced youth then he was sourly disappointed. Neil barely seemed to register the remark at all.

His mouth twitching just a little Izaak coughed once to grab his attention. For the most part his fidgety had ceased with the arrival of the senior officer, it gave him something else to focus on besides the smell of blood filling his nostrils. "Sir, we did the best we could and as Professor Mulnix and Dr. Oobleck said we underestimated the enemy's resources. We did call for back-"

The colonel didn't even give Izaak the chance to finish. "But not soon enough. You waited until it was too late for aid to arrive in time to stop the train. Tell me Egilson, did you believe you could handle it yourself or were you simply enjoying yourself too much to let anyone else jump in on your fun?"

For the first time Chicahua's body showed a visible reaction: anger. His face, which had been the same steely calm as his teammates, suddenly twisted into rage. Never had any of team RWBY seen the eagle knight move with such a promise of violence. The way his eyes locked on the colonel told everyone within viewing distance he _did not care _if the man before him was an officer of the army or even a political official. He'd crossed the line and he was going to have to pay for it.

Chamber's bodyguards rushed forward with their hands already going for their weapons. The side arms would do little against the six foot youth though a quick call over their coms and a firing squadron would come blasting through the doors.

On the sidelines teams JNPR and CRDL prepared to intervene. The former would more than likely act to keep Chicahua from getting pumped full of lead while the latter would try to keep the conflict from spiraling out of control too fast. Maybe the good colonel had forgotten they were in the middle of a hospital, a busy one at that. What both teams had in common was their new found dislike of Colonel Chambers.

All Izaak did was shoot Chicahua a single look and he halted in his spot. Hazel eyes pleaded with him to stop and he did so. With a grimace the threat of violence disappeared however the eagle knight's glare was taken to a whole new level.

Having had enough Mulnix snapped bitterly at Chambers. "Oh for God's sake Kevin enough! They're students, we're the adults here so why don't you act like one!"

"Again Mulnix, ignorant words coming from the mouth of an ignorant man." With a cocked smirk the dark haired man arched a brow at Mulnix. "For such a great strategic mind how come you didn't advise Ozpin to send more reinforcements or perhaps a strong team?"

"First off, I didn't need to tell my boss something he already knew, and secondly, I _did _bring a strong team with me. One you've done a damn fine job of insulting."

"What?" Now arching his brow at team IONC he spoke again with the same look of disgust. "You call this a strong team? Go see a doctor Mulnix, you've still got dust in your eyes. This isn't a strong team, it's a team of rejects and a bastard child. That over there," he motioned to team RWBY. "Is a pathetic line-up of school children that finally exceeded their luck limit. What Ozpin was thinking when he sent them in, then these lot, is well beyond me. It doesn't show strategic thought and you should know that Blaine. It shows the old man's stress is finally becoming too much to bear."

Cheeks flared red from the other Beacon teams in the lobby as well from the few professional Huntsmen and Huntresses. Waves after waves of killing intent and aggression assaulted the colonel; his lips pressed tighter as his own wall of confidence shielded him. Mouths opened to say something. One opened faster than the others and spoke exactly what everyone else was preparing to say.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

Eyes all over the place went cross at the young voice. Slowly they all moved to find the speaker, a seventeen year old blond with sky blue eyes brimming to the tip with fury. Breaking away from his team he marched directly up to the colonel, heedlessly of the soldiers sneering at him.

"What gives you the right you arrogant bastard! They were down there risking their lives to stop that train! They risked their lives trying to protect Alder Park!" Jaune screamed fists clenched to the point his palms were turning white. "Where the hell were you!? If this mission was so God damned important how come a military unit wasn't sent!? Clearly you had the power to override the headmaster's decision based on how high and mighty you've been acting! More importantly how come you're standing here railing against them when the most vital part of that train is still out there! With White Fang! Carrying God knows what! Now I don't know about you but if I was in your position I'd be thinking about! Or," With one finger he pointed in the direction of the hospital entrance. The others had been so wrapped up in the unfolding drama they'd failed to notice the growing crowd of reporters amassing outside. "What about them? I'm pretty sure you know how the press works. And before you say anything let's think for a second; who'd you'd rather have out there? The team of 'rejects and failures' with you decorated officers in the background? Wow, that's going to make for a nice front page of news tomorrow. Instead of doing his job or giving a statement Colonel Chambers is caught mouthing off to the people responsible for keeping the chaos contained."

There was a beat as several people began to pick up on what Jaune was saying. A few of the soldiers grew uncomfortable or angered when they realized he had a point. Colonel Chambers was silent.

"Headmaster Ozpin is a professional Huntsman, a legend." Jaune whispered with a heated breath. "He's lived through and seen more than you could ever imagine. Knowing that don't you dare criticize him for making one mistake. But more importantly don't you dare criticize _them_."

Ice hung in the air of the lobby as no one moved a muscle or spoke a word. Many of Beacon's residents were too shocked to do anything. Specifically the teams were…well they'd had all the air pulled out of their lungs while Jaune gathered his. Dozens of eyes staring blankly at the young Arc.

A stiff cough once again turned the spotlight back onto a new set actors entering the stage. General Ironwood of the Atlas Army and Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon. Both moved toward the group with regal areas that spoke volumes to those who didn't know them. At the appearance of the general every one of the soldiers stiffened then saluted. Before addressing Chambers the two shot Jaune a look, not one of disapproval but one of proud.

"Colonel Chambers." Ironwood began stretching out his hand as was customary.

"General Ironwood." He replied taking it. "I'm sorry you had to come down all the way from the academy for this little…hiccup."

"Ah-huh." Ironwood nodded keeping his face neutral. "Well I grew a little tired of staying cooped up inside the academy. You know I haven't been allowed to do very much here nor have any of the forces I've brought with me."

"With all due respect general that's because you're a guest." Chambers strained with a forced smile. "After all how would it look if you, our honored guest, had to help us clean up a mess in our own house? It looks bad on us as hosts."

_There it was. _Thought several minds simultaneously.

"Be that as it may we are still allies. There's nothing wrong with one friend helping another right?" Ironwood had him now, he had him by the balls and he wasn't letting go. "I'm sure with my forces helping out we'll be able to move a lot quicker don't you think?"

Anyone with half a brain could see Chambers was now totally locked. On the way in Ironwood had moved just enough so the press would know he was in there with him. Like so many other things Ironwood had two truckloads of press management over Chambers. Now he _couldn't _avoid getting Ironwood, or more specifically the Atlas military involved without looking like an arrogant bastard. He needed the media on his side. That would be lost if he made a scene with the good general standing before him.

_Well played Ironwood. I see you're just as good as they say but this isn't over. Not by a mile. _The brown eyed man thought bitterly behind a smile.

As the adults continued talking, tuning out the stares of the younger cast Jaune felt his knees go weak once more. Pyrrha's arm was there to keep him from bending his back. Panic suddenly flooded his system. It stopped when he made eye contact with each member of the other teams. Team CRDL was still staring at him like he'd just performed magic. Cardin was staring at him with a look that was half between shock and dare he say, respect. Almost across from him team IONC shot him various smirks and thumbs up. Lastly team RWBY was much like team CRDL though his eyes were focused primarily on its young leader. Her hands were clasped together nervously and her head was down. At first she refused to meet his eyes then she slowly rose her head up. She had a smile on her lips then mouthed the words thank you.

That night Jaune would go to sleep with the feeling of butterflies and fish in his stomach. It was a strange feeling he would remember for weeks on end. Countering that across the hallway Ruby went to sleep with a feeling of dread in her stomach. Not for the first time she wished the night could stretch on forever so she wouldn't have to wake up.

* * *

When she was a girl Ruby always noticed whenever someone or a group of people would go out of their way to avoid someone. Numerous times she'd seen it down in pre-schools and even participated in it. To her it was like one big game of 'It'; that was the simplest way of looking at things and had remained so as she'd grown up. Being 'it' wasn't fun from her point of view. Everyone avoided you at all costs, they wouldn't talk to you, wouldn't play with you, and almost certainly talked about you behind your back. Basically it sucked. The thing is Ruby never realized how much it sucked being 'it' until it finally happened to her and her team.

Yang did her best to lighten the mood though evens he appeared somewhat down. Weiss out of all of them was the strangest case. _She _seemed to have been handling things the best. More than once Ruby tried to get her to open up on her new found optimism; in return she got a semi-motivational pep-talk. Blake and Yang immediately stared at the formerly cold hearted heiress. Yang pulled Weiss to the side and thoroughly checked her over, specifically her head. Huffing she was the first one out the door leaving the other three stunned.

"What the hell was that?" Yang started. "Weiss is never that optimistic! Never!"

"Come to think of it I didn't see her for a little while once we got to the hospital." Blake commented. "Who do you think it was that got to her?"

"I don't know but trust me I'm working on a list now." She replied heading for the door next to her partner.

Ruby was hesitant to leave the safety of their dorm. Dinner the not before had no be pleasant. Until dinner no one had noticed they'd returned to the academy. Things changed once they sat down to eat. Almost ten minutes inward she began to notice the dinner time chatter had been drastically cut down. The topic of the night time gossip had turned to her.

"_Seriously? Where the hell was Rose when the train went off the tracks?" _

"_Sleeping." _

_What!" _

"_Hey man I heard she had the lowest Grimm count out of everyone at the battle." _

"_Huh! Rose? The same girl who got in because she managed to impress the headmaster? Oh come on! Arc was down there too!" _

"_Yeah…but he called out the colonel on the scene." _

"_So let me get this right, team RWBY actually failed a mission? Shocker." _

"_Heh, for once that huge ass scythe actually failed her. Knew it would one day." _

"_Using a gigantic scythe in a subterrean tunnel on a moving train, I don't see why people call her a prodigy. Come to think of it, did she actually lead the mission?" _

"_I saw it myself, she didn't get to see much action. Hell, she was covered in more dirt than any of the others." _

She only remembered eating a little over half her dinner before retiring for the night. She did her best not to talk to anyone and in turn they all hushed up the second her team came into view. If they didn't stop or were too loud Yang made a point to glare in their direction. Seeing them squirm under her older sister's eyes gave her no relief though. Judging by the look on Blake's face they had just continued talking about them once they were out of earshot.

The following morning was no different. Upon sighting them a hush rolled through the crowd. For the briefest second all eyes in the Dining Hall were on team RWBY. Any other time it would have been awkward but now it felt down right unnerving, even if it only lasted for ten seconds at most. Then once they sat down with teams JNPR and RWBY the whispering began. Little voices that would have normally dismissed were very real to all four girls. It was worst for Blake because thanks to her Faunus senses she could hear every little bit that was being said. The criticism, the disdain, and most of all just the sheer hate some people had.

In the corners she heard them whisper about the four of them. They called Ruby a child, an amateur. Weiss was called many things, things she'd no doubt love to dispute with a single sweep of Myrtenaster. Her fighting ability was questioned as were her qualifications to get into Beacon.

"Hey! Blake! Remnant to Blake!"

Blinking once she turned to see Yang was staring at her with a worried expression. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak she cut her off. "Drop it. I know those idiots may be talking shit but it doesn't matter. _We _know what we did down there. We don't need their approval to know we did our best." She whispered pulling Blake to her side. As usual the Y of team RWBY showed she was much sharper than she looked. Blake remained by her side until the frown on her face lessened. "Good, now have some crapes. I saved some just fo-"

Amber and Violet eyes saw the formerly laughing Chicahua suddenly jump out of his seat and scramble across the table. Food, plates, silver wear, and drinks spilled to the floor; he was across by the time they hit the floor with loud clings and bangs. He was standing before Ruby holding something wet and stinky in his hands. From the way his hand was positioned whatever it was had aimed at Ruby's head, her perfectly unsuspecting innocent little head. The Eagle's Knight's face was dead locked in a cold frown. Everyone in front of him visibly panicked or tensed, even older students who were his seniors. The truth registered in all of them quickly; because of one idiot's screw up they now had a pissed off warrior prince eyeing all of them like they were prey.

And by Oum himself if each of them weren't terrified.

At the table team where teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, and IONC were sitting all motions stopped. Towards the back even the cooks and kitchen staff stopped moving as they too sensed something was wrong. The Valkyrie of team JNPR jumped to her feet, her normally playful eyes clouding with anger. Two of her teammates kept staring at the food ball in Chicahua's hand with opened mouthed shock. Their leader was the same expect if one looked close enough they could see the same fury in Nora's eyes quickly building. Near the end team CRDL was collectively shocked someone would do such a thing, such _stupid_, _suicidal _thing.

Though her hair wasn't the flaming mane it was in battle a sphere of heat started then grew there, quickly covering Yang in a furious light. Jumping on top the table her voice boomed over the entire dining hall. "WHO THE HELL THREW THAT!?"

Fearfully silence was her only answer.

Raising up her right hand a cloud of flames engulfed her sleeve burning her that part of her uniform to ashes. Yang's eyes roamed the crowd striking more fear into the depths of their hearts. "WHO!?" She screamed again increasing the flames.

As if the Valkyrie, Eagle Knight, and dragon weren't enough those closest to the table began to feel a creeping frost began to tickle them. Changing from tickling to angry grasps many finally jumped. With only a crane of her head Weiss produced the same effect as her friends.

The standoff lingered for maybe another two minutes until Ruby's quiet voice caught the attention of Nora, Chicahua, Weiss, and Yang. "G-G-Guys…p-please…just…do-don't make a scene. Remember what Professor Goodwitch said." It wasn't the bubbly voice of the fifteen year old girl with great dreams or the team leader the girls had come to love but the voice of a person doing their best not to break. She knew full well that if Chicahua hadn't been there she likely would have God knows what sliding down her head with the entire dining hall there to witness it. She may have been years younger than the rest of the occupants but she still had her pride. Like _hell _was she going to lose that in front of her classmates.

No one seemed convinced but they understood Ruby's feelings. One by one they all backed down until Yang was gently pulled from the table by Blake. Her eyes still held the same furious flame however.

Even as the table got back to eating the rest of the dining hall were still frozen stiff. Just when some of them began to move a new voice cut through the air like a bullet. It occurred to them the only female member of team IONC was missing.

"Would someone mind explaining to me why one of the Academy's rules was just violated blatantly in front of half the school?" Ice laced her words. Hundreds of eyes darted around searching for the olive haired warrior. With a cry of alarm they focused in to find her sitting crossed, her hands on top of each over her knee on top a table. Her face might as well have been a blood stained Grimm mask for all the intensity it held. Those gray-green eyes that reminded all who looked at them of owls had shifted to cold malice. One of her fingers lazily tapped her knee and her left foot softly swayed back and forth. The students around her quickly crawled away expect for four who had been rooted to the spot; two in the front and two in the back. Sending the hearts of countless students further into shock was her voice, "Professor Goodwitch specifically stated no food is to be thrown in the dining hall. So, why was a ball of pancakes, syrup, and whipped cream hurled at Ruby? Why was food, decent food we'd all been waiting weeks for, being wasted as a projectile? Can anyone answer this question for me?"

Olivia never did get an answer to her question. No one even spoke above a whisper for the rest of breakfast. It was amazing how quiet it was.

Maybe more than that was the fact Ruby didn't say a word for the rest of the morning expect to answer questions. Team RWBY weren't talked about anymore, at least not when they were in eyesight or if team IONC was around. Still, word of what had happened spread through the campus like wildfire just as rumors of the previous day did. Scrolls were abuzz not with lessons but with the latest gossip involving the two freshmen teams.

* * *

It was always when the social norms of the world bearded down on her that Pyrrha truly felt useless. For all her combat skill and wisdom she couldn't do anything to kill the dreaded serpent snaking its way through the academy towards her friends. She couldn't killed it with Milo nor could she shield her allies with Akuo. It was infuriating.

Not surprisingly when she found herself in one of the training rooms she found herself destroying waves upon waves of practice drones with ease. So engrossed in the fighting she didn't even notice Chicahua had walked in and joined her as did team CRDL.

Chicahua had to grab her hand in order to get her attention. "Pyrrha, I know you're feeling distressed but we are too and we need some relief as well." He spoke calmly depriving the Spartan of her external fury.

"O-Oh, Chicahua. I'm…I'm sorry about this. I just…I…"

"Lost your cool? Don't worry everyone does at some point." Russel smiled. "You don't mind if we train here too do you?"

Cardin had already walked past her by the time she'd managed to say yes. He barely said a word as a new set of practice bots rushed him at once. In one swing he took all their heads off then released a pent up huff. "Arc's skipping practice today?" Cardin didn't need to turn his head to see the look of surprise on Pyrrha's face. Really, how secret did she think those after school training sessions were?

"I-I…I haven't been able to find him. When the last class ended he dropped by to ask me if we could cancel this afternoon's practice session. I didn't argue." She answered honestly.

Sky sighed quietly, "Then that means he went to go look for Ruby."

There was a silent nod among the six teenagers.

"If Jaune's with her then we have little to worry about. They both need this." The Eagle Knight declared crossing both his arms. "Ruby's spirit is falling and I believe Jaune may be just the one who can help it soar again."

"Wise words from the bird man." Cardin snorted setting the holographic display up. "They talk a lot like that where you come from?"

"Yes they did." He answered not showing a hint of disdain towards the Winchester. "Right now I believe all of us need some time to cool off. Things are already hot enough around here and they're only going to get hotter as the countdown continues." Though his eyes had remained neutral Cardin flinched like Chicahua had just accused him of something. "She needs her confidence back and I'm sure you can understand that Cardin."

Stopping in his set up the mace wielding knight fully faced Chicahua with a glare. "Awesome then, let's go send Arc to do it. I mean other than everyone talking about how much you guys messed up have you heard the rumors about _him_? Wimpy Jaune Arc curses out Vale army colonel in the middle of Vale Central? Frankly I'm surprised the guy's not sucking up all the attention, the loser's always wanted it."

Pyrrha's face was the same as Chicahua though one could detect a hint of repressed annoyance in her tone. "Jaune's not that selfish Cardin, especially when one of his friends is in trouble."

Not another word was said until the VR Training Program had begun to activate.

"Where's Olivia?" Dove asked noticing the eagle knight's partner was missing.

Before answering he looked to Pyrrha then to the exit. "She's gone to slay the beast at the heart."

Pyrrha visibly bristled which was the first time any of team CRDL had ever seen her do so. Not for the first time did they wonder just how extensively the Spartan knew the onna-bugeisha.

In the center of the room a multi-layered hexagon began to grow with bright blue light. Directly above it a chandelier sized decagon burned with a similar light, then whitish blue lines raced up and down the walls. The humming grew louder as did the light radiation from the two geometric generators. Eventually the light covered the six. Outside the sign on the VR chamber switched to red meaning a training session had now begun.

* * *

Finding Ruby wasn't that hard for Jaune. She may have had super speed and a hyperactive mind but deep down he knew she could still be a child sometimes. Not that it was a bad thing. Once when he peeked in one Professor Hopkins's lectures he heard something about how in times of distress every person reverted back to childlike methods of dealing with pain. Hiding away was a common one that Jaune was familiar with. Where the redhead could have hid was endless however to him it was right in plain sight. He suspected Ruby had a good memory, especially when it came to moments that left an impact on her. While Beacon had many famous landmarks he suspected only a few truly meant something to her. Inside he hoped Ruby considered their meeting at the tower such a thing even if he himself wished it hadn't happened.

Calmly walking up the tower and pushing the door open he was the only audience to a collections of sniffles that made his stomach churn. "Ruby," he announced quietly pushing the door open. Upon seeing him entering the small chamber she ducked her head. "You don't have to hide from me." Jaune spoke making his way over to Ruby. His face may have been calm however on the inside his subconscious was demanding answers. What was the plan? What the hell could he do to cheer her up? Usually it was the other way around. He wasn't Yang who had been blessed with the comfort skill he needed at the moment. Once Ruby looked up at him with teary eyes Jaune silenced all the doubts. Slowly he wrapped both his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. She quickly gave in letting any pent up tears out into his chest. "I'm…I'm sorry Ruby."

Through her sniffles she managed to shake her head. "No Jaune, you don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Yeah I do. As your friend I should have…you didn't deserve that." The knight angrily whispered.

The redhead said nothing instead she continued to cry into his shoulder. Hearing the soft cries of his first friend angered something in Jaune. It was strange because it wasn't an emotion he was used to. Only team CRDL had been able to draw that out of him in the earlier part of the year but since then it had been dead. He'd woken that morning feeling odd. Walking the hallways with people whispering about him didn't exactly kill that oddness, only increased it. Just as teams RWBY and IONC's failure had spread so too did his team's exploits. When they pointed and gossiped about telling off Colonel Chambers Jaune felt good. Then he heard the lies that were being spread about the two teams. What really seemed to light the fire of wrath in his chest was when he heard them talking about Ruby.

"_Well duh? Of course the mission was a blunder! Look who was leading it, Dr. Four Eyes and Little Miss She's-All-That. That girl's nowhere near the level of other reapers." _

"_Hey I'm not saying she's a reborn Morena Slusarski but she is pretty good." _

"_Pretty good? She got in because of luck. Luck that eventually ran out. No matter how good you are everyone's luck eventually runs out. Just look at yesterday; face her with a real critical mission and look at what happens." _

"_The headmaster goofed when he sent her team in. They're first years, rookies. Why she, the biggest rookie, is the leader is something we'll never know. What I do feel sorry is the fact that Blake's stuck following her lead when she's probably the best option." _

"_Ruby Rose, Beacon's youngest prodigy? Yeah, no. Sure she can kick ass in a fight but actually lead a mission? No way man, no way." _

Only a month ago Ruby had been one of the most talked about freshmen in the whole school and now you'd think she'd spilled coffee on the headmaster's suit. On the flipside he'd gone through a reversal; for the first time people were actually looking at him with a modicum of respect.

That was supposed to have made him feel better but it only made him feel like an asshole. _If this is what it cost then screw it. I'll take all the mocking if those people would stop doing this to her. _

Holding Ruby in his arms Jaune realized just how young she truly was. They both may have been socially awkward but in the end he still managed to beat her out in terms of social grace. In terms of maturity it was obvious Jaune could still edge ahead. Those things protected him against the harsh treatment of others. Ruby didn't have those things. Add that with her personality and she might as well have had a giant target painted on her chest. Too many people were more than happy to take the free shot. Possibly that's where Jaune's anger came from; the fact that people would so willingly pounce on the weak just to make themselves feel better.

The fact that it was their classmates made him want to go out and have a nice long talk with whoever had spread started spreading gossip in the first place.

After another minute Ruby gently pushed Jaune away. "I-I'm sorry you had to come up here for me. Y-You had your training with Pyrrha and I- "

Shaking his head he lightly placed both hands on her shoulder. "You really didn't think I'd leave you by yourself after that did I? After what you did for me this is the least I could do."

Disregarding the tears Ruby both smiled and blushed at the blonde's words. "Thanks." Turning from his face to her hands her expression turned downcast. "This…this isn't the first time I've had…people talk about me. I thought I'd gotten over it but…I just…"

"Was it Signal?" He asked innocently.

Biting her lip she answered sadly, "Yeah. A lot of people were jealous that I was so good with a scythe and that my combat scores were some of the best in the whole school's. They talked about me behind my back, called me names." Her hands tightened as the memories she'd long since buried came back to her. "They'd stop if Yang or my dad was around but…"

Ruby didn't need to say anymore because Jaune immediately got the picture. Her sister and father were the shields that had guarded her from the masses that resented her ability. Again Jaune could understand such a thing up until a certain point. "I know what you're talking about. It sucks to have people talk about you behind your back, and not in a good way. What I don't get is why team IONC hasn't been getting this treatment."

"I think it's because they're used to it." She admitted. "You saw the way the colonel treated them and how they reacted. Jaune, they're _used _to this. Izaak, Olivia, Neil, and Chicahua, all of them have thicker skin than us. Thicker skin then me." Her head skunk back down.

Debating with himself for a moment Jaune quietly touched one of Ruby's hands. "Don't believe anything they say. If the others could do it then so can you. I know for a fact you're a capable leader. And you're an even better reaper, like the toughest I've ever seen."

"If you think I'm good you should have seen my uncle Qrow. He taught me everything I know." She smiled.

"He must be pretty good to have taught you how to clear a room full of Beowolves by yourself. Anyways I don't know about everyone else but I know one day you will become a great reaper."

"How great? Like Kazeshini the Mad? Maxwell Dwa? Morena Slusarski? Vesuvius Tect? Ausar the Undead? Melinoë the Death Bringer? Haseo the Reaper of Death? Soma the Mournful? Focalor of the Tempest? Leilah of the Abyss? Kaede the Red?"

For several minutes Jaune just stared at the girl dumb founded. _Note to self, brush up on my history, specifically famous reapers. _Unwilling to bring down her renewed spirit Jaune gave her his best smile though it was clearly crooked. "Y-Yeah. Definitely Ruby. One day when they talk about reapers I'm sure your name will be in the top ten." A thought popped into his head. "The Rose Haired Reaper, Ruby Rose. Kind of has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

Barely able to contain herself she jumped onto Jaune again nearly knocking him down. _What the hell am I saying? I shouldn't be filling her head with this. It's…_Catching a whiff of her still shampooed hair caused a thick blush to break out over his face. _Never mind. _

On that day Jaune realized he liked it when Ruby came to him with some of her problems and he managed to cheer her up. It made his heart feel fuzzy and his mind able to erase all the bad thoughts clouding it. For Ruby she began to enjoy spending time talking like this with Jaune. One day she'd make it up to him just as he'd made it up to her.

* * *

**Ever have one of those days where the most popular person or most capable person in your school or job has a bad day and it seems like everyone turns on them? Yeah that was this chapter to a degree. If you're ever one of those people know all it takes is just one friend to cheer you up. It doesn't have to be a mistake, it can just be a bad day. One that one person may just be able to turn it around. You never know.**

** Please Rate and Review and see ya next time!**


	19. Chapter 19: Counting Variables

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Counting Variables **

* * *

_Two Days Later..._

* * *

"Move it Jaune! You're not allowed to take a magma bath unless we all get to take one!" Nora yelled.

"Heads up Nora!"

Grinning madly the orange haired girl threw her fist out at the incoming boulder, shatter it with a single punch. With twitching eyes Jaune watched the shards of molten rock cascade by the wayside. It only furthered to drive home just how strong Nora was; she was physically the strongest member of the team and even among the people he knew. The fact that she was breaking molten boulders falling at speeds that could break bone should have stopped her but it didn't. k

Around them countless other chunks of rock continued to pelt the unstable ground they were sprinting over. Each one of them exploded sending shards of super-heated shrapnel everywhere from the legs to the eyes. Too many students had their legs badly burnt or blown apart for Jaune to consider slowing down. The ever growing fear of falling to the ground with both his legs nothing but burning candles completely terrified him. In that terror he found the strength to keep up with his teammates as well as avoid the cascading meteors. Not that he was ungrateful but he was curious, why was it his inner abilities only showed themselves when his life was on the line? It would be nice if for once he could call his abilities out whenever he wanted, like when called to answer a question, or on a test, and in some cases impressing some of his classmates.

Classmates, the word left something of a bitter taste in his mouth. Around him countless students were getting either squashed or blasted to hell by the falling rumble. While he visibly winced he didn't feel as bad as he should have, not even if they fell through the collapsing floor into the magma pits below. Almost two days ago half of these poor souls had been cruelly whispering about his friends behind their backs and one of them had tried to humiliate Ruby right in front of half the school. He'd be lying if he didn't admit a flame of anger didn't still burn in his chest though they had greatly toned down with time. Toned down, but not vanished completely.

Even though he couldn't see their faces he could tell his teammates were looking to him. Not for the first time Jaune felt his mind working on overdrive. He shouldn't have been able to think or see clearly with all the smoke, fire, and ash obscuring his vision yet he was. Speed and rate of falling were calculated in his head at a rate he didn't know he was capable of. Orders to move in a certain direction came out only a second later. Wordlessly his team obeyed and they kept them from becoming another casualty. It wasn't like they were coming in slow motion, no, if they were his accelerated heart wouldn't be booming in his ears like thunder in the middle of a storm. Jaune needed that constant boom, boom, boom to keep his mind focused on the exit; an opening upward in the cavern that glowed bright with sunlight. Only a handful of teams managed to cross into that light and even then some of them weren't whole.

To his left the familiar sound of rock giving way caused him to scream for his team to move away. Glancing away at the exit for half a second he watched the floor break apart taking another chunk of teams into the magma bed, their screams dying out rather quickly. "Pyrrha! Nora! Both of you clear away the debris but don't take your eyes off the front!" Jaune screamed expanding his shield once more. Even though it was supposed to be light weight he didn't dare activate it for fear it would slow him down even just a little. Now as their escape drew closer and closer he realized the pseudo-meteors were growing in both size and power. He'd take a few singes over having third degree burns all over his body.

Just as he'd ordered his two female teammates drew their weapons in gun form. Still wearing that crazy grin on her face Nora happily fired into every cluster of debris coming down on them, usually taking out a large mixture of rock in pink and orange explosions. Pyrrha was far more precise in her shots; she only aimed for whatever was in front of them or too big for them to dodge without losing time. Opposite of Nora's explosive grenades were the Spartan's well aimed, highly concentrated bullets that created showers of countless though much less dangerous rock fragments. Narrowing their eyes team JNPR continued forward, leaving other teams in the flames and rock.

Jaune could feel his feet burning through his sneakers. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs how each step hurt. Given they were constantly pounding against an ever collapsing ground it would be fair to say it hurt like hell. _Why the hell didn't I invest in weather-proof clothing! Why!? _If he was thinking calmly he would have realized he'd spent too much time playing video games in the student lounge with Nora instead of heading down to the armory to get his clothing enhanced to withstand extreme weather, and now he was paying for it. _Oh man I'm not going to be able to walk for days after this! _

They were almost fifteen meters away when to the blonde's horror he saw the ground give away creating a widened gap. It was already too late for those ahead to them to stop. Their fate was sealed in liquid fire. Those who were mere inches from the cavern's exit paused for a minute to face the rest of them. Pity was written all over their faces before they crossed over into the light.

Instead of counting those who made the jump Jaune focused on pumping as much strength into his legs as he could. He didn't think about how many of his classmates mad the jump and missed or those that managed to cross it. He knew his teammates could do it All that mattered was making sure he could too.

_You're the leader of this team; that means you're always up front! Now lead! _

Counting off the distance in his head Jaune took the first leap across the gap hoping like hell his foot would touch solid ground. Behind him his three friends effortlessly made the jump he had to psych himself up for.

_CRINCH! _

Welcoming the pain in his left foot Jaune allowed himself to taste the scorching hot taste of success before he continued running. Once again in his head he counted off the distance to the exit. Five meters, four meters, three meters, then…at last…

In an instant the sweat-inducing volcanic cavern was gone and Jaune fell to his knees on the hard cube patterned floor of the VR training room. It took him a few minutes to register the fact he was breathing in fresh air as well as the fact his team was out of danger as well. For once no one called him out on it because countless other students were in the same boat.

To his rear Nora proudly pumped her fist in the air. "That was awesome guys! Can we do it again! Please! Seriously! Running through that magma pit dodging death at every turn! Professor Goodwitch! Can we-mhhhmmmmaggmmmm!"

_Thank God for Ren. _Jaune thought still wheezing. Leaning down Pyrrha placed an approving hand on his shoulder. Returning her approving smile with a forced chuckle Jaune suddenly felt a whole lot better about himself. Looking around he saw out of the twenty-two teams that entered the simulation only five including his team were present.

Looking through the crowd he spied teams RWBY and IONC. First his eyes met Izaak's then Ruby's. Both were happy to see he'd made it through.

A familiar grunt alerted him to the next team to come through. Truthfully with the Bridgeway collapsing Jaune didn't expect another team beside his to make it through. Surprisingly it was team CRDL. All four boys were covered from head to toe in smog and burns that that made it through their Auras. Out of the four Russel was the least damaged, in fact, he looked somewhat happy like he'd actually enjoyed the magma run like Nora had. Hands on his knees Cardin took a few huffs of breath. When he looked up he saw Jaune staring at him. Immediately his eyes narrowed.

Over the past few days Jaune stopped pretending to know what went on inside of the Winchester's head. Everyone from the students to the teachers knew there was _something _between them. Whatever it was it kept Jaune safe from Cardin's wrath yet it also filled him with curiosity. No matter how much his ego wanted to tell him Cardin scared of picking a fight with him he knew that simply wasn't the case. If it was he wouldn't be glaring at him like he'd just stepped on his foot by accident. Twice he'd tried to work up the courage to ask him what the problem was but both times he withdrew before even speaking to the mace wielding knight. Oddly he could have sworn Cardin made several attempts to do the same only to run into the same problem. They'd been going through this little dance for over a month.

Snorting he tore his eyes away from Jaune to the corner. Sighing Jaune rolled over so he was sitting upright with his hands spread out. _I guess granddad was right, trying to make peace with a Winchester is like trying to tame a Beowolf._

* * *

"Do you think we should do something about Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester? It could become problematic if their bad blood continues." Ironwood questioned watching the two of them through the VR room camera. "I know their fathers were at least able to move past their differences but time is of the essence. We don't have time to for circumstance to force them together."

"James I believe that's exactly what is going to happen rather we like it or not." Ozpin calmly replied taking another sip of his coffee. "They've already moved past stage one, during their time both Julien Arc and Griffith Winchester could barely stand looking at each other."

"Noted. What concerns me is one excels at something the other lacks greatly." Ironwood answered pulling up their statistics on the desk.

Digital images of Jaune and Cardin came up before the two experienced warriors. Beside and below their pictures was all the data the academy had on them from their physical capabilities to their background to the most personal information about them. Near the end of their names were numbers; Jaune's had a sixty-six and Cardin had a fifty-five. These files were quickly minimized save for their pictures as images of their practice fights came up. Bits of combat data appeared along with arrows high lighting certain parts of their bodies. Watching the two videos it was clear the two boys fought in very different styles; Jaune was clumsy, defensive, and his swings stunk of uncertainty, Cardin's were powerful, severe, and chuck full of the famous Winchester pride. Softly clicking one of Cardin's combat videos Ironwood was quite surprised to see the boy was engaging five practice droids in the shape of Faunus. Ironwood blinked three times and all five of them were lying in smoldering pieces around Cardin who had a look of pure rage on his face.

"That was week five of school." Ozpin's neutral voice called.

"Here I thought you were against this sort of thing." The general spoke in a bemused tone.

Ozpin's tone was sober. "I am but the Council overrode me. For once they actually took the time to look at how many students have an anti-Faunus sentiment."

"Don't tell me this is getting to you. Oz, this," he said pointing at the rewinding video. "Isn't unnaturally. This is _normal_. Besides you can't hold Cardin Winchester for behaving this way. We saw the same thing in his siblings." He quietly declared with a serious face. "The anger that fuels them, if we've seen what happens when a Winchester learns how to channel his anger, Cardin will learn how to channel his in time."

Ozpin's frown was something Ironwood had gotten used to. He supposed if he put himself in Ozpin's shows he could understand his disappointment. "Power born of hatred and rage is great but it comes with a cost. I don't want Cardin to end up paying the same price as his family did nor do I want anyone else to."

"I'm sorry Ozpin but you can't. Almost everyone knew someone who lost a friend or family member during the Faunus Rights Revolution. The Winchester, Cadigan, Schnee and countless prominent families lost more than their fair share." Pulling up an image of Cardin's face Ironwood moved onto the next video. Though it was hidden well Ozpin could detect the sadness in his words. Once gain he was being blunt. "At best all you can do is hope time here at Beacon stems the flow of hatred left over from the war. That's all you can do." Finding a video of particular interest he allowed it to play for Ozpin to see. The video's date indicated it was taken some two weeks ago. Once again the practice bots had been made in the shape of Faunus. Like the last time it still took Cardin less than five minutes to disable every one of the droids however he did so with much less gusto than before. To their trained eyes it was obvious a good deal of the anger from before had dissipated. Seeing the frown on Ozpin's face lighten Ironwood switched over to the rest of team CRDL. "This match up has potential, they just need something to bring it out."

"I thought that was always the case James." Ozpin leered.

"This is what I believe their scores should look like by the end of the year."

At Beacon students' abilities were broken in categories: strength, speed, Aura, endurance, durability, combat, intelligence, and skill which was broken down into further listings. Rating went from a low d all the way up to the much desired S+. Only fourth year students ever achieved that ranking, and usually by the time of graduation. In all of Beacon's history only twenty-eight students, not teams, had a S+ ranking on their final records. For freshmen students the highest ranking Ozpin had ever seen was a B.

Team CRDL's statistics were surprisingly good. Contrary to what some might have thought the bird themed team was fairly capable of handling themselves; the collection of Cs, C+s, and Cardin's Bs spoke enough of their ability. Ironwood's predicted score had each of them bosting B+s and As.

Chuckling lightly to himself Ozpin gave his longtime friend an amused smirk. "Here I thought I was headmaster of this academy."

"Just pointing you in a possible direction." Ironwood smiled well naturedly. "Cardin's a Winchester, Dove's a Bronzewing, and Russel and Sky made the choice to enroll in combat schools against the wishes of their families. I'm betting their pride will carry them to what I have predicted." There was a short pause as both men refilled their respective mugs.

"First off Cardin's clearly built for power, his Semblance, weapon, fighting style, and expertise at explosives could tell a child that. Russel on the other hand is a good balance for him, the swift fighter to his armored knight." Ozpin stated eying Russel's data. Looking him over he was faintly reminded of Blake; both of them were partners to "bruisers" who relied on power whereas they relied on their speed and blade fighting. In the back of his head he wondered if he could somehow arrange for the two to train together. Not to mention she might be able to help him gain better control over his Semblance; it would certainly keep the knife-wielding youth from all too often missing up his hair. "Dove's pre-academy training was good but he failed take in as much of it as he should have, sore spot for him I'm sure." Through his glasses he caste a glance at Ironwood to see his reaction. "Besides his gunblade abilities what I'm interested in is his skill with computers." Once the skills section of Dove's profile was selected a new list came up showing various images of the boy working at a computer or test scores he received from technology classes. Indeed it came as quite a shock that one of the infamous team CRDL was in fact a computer nerd, a hacker. "A shame the boy doesn't use it as often."

"The boy has an image he needs to maintain Oz." Ironwood defended. "No doubt his family did their best to stomp out the computer specialist in him."

"Shame since it could save him just as much as a swing of his sword can." The headmaster sighed. Next up was Sky. "This year we seemed to have attracted quite a number of snipers. While he may not be anywhere close to Ruby's level testing has shown Sky Lark to possess the same potential as the rest of his team. Given his background I'm going to enlist him in the Hitchcock Program."

"A wise move." Closing all of team CRDL's files the two men moved on to Jaune's which had been waiting patiently underneath all the others. "Ah, the male heir to the Arc family."

It was…rare for a team leader's statistics to be lower than his teammates', as one in every thirty rare. Apparently Jaune was that one in thirty. As far as combat ability went a ten names could be randomly plucked from the student listings and they'd have a better rank than Jaune did. The only thing exceptional about the boy were his Aura reserves, durability, intelligence, and his skill set. Granted the skills listed within them weren't exactly what one would call "proper" for a warrior to have. If the blond knight knew his entire history was being looked at by two of the most powerful men in two kingdoms he likely would have either broken down then and there or begged for them to stop.

Like the others one section in particular stood out in Jaune's file. Ozpin had speculated Jaune's abilities lay in another area other than combat. It took three well-hidden IQ tests to confirm Ozpin's suspicion that the boy was a tactician and a strategist. Ironwood was just as curious as he imagined he'd been. He leaned in closer reading over Jaune's data with a growing smile.

The smile melted into a disappointed frown as he rubbed his head. "Another talented child lost to the ever-stagnant blade called warrior tradition."

"At least Dove has it easier than Jaune. He's at least aware of his gift unlike Jaune who tries to deny it at almost every turn."

"Hasn't anyone ever told these families honor can be gained by more than just swinging a sword around?" A comical frown manifested over the general's face upon seeing Ozpin trying to hold in his laughter. "You know it's a good thing Glynda isn't here. I don't think I'd be able to handle both of you."

"Yes, that's true James." He chuckled. Expanding Jaune's file. While overall he'd showed progress it wasn't fast enough to suit the general's liking.

"He should be moving faster Oz."

"You're preaching to the choir James." A thick silence descended over the two before Ozpin spoke again. "I think I should have Blaine take him under his wing."

"Have _someone _take him under their wing so he can figure out his brain cane be just as useful as his sword. What about his Semblance? Have you had any luck on that?" Gray eyes fell to the section where students' Semblances were usually listed. Jaune's was nothing but a series of question marks.

"I believe Pyrrha Nikos is working with him to figure that out. From what we've observed it seems to be defensive in nature. It wouldn't be surprising, most Arcs having Semblances that focus more on defense than offense." Ozpin said placing his hands together. "Maybe the legends that their ancestor's will lives on have some merit."

"You know I prefer hard evidence to word of mouth." Ironwood countered.

"Humorous considering you were the one willing to send out half the army when we had so little to go on."

"I'm sorry Glynda, when did you arrive?"

Good willed laughter filled the air between the two men before dying down. The serious air once again enveloped the two. "Let's…talk about team RWBY." Ironwood started slowly. He figured it was best to get his friend's favorite team out of the way before they continued. The files of the four girls came up. Ozpin's face remained neutral. "While I know it may not be my place to say but I think their last failure was…humbling."

For a moment Ozpin didn't reply. "Yes it was." He spoke calmly like nothing was wrong. "Now they know what failure feels like as all teams must learn. I only regret is that it cost innocent lives. As I stated earlier I'm enrolling Ruby in the Hitchcock Program. Qrow may have taught her how to scythe-wield however I fear she lacks the finer points of Crescent Rose's other functions, namely the weight that comes with being a sniper."

"By that do you mean Qrow might skipped over vital survival training? If so then I fully agree with you."

"That's not what I was saying James."

"But you were implying it. There's more to wielding a sniper rifle than always hitting the target. It's a stressful job that's left just as many dead as it's provided fame for. We both know talented as Ruby may be she's…"

"Innocent. She's too innocent." Ozpin finished for him. In another way now that Ozpin thought of it Ruby greatly mirrored Jaune in a few ways. Whereas Jaune had the lowest rankings amongst his team leader Ruby was the most naive of her own team despite being leader. Weiss had been sacred by the White Fang's constant shadow in ways she would likely never open up about unless forced. Blake was sacred as well, growing up in the White Fang at one point may have normal but since the change in leadership life within the organization had turned into hell for those still tolerant humans. Despite her outward persona Yang was damaged as well; deep down she still held the same guilt she'd carried since she was a girl for nearly getting Ruby killed looking for her mother. She hid the pain but a careful look would reveal she feared going through that again. It was the dark shadow cast by her radiant flame.

Ruby didn't have any of that, not yet at least.

"She's talented but simply combat skill a Huntress doesn't make." Ironwood said raising an eyebrow examining her file. The young reaper's Aura was average, her intelligence admirable, her strength was the weakest of the four girls, and her speed was a solid B thanks to her Semblance, as was her combat rank. Her skill set consisted mainly of weapons knowledge as well as mechanically engineering. "Despite what everyone thinks she's far from ready to see the kind of battle we're approaching isn't she? Ozpin people are going to die in front of her, no doubt some by her hand. Do you think she's mentally ready for that?"

Ozpin knew the question was center more on Ruby than it was her team. The others, while certainly bright and young, had little issue with another person in self-defense. Ruby would be a problem because the thought of murder probably made her stomach ill. The only positive was with any look the past few incidents had worked towards relieving her of that issue.

"Her intelligence is admirable but it still needs work in certain areas. Her Semblance control also needs assistance along with her hand to hand combat abilities." Ozpin blinked once looking at all the information pertaining to any PE class where she was forced to fight without Crescent Rose. You wouldn't believe she was a prodigy looking at the scores which were matched only by Weiss's. "So in closing all four teams will require added training."

"Four? What area does team IONC lag in?"

"Hmmm, interesting how you assumed they were the forth team."

"Oh please, like any other freshmen team has managed to make as much of an impact as them. I won't lie to you Oz, I'm jealous of you."

For the first time Ozpin's face showed confusion. "James they're not toys to be gifted out to the most deserving."

"I know and I'm sorry but I can't deny I wouldn't mind having them at my school. The infamous "Team of Two Faces", I hear they've lived up to that rumor."

"…Sadly." He admitted. "I've only seen Izaak, Olivia, and Neil's "second faces", I doubt Chicahua even has one to show."

"Oh believe me, he does." Ironwood countered shaking his head. "The team name wouldn't quite stick if only three members out of the four could go through such drastic personality change that fast." At last the files of team IONC dominated the screen. It was rare to have a team where all four members had rankings in the Bs in all categories. After that he examined each of their weapons. He nodded approvingly. An LGRA, a MGTS, two PPSR, and a WSSS. Unlike Jaune and Dove Izaak doesn't hide his noncombat abilities, he nor his brother would have such powerful weapons. Neil practically let his past drive him through every obstacle placed before him. Olivia's done nothing but do her family name honor just as Chicahua has. Speaking of which I'm surprised he's so calm and willing to work with everyone."

It wasn't a frown that Ozpin had as he looked at Chicahua's file, it was a look of longing. "I wish most of the tribe children could be like him."

"You're dreaming again Oz." Ironwood chided. "We got lucky a prince of the Texcoco Tribe has a progressive mind unlike his conservative family. He doesn't need you to tell him how much is riding on his shoulders. For that matter he still has to prove himself in the eyes of his father. All together I'd say this year you got extremely lucky."

"I'd like to think lucky had nothing to do with it and if it did I serenely hope there's some left for this train business." The headmaster whispered.

The light hearted conversation about the academy's most promising students had ended and the real issue had finally taken center stage.

"Colonel Chambers had a point though; it was foolish of me to send out first year students instead of seniors who had three years of experience on them."

"That's probably going to be a blow to the pride of teams RWBY and IONC." Ironwood quipped.

"That can be mended with a few well-chosen missions, life can't be." The other man countered. "The tunnel that train was using was part of the old Mormont Transit Network, the same one previously owned by Auriga Shipping and Transport. It ran from the kingdom's southwestern borders all the way up to the northern swamp lands."

"Those railways have been shut down for over twenty-five years."

"Yes, abandoned, unnoticed, off the map. It's not unheard of for criminals to use them for transportation."

"Still don't you think it's strange that a rail system that's been off the grid for two decades is suddenly working like brand new? I feel like we're going to have to talk to President Auriga."

"Unfortunately the DIA is already on that James." Ozpin responded with a distant look in his eyes.

Ironwood gave a humorless chuckle at the thought. He'd only met the president of the world's largest shipping three times and his impression of him was always the same; the man was simply incapable of holding anything resembling malicious intent. More importantly Darien Auriga and his wife made sure to keep such a tight hold over his company to avoid it being used for less than noble reasons as it was sixty years ago. The general feared all the DIA was going to do was just come up on more dead ends. Nothing but a waste of time and resources they needed. _But no one else has access or knowledge about the Mormont Lines beside the Auriga Corporation. That means someone working there must know something. _"I'm assuming you're going to close off all old exits and stops that the line used to pass through?" Reading the frown on his old friend's face Ironwood could sense something bad was coming. His mind worked at light speed formulating the ugly truth Ozpin was about to tell him. "They're going to pass this up in favor of bracing for the FFR anniversary aren't they?"

All Ozpin did was give a solemn nod. Ironwood cursed. _Even now twenty-one years later that stupid war is still biting us in the ass. _

"To make up for that several highly trained teams of Huntsmen and DIA squadrons are being deployed to investigate all the sights were the line passed through." He spoke leaning back a little. "For now it's all we can do. I can spare no more than five teams myself, the council has given me explicit orders to focus the academy's students on making sure the anniversary goes off without a hitch."

The general of Atlas wanted to laugh and call the Vale council a pack of idiots for blindly ignoring such an obvious security concern. Then again he couldn't exactly say wanting to keep the twenty-second anniversary of the Faunus Rights Revolution civil. The White Fang had been getting more and more daring in the last few months and that couldn't be brushed off. "Did you ever think the war would have such a far-reaching impact Oz?"

"Of course I did James. The problem was those like me were decried as madmen and cowards. Now look at where we are."

On the map of the Mormont Transit the two men counted at least fourteen stops or stations the old railway had crossed past. There were too many to be properly searched with a half-ass effort the kingdom's government was going for. A handful of the stations were in the wilderness or rather, places that nature had reclaimed for her own. Dangerous animals, Grimm, and natural barriers would hold up any investigation made into them, likely for days. Those in the city might have been easier though with the recent weeks keeping a hold on Faunus-violence had taken precedence.

Ozpin and Ironwood knew maybe in a month or two some terrorist attack was going to take place, with them knowing about it yet being able to do nothing to stop it. That or maybe they'd get lucky and they'd be able to mobilize once the anniversary was over.

Neither of them held much hope for the second scenario. They were too old and too experienced to believe in such optimism like so many of Beacon's students.

* * *

Cardin's eye twitched three times before his mouth started working again. "You've got to be kidding me."

"…"

"Of all the people to tutor me it had to be you? How in the hell is a Faunus supposed to tell me about how to treat a guy who's guts are bleeding out in front of me?" Cardin shouted nearly throwing his books on the ground.

"First off the odds of that happening are eight to one given the recent events. Second by the time you even registered what had happened that person would be dead."

"…I hate this."

"If you hate it so much then you should have done better in Med-Treatment." She waited for the next three words that usually went along with a sentence directed at her.

Indigo eyes glared at unflinching brown eyes. Finally Cardin sighed and walked over then planted his butt on the chair. Growling he cracked up a book on human anatomy. Besides a constant growling in the back of his throat Cardin said nothing.

Velvet was silently taken back. No insults about her heritage. If all the mace-wielder did was growl at her then this tutor session was going to go a lot faster. All Velvet and Cardin had to do was avoid pissing each other off. That should be easy right?

A barrier came up around the human and Faunus that no man or woman dared enter. Even the nosier occupants of the study lounge quieted down so they could hear what was going on between Cardin and Velvet. Both of them were aware they were being watched. Velvet had grown mournfully used to it; Cardin hated it. Every few minutes he'd cast a deadly glare around them to ward off any one that got too curious about what they were doing. To Cardin they were nothing but hyenas looking for blood. If they got too close he was more than willing to give it to them, their own blood.

Sighing Velvet placed her book down and spoke directly to the knight, "Cardin, let it go. There's nothing you can do to stop them so just focus on your work."

Furious his eyes snapped back at her as did her voice. "Nothing I can do? Sorry but I'm not you, I can do something."

Driving back the scowl on her face Velvet raised her voice a little. "Which is more important to you? Passing Med-Treatment or beating the snot out of a few gossip girls? Do you want to be able to shove your grade in their faces?"

Like the bird he was named after Cardin's ego won out and in the end he returned to the book work he'd been distracted from. Velvet was glad she was at least able to use the one thing he treasured most to reel him in. It was the one power she had over him that he probably hated her for.

The only area of medical treatment Cardin seemed to have any grasp on were wounds to the lungs. Velvet was honestly disturbed by how knowledgeable he was concerning the lungs, what happened if they were damaged and how fast they could fill up with blood causing death. For Cardin's sake she didn't say anything and skipped over most knowledge regarding the lungs. He didn't protest, saying "Once the lungs go it's game over," and Velvet was hard-pressed to argue. He grew frustrated quickly forcing her to constantly bring his focus back so they could figure out what he was missing.

_I seriously pity anyone who gets injured and he's the only one around to provide first aid. _Velvet winced.

Besides a general understanding of where to swing his mace or which bones to break Cardin clearly didn't know much about actually helping _heal _a person who'd been hurt. Velvet wanted to roll her eyes at how stereotypical that was of a bully but she resisted in the name of getting past the hour without setting the Winchester off. Oddly enough he was patient with her just as she was with him. There were no snappy comments about her animal features, only her teaching ability. That one she could let slide.

Setting broken bones, closing up wounds, knowing how to move a person who had either broken bones or had been paralyzed, treating poison, recognizing when a wound was becoming infected, Cardin wondered where she learned all of this. Still glances at her every few minutes he pondered what her role on team CVFY was. He'd only seen them in battle once but was able to discern every one of their roles in battle save for Velvet. Hell, he didn't even know what her weapon was. Cardin looked at her hands, her soft delicate hands that he couldn't picture swinging an axe or pulling the trigger of a gun. Healing, he could see her doing. She didn't look like the type who enjoyed fighting like he did; he supposed that was just another difference between the two of them.

The snappy remarks they made against each other soon died out giving way to a blissful silence in which Cardin could admit he was able to focus on. Internally a voice kept chiding him that he should have just closed all the books and left the study lounge. He was a warrior, a Winchester, they don't heal and care for the wounded they lead in battle, burned the enemy to a crisp, and passed judgement on the sinful. What the hell was he doing learning how to treat a person who had his arm blown off? Lightly tapping his fingers on the table he thought of his teammates. If something like this happened to them he wanted to know what he could do to keep them from dying, other than smashing whatever it was that had hurt them.

As shameful as it was Cardin waited until Velvet reached into one of the bags she'd brought along leaving her backside facing him. "How do you know this stuff? Are you the team medic?"

She blinked at him twice as if stunned he asked her a question that wasn't really related to their work. Even more, it wasn't phrased in a rude manner. "Well…from time to time I do. Out of everyone on my team I have the best Aura control because I make more use of it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like using my weapon."

Again, he'd never seen Velvet's weapon, no one had. "Why? What does it do, shot exploding carrots?"

It was a joke, a light hearted one. "N-No, it's…well you can say it's…just trust me when I tell you I don't use it often for a good reason."

"Can't, or won't?" The knight further questioned raising an eyebrow.

Velvet gave a pause before answering, "Both. Cardin, my weapon isn't the kind of thing you can use in a sparring match or use to settle some petty vendetta."

In retrospect Velvet probably should have left out that last bit because it seemed to have stirred something in Cardin. Knowing him he probably interpreted it as meaning he wasn't worth of being the target of its use.

Though the frown remained on his face Cardin directed his attention to another area. A diagram in a book had descriptions of wounds alongside classifications for cauterizing wounds. A small layer of heat started building in his right hand with his eyes carefully watching it. There was no fear in the rabbit-Faunus as she felt what impact her comments made have made had already faded. A sorrowful expression crossed Cardin's eyes as he continued scanning over the page's contents.

_Come to think of it I've never had to cauterize a wound, and I'm hoping he doesn't have to either. _"It'll hurt but in the aftermath trust me you'll know you did the right thing." She offered.

"Usually I'm thinking about how hot I have to go in order to blow someone's skull off." He gruffly responded quenching the heat building up in his palm.

"Then maybe this is just what you needed. It can't be that hard, I mean your Semblance is Ignition, creating bombs out of whatever you touch. That's got to involve measuring your power right?" _Or do you just flood all your power into your target until they go boom? _

Both of his shoulders eased at her question. Dare she say he looked almost relaxed. "It's just…I don't ever think about using my Semblance on my own teammates. Usually whatever I touch goes boom and that's the end of the story. Using it to sear a wound shut? That sounds like torture to me."

"No one ever said first aid was easy, that's why they always say to be careful." Velvet shrugged. "If you're not then worse case you'll find yourself in a really uncomfortable situation."

Tense silence fell over the two. By the time the hour was up their tutoring was finished and Cardin could say he had a better grasp of healing someone instead of hurting them. All thanks to the person he'd been one of the top targets of his bullying. The fact that she was able to remain so civil with him surprised him. Half the time he was expecting her to bite his head off which was stupid because rabbits don't bite, they kick. He certainly deserved one for the abuse he put her through.

_She knows I hate her, she probably hates me just as much as I hate her, so why aren't I in the infirmary with a broken neck? _He continuously thought stealing glances at her face instead of her rabbit ears. _It wouldn't be a stretch for her to leap over this table and knock me into next week, screw the audience. _Despite the fact he was supposed to be studying first aid Cardin had spent just as much time studying Velvet. The girl was a puzzle he simply couldn't complete without making it too obvious. What was his interest in her anyway? There were far from friends and that didn't seem likely to change so what? Privately he admitted she had some courage to face him in spite of all the things he'd done to her. That and there had to be something mentally wrong with her if she agreed to tutor him. There was only one way to answer that last question, "Why did you do this? Why did you agree to tutor me? You could have just let me keep failing and nothing would have happened to you."

Velvet contemplated her answer before opening her mouth. He deserved an honest answer. "I tutor a lot of students, freshmen, second years, fourth-years, disabled students. They all need help and that's what I give them so they can succeed."

"You didn't answer my question." Cardin scowled.

Her eyebrows knitted. "I did it because it's what I enjoy doing. You were in danger of failing first aid and I was one of the best students in class; I was asked to keep you from failing."

Strangely that answer seemed to satisfy him. At least it did on the outside. Inside there was another question that Cardin wanted to ask, one that went like, if you weren't asked would you have done it anyway? Wisely he kept his mouth shut and began gathering all of his supplies. She was turning to leave when another thing rolled out of his mouth faster than he could stop it. "What do you know about Animal Square?"

Shock was clearly written all over her face. "Why?"

"On Monday…my team has a mission there. It'd be…nice to know what we're going getting into instead of stumbling around in the dark."

_Hm, so he can learn. _The V of team CVFY thought amused. "Other than keeping your emblem hidden don't be an asshole to everyone you meet. They're people just like you Cardin, and you're in _their _territory. What part of town are you going into?"

"A place called Calaveras Row." Seeing Velvet cringe inwardly his frown deepened. "Shitty?"

"Number six out of the top ten." She answered matching eyes with him. "Like I said, if you can keep your emblem hidden. Some of the gangs won't think twice about ripping your face off, student of Beacon or not. Oh and try to keep the fact you're a Winchester a secret for as long as possible because even if they won't kill you they…"

"I know Velvet." He calmly interrupted. He took a deep breath as if already dreading the fact he was one minute closer to Monday. "I know it's…just that time of the year. Lot of days I wish we could just skip over the anniversary and get right to the Vytal Festival."

Momentarily shocked he used her name Velvet began walking away until she stopped in her tracks. "Good luck then."

Cardin could feel the eyes on him. Turning his head gave the spectators reason to find a new subject of interest. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her retreating form until she was out of sight. _Good luck? Shouldn't you have been saying don't forget to bring the camera so I can show you all the pictures of my pulverized body? Or record the whole thing so you can have it on home video?_

* * *

Ruby honestly thought she was going to die of boredom by the time the lesson ended. How did she even end up sitting in a classroom with sixteen other students being taught by Professor Sokolski, fourth year instructor of battlefield tactics and weapons engineering. Stories of her ranged from the outlandish to the mundane like she shot out the eyes of a ten-meter tall Nevermore using just one bullet to defeating an entire hitman squadron armed with military grade weapons by herself. Rather or not they were true didn't matter, they all spoke of her incredible skill that allowed her to take on Grimm and man alike. How she ended up at the academy was a well-kept secret only the staff and a few students knew. God only knew when the information got out that she left the DIA to become a full time teacher the crime element of Vale breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Until they realized she was now trying new, young children to be armed with the same deadly skills she possessed to do her job. Ruby admittedly felt proud of the fact she was being taught by such a high-level Huntress expect it didn't feel like it. Instead of being taught all the secrets of gun-fu and sniping she was sitting at a desk staring at a packet chalk full of math problems and real-life situations she had no idea how to answer.

Standing patiently at the front of the room dressed in a business suit that fit her shapely body a little too well with a gray-black tie she was the picture of lethal beauty. Her hair, a reddish brown color was neatly tied into a pony-tail that reached just a little past her neck with countless strands curling up in c-shapes. Her dark blue eyes roamed the classroom like the falcon she'd often been compared to not leaving not detail unnoticed, least of all the students. A semi-crossed shaped scar decorated the right side of her of face around her eye. From the looks of things two separate attempts to carve her right eye out had been made and stopped mid-way, the horizontal cut stopped just under her eye and barely running up to the bridge of her noise. It was often joked she was the second most hard-ass teacher at the academy besides Professor Goodwitch and she didn't deny it. Professor Sokolski brought the same white-hot intensity she did in battle into her teacher. Among the students she was nick named the "Professor Death Glare" because that was her default expression when teaching. Ruby didn't believe it until she watched several students prove the worth of the title for her.

She freely allowed students to go to the bathroom and whatnot but if she sensed something was up the answer was a sharp no. The redhead didn't feel she needed to press her luck. At best she still wanted to avoid drawing attention to herself after the Mount Glenn mission.

Truthfully she had a silent panic when she received the message to show up in one of the classes once the school day ended for special weapons training. Normally she would have been off the wall with excitement but instead she felt dread. Walking in she was taken back to see she knew some of the faces in the classroom including Sky Lark of team CRDL. All of them had weapons that could transform into a sniper rifle or some kind of long range firearm.

Once they were all sited the brunette haired professor jumped straight to the point. "As some of you may have realized everyone in this room possesses some modicum of skill in the field of sniping. Now I imagine you all must be pretty proud of this skill." Giving a humorless chuckle she grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing on the board. By the time she was finished more than half the class was scratching their heads at the complicated problem. Basically it boiled down to if a bullet was fired from a certain caliber rifle how fast would it go, what would be the force of impact, would it be an instant kill-shot, and how would outside factors like affect the shot. Professor Sokolski seemed to enjoy their confusion which put almost all of them at unease. "Now maybe this is a little too complex for you but the fact remains that for a sniper being able to know these things is vital. Given the fact that only half of you can answer this problem confirms exactly why all of you were picked for the Hitchcock Program. For that don't know the Hitchcock Program is a joint training program with the Vale Army focused on breeding the next generation of snipers for each and every mission possible. To be accepted into it means all of you are the best of the best in fields of long range marksmanship…" She waited for the grins and self-compliments to reach their peak before continuing. "However it also means all of you need training to reach the level required."

Oh joy, she was a sadist too.

"U-U-Um," Sky meekly rose his hand surprising Ruby and on-lookers. Who would have expected such a display from one of team CRDL. "Ma'am, what do you mean required? Are we being held up to the Academy's standards?"

"No Sky Lark," she smiled. "You're being held up to the quota set by the Vale Minister of Defense and all the seniors of the army and navy. Quite simply this is beyond the academy, this is the level of trained, professional soldiers." The smile contained real warmth upon seeing the stunned look on their faces. It was the first positive display of emotion any of them had seen from her. "Yes, yes, all of you have every right to be honored and terrified."

Military standards, it had an odd ring to Ruby. Never had she imagined she'd end up in such situation. Ruby found it almost laughable. Quickly she found Professor Sokolski wasn't kidding about it being a military-issued course; the questions deeply resembled something one would see on a military testing course. Ruby peered across the room, her feelings were mutual. Most of them were more field-experience then this on-paper knowledge they were being put through. Put them in a live combat situation and they could do just fine. Put them in front of test such as this reach required them to draw out their full brain power without adrenaline pumping through their veins, none of them were going to leave this room feeling proud.

Through their combined nervousness Ruby and Sky formed a small friendship in the two hours they were stuck in that room. Sky was nowhere near the level of the other occupants in the room but his skills were enough to get him into the program. Taking pity on him Ruby did her best to fend him some answers. Graciously he took them and in turn helped where he could.

_We're not going to be looking at a training field for a while. _She thought bitterly hearing Professor Sokolski announce in ten minutes she's rounding up the test. Out of the forty-six questions in the packet she'd answered maybe twenty-two; she had no idea how many of them were correct. _Half of these scenarios must have really happened because they sound way too real to be purely hypothetical. Oh man, if any of us were in these situation I'm not sure we'd be able to make the shoot without getting spotted, killed, failing the mission, or just screwing up. _When she finally ran out of brain power she did what she always did on a test; she drew doodles. _Who cares if she calls it childish! It's crazy expecting us to questions only a trained soldier would know the answer to! We're only kids! _

The Huntress's eyes scanned the room over and over again for ten minutes after all the tests had been collected. Needless to say when she spoke it caught everyone's attentions. "As you all can imagine half of these questions were unanswerable. Now was the point. While you all are good you still have a ways to go. That is what this program is meant to do, train you so you all will be able to answer this questions as well as put yourself in these situations and find a way to complete the mission objective. Any questions on that?"

Chatter quietly erupted amongst the students. Sky quickly turned to Ruby with his brow creased in horror. "This is crazy! I shouldn't be in here! None of us should be doing this stuff! We're Huntsmen and Huntresses not soldiers!"

Taking the blue haired boy's questions into account Ruby slowly raised her hand again quieting the chatter. Professor Sokolski herself seemed surprised to see the redhead's arm raised. "Yes Miss Rose?"

"Er, Professor Sokolski, if I may," She started trying to build up her voice. "Why are we being put through this training program? You said it yourself this is a military training course; therefore, why are academy students being assigned it. While I'm sure all of us are…honored," she had to pause to regain her breath and thoughts. Somewhere Weiss was probably tensing up, hoping her lessons in social grace were going to pay off. More importantly in front of these people she had to look well-mannered. "It doesn't exactly make much sense why we, civilians, are having to do this."

Their gazes held across the classroom. Sympathy began to glaze over her eyes and her words came out soft, "Miss Rose you raise an excellent point. Now to answer your question let me ask you this, are you not already soldiers?"

Ruby was the focal point of the confusion of the class. "Huh, well, I didn't sign up for the army but I…"

"What is the definition of a soldier? Do you not pick weapons and fight, shed blood both alien and your own in the name of the kingdom?" she started her words being soft yet her face not betraying a hint of emotion. "Sure you may wield exotic weaponry and special abilities but can any of you tell me the difference between a Huntsman and a common soldier?" When silence met her question she cocked her head to the side unnerving some of the students. "Do they both not fight to secure the safety of the kingdom and its people? Don't they both pick up weapons in the name of justice and peace? Can a Huntsman be a hero but a soldier is denied that honor?"

"But soldiers don't fight Grimm, we do. It's our job." One student challenged growing somewhat irritated by the comparison.

"Ah, true," she nodded closing both eyebrows. Then, just to show how high above them she was Professor Sokolski opened one eye to glance around the room. "But there are times when the regular army _is _deployed to deal with Grimm. Sometimes a threat such as a Deathwing, Chimera, U-Rex, Achernotia, or some other behemoth appears and can only be beaten back with the might of pure military force. If then, is a Huntsman or Huntress not just another soldier on the front lines? The average soldier is just as capable of killing a Beowolf as any of you are because they like you, are trained to kill." The last word fell like a hammer over every student's head. No one moved or spoke a word to refute her declarations. Maybe because when they thought about it they realized she was right. "Do these similarities not make you and soldiers one in the same? Oh, and last I checked don't you both take orders from the same government?" Now she was clearly mocking them. "Do Huntsmen report to some special figure who works outside of Vale's ruling body? Don't both run the risk of dying in horrible agony? Who says Huntsman are spared that and receive noble deaths unlike the common grunt who gets a bullet in the skull or blown to pieces by well placed gunfire?" Both her cobalt blue eyes were open now. Everyone in the class wished like hell one or both had remained shut. The softness had been replaced by a frost that matched only by the mountains of Atlas. "Make no mistake, Huntsmen and soldier, they are merely two sides of the same coin. If you don't believe me or see the reasoning behind anything I just said…then I'd advise you to walk yourself over to the administration office and resign from Beacon immediately."

Even though she didn't shout, even though it was moderate, even though not a hint of anger could be detected in her voice, Professor Sokolski's words had the force of thunder behind them.

Ruby for the most part had been frozen completely in her seat. Sky leaned over and shook her to make sure she was alright. He stopped when he realized the professor was looking directly at her. With a not-smile but a not-frown she quietly asked, "Did that answer your question Miss Rose?"

"…Yes ma'am."

* * *

**This chapter comes at the tail end of watching "Blood Lions" on MSNBC, seeing another mass shooting, and watching the latest political comedy act. In other words I was very depressed and numbed. Anyways no action this chapter in favor of story development and character interaction. Ruby's bit I especially wanted to get down because what's discussed is going to be a central theme of the story. Cardin and his team are about to re-enter the spotlight back right after the next chapter which is going to heavily feature Jaune and his team taking a walk through a forest. *Grabs a fire hydrant* And no, no one's going to be sent to the hospital but someone is going to be left a little traumatized. **

**J**


	20. Chapter 20: Jaune sees the Fire

**Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed this story! **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Jaune sees the Fire**

* * *

_The Next Day…_

* * *

When Jaune heard they were going to be touching down soon he felt like shouting in joy. He couldn't for two reasons: one it would have been too embarrassing and two, the only sound he could make were sickening moans due to his flight sickness. All in all he thought he was getting better at it. According to his teammates his face had managed to avoid going from seaweed green to light green. Jaune wasn't a color expert but he was sure that had to be some improvement. Professor Port continuously slapped him on the shoulder telling him to buck.

He seriously didn't need the extra pep-talk.

In attempt to take his mind off his flight sickness he tried to focus on what he saw outside the windows. It wasn't much besides rolling forests and a few hills that rose and fell like waves. Bringing the tread were a few sizable rivers that sneaked their way through then disappeared for a little while. Beside him Pyrrha riddled off little facts about the area to help keep him interested. Ryswell, their destination was once a mighty establishment home to Ryswell Castle, then the Grimm moved in and all but destroyed the settlement over one hundred years ago. After that some Faunus moved in and made the former castle town their own. It was three days walk from Vale City if one didn't encounter anything dangerous along the way.

From his seat he could make out the faintest remains of castle defenses: towers, batteries, and trenches that had long since been abandoned to time. Catching his interests were craters that were visibly from the airship. Pressing his face closer he saw they weren't natural, they were man made. _Oh awesome, now whatever is causing all these wild fires can blow chunks out of the ground too. Some mission this is turning out to be. _Scenes of burned forest became more prominent the further in they went. More modernized buildings began to crop up the closer they got until it actually looked like a modern town was within view.

A collection of modern and ancient buildings grouped together with a few roads stretching outward and a large castle in the background.

The moment the Bullhead touched down Jaune threw away the pride he'd been holding onto and pulled the door open. Falling to all fours he barfed all over the ground not caring if anyone saw him. _One day I'm going to do this and it's going to be on someone's shoes. Knowing my luck it'll probably be some politician or big-name Huntsman. _He already had the unceremonious title of "Vomit Boy" courtesy of doing it to Ruby. _How long do I have to wait before that name gets tossed around? I'll be a bigger laughing stock. _Looking upward he could make out several figures approaching him. Quickly standing up and wiping himself off he did his best to look regal, minus the puddle of barf by his feet. _Oh yeah, like no one's going to notice that or question a bird dropped it right next to me. _

The town mayor, a bear-Faunus rushed up to them on the helipad along with a few security guards armed with semi-out dated rifles.

Team JNPR lined up in perfect unison as Professor Port introduced them. Surprisingly he was rather civil when conversing with the mayor. A small audience had gathered in the rear, some of them were snapping pictures while others were just sending cold hearted glares. It wasn't hard to guess why that was given. Good intentioned they may have been they were still humans being assigned to protect an all-Faunus village.

_I guess it's a good thing I wasn't put on a team with Weiss. Half of them would have been throwing acorns at us or worse. _More than anything Jaune was surprised the mayor had enough to afford a limo. _Stop that. These are still people. People who happen to live on a farm that exports some of the best ingredients in the whole kingdom and mine half the rare minerals used in creating Scrolls, computers, and a whole bunch of other electronics I'd probably blow out before learning how to use. _

Life in Ryswell wasn't all that different from Vale other than magnitude. Compared to the big city Ryswell was more…quieter. Looking out at the town streets Jaune was reminded of his own hometown up north. A historical town that wasn't too small but didn't quit qualify as a city. Another huge difference was the fact that Faunus were able to freely walk the streets without fear of being robbed, insulted, beaten, or persecuted. He thought Blake, Chicahua, Sun, and Velvet would have liked it here.

For the night they'd be staying at a hotel until midnight when the bandit raid was supposed to take place. Nora wasn't up for that and decided she wanted to explore Ryswell. Unwilling to leave her alone Ren went with her leaving Jaune and Pyrrha by themselves.

"I think we should go over what we're up against." He started much to her approval.

Using one of the tables in the hotel room they laid out a printed map of Ryswell Castle and the surrounding area. A medium sized town with over two hundred miles of forest stretching out in all directions filled with wild animals and more than likely Grimm. Beyond the central town there were a few outposts and fortresses where their targets, anti-Faunus bandits were hiding out. Jaune examined which hideouts were known to be active and calculated at which time they'd be moving it. He narrowed them down to four; A, B, C, and D. Together the four formed a rough shaped rhombus around the castle town.

"If they come from site C then we'll have to watch the water ways. You'll have to magnetize any entrances leading into town. Site D will involve them sneaking in through the road while everyone' asleep. If these guys are serious then all they have to do is follow a few set courses and they'll be right at town hall." Pausing he drew an X over the last two sites. "Sites B and A are too wide open and too heavily guarded for them to try and use. Look outs with good eyesight have been placed at both sites and will see them coming a mile away. For the past few weeks they've been doing nothing but vandalism and smalls-scale arson. If the mayor's fears are true then tonight they plan on changing things up, probably planting bombs all over town or using them to kill whoever they can."

"With that in mind I'm assuming you have a plan." Pyrrha spoke with a small smile forming on her lips. He couldn't place it but there was something unnerving about that smile.

"Actually…I do. I'm just worried about if Professor Port is willing to go along with it." He answered.

"As long as it's a good one I will have no issue with it!" The bearded man's booming voice shouted along with the sound of the door being thrown up. Laughing lightly at Jaune's near panic attack he walked over to them. "Apologies for interrupting you, please continue."

The fact that the professional Huntsman was willing to listen to his plan left Jaune a little stunned but he recovered. "U-Um, okay. Well what I's suggesting is we place Nora and Ren by the water front entrance. Nora's lightning attacks will light up the whole place so Ren can take care of whoever tries to come through. We're talking low-level bandits with maybe a basic grasp of Aura usage at best, nothing we can't handle. The rest of us will be stationed by the other entrance. First up will be Pyrrha. Odds are if they wise up and realize they can't get past you they'll split up and take on another route to get to town hall. There's too much space for us to cover and way too little we can do to stop them." For a moment a shadow of a grim materialized on his face. "What we can do is set up a trap for when they get to town hall. The town police are already patrolling the area and if we they make it through the blockade I'm sure me and professor could take 'em." Glad he was able to get his plan out Jaune faced Professor Port, fearful of what his reaction would be.

Both teenagers looked heatedly at the bearded man not fully knowing what to expect. They had never per say seen Professor Port in action themselves, just heard his stories, which we totally unreliable, and the praises from other professors. Jaune was fully expecting his plan to be rebuked, mocked, and ridiculed for not being 'manly enough' for the professor's tastes. That was evident in the collection of sweat on his brow.

Professor Port's eyebrows went cross for a moment as he looked over the map. There was a brief stroking of his beard before he nodded approvingly. "A sound and capable plan Mr. Arc! Tell me though, what kind of traps do you plan on setting? I highly doubt the town police department keeps landmines, tripwires, and the like in stock nor did we bring anything of that sort with us."

"W-Weiss taught me how to create Dust traps!" he blurted out feeling the rush of blood in his body reverse direction. His plan had been accepted, he hadn't goofed up the mission yet. "I-I-I'm barely mediocre but I know how to create a landmine using fire Dust or a freeze trap with ice. I can set them up all around town hall. When the bandits marauders come through they'll activate the traps, they're caught off guard and bomb, we hit em while they're confused." For the life of him he hoped he didn't come off like some wannabe hero with a half-assed plan. Thinking on the professor's words he wished he had brought something like a box of trip wires from the academy arms store. _Do I even know how to use or set up trip wires? Does Pyrrha? I sure as hell know Nora doesn't but maybe Ren does. Damn it I should have asked him before we left! _

"Excellent then! Rest for a moment because in five minutes or so we're heading down to the local police station to inform the officers of the plan. There you will present it to them." The bearded Huntsman stated.

Jaune's eyes remained normal for a second before widening. "M-Me? Y-You want me to present? To a department of Faunus?" Beside the professor Jaune saw Pyrrha herself look someone shocked by his declaration. His blue eyes met with her green eyes in another one of their silent conversations. If anyone was qualified to speak it was her or Professor Port, not him. "With all due respect Professor I think it would be better if-"

"We took credit for a plan formulated by your mind? No my boy. On my pride as a Huntsman and a man I won't have." He shook his head, the look on his face showed Jaune he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

The door to the hotel room swung open revealing Ren and Nora. "Hey guys! When this mission is over you've got to go out and see this place! Yeah half the stuff in it is old but it's the cool kind of old! The cannons still work! Most of the defenses are still intact and if you look close enough you can still see where all the bombs have been going off around town! Oh and the food!" Her expression went dreamy for half a second. Grabbing onto Ren's shoulder she began tracing food shapes with her fingers. "We _would _have brought you guys something back but Mr. Sourpuss here said we had to be back in under an hour."

Gently prying his arm free Ren coughed into his head. "I already told you we can get something to eat after the mission's over with. I'm assuming we've come up with a plan while we were gone."

The grin on Professor Port's face should have answered his question but he looked specifically to Jaune and Pyrrha. Having grown used to seeing the wince on Jaune's face he began bracing for the worst. Needless to say he was quite surprised when Jaune told them he did in fact have a plan, a decent one at that. Regardless, he couldn't shake the ugly feeling in his stomach that there was something else waiting for them. Besides a gang of anti-Faunus extremist he knew the Grimm were out there beyond the town walls. The question was would they be drawn to the malice of a few humans. Away from his teammates Ren decided he would end things as quickly as possible, before the situation escalated to something they couldn't handle.

* * *

Jaune suspected nightfall in Ryswell must have been far more lively than what he was currently experiencing. In the police station and on the street he'd heard some talk about how disrupted it had become thanks to all the raids. When they thought he wasn't listening those around him would shift their conversations to seedier domains he felt no need to learn of. As night continued settling in Jaune began to notice a great many nocturnal Faunus began taking their shifts. Not many of them talked to him as much as they did his teammates. Just before they all broke apart Jaune was able to deduce why that was. Professor Port and Nora practically breathed charisma that showed the Faunus they weren't enemies or dangerous to them in the least bit, Pyrrha's skill and name were enough to get her a modicum of respect even if they didn't speak a word to her, and Ren was just a natural go with the flow kind of person that opposed Nora and the Professor's auras. That left him, the blond haired, clumsy leader that barely held it together during the briefing at the police station. By some miracle he'd managed to get through the whole plan without breaking down though he knew half the room could sense his nervousness.

They may have agreed to his plan but he didn't garner the kind of respect his teammates did. He'd gotten used to that kind of reaction. The cold glares were something new though. In the alone time he had away from everyone else Jaune was able to deduce why. As a child his family always gushed over how handsome a man he'd be when he was older. _Heh, maybe if I live long enough I'll have Neil's level of appeal with girls, human ones anyway. _With Faunus it was quite a different story. The blond hair and blue eyes his family had often prided themselves on had the opposite effect on Faunus. The "perfect Aryan" look he'd been born with was almost the poster image for human purity over "Faunus filth" over centuries. The image of blond haired blue eyed warrior men defending helpless humans against savage Faunus had inspired too much violence for anyone's taste. In the past countless Faunus had come to hate their very image and now he shows up with a plan to save the Faunus town before death claimed them all seemed like too much of a cliché even for him.

Quietly Jaune shared whatever bitter laughter that had been going on behind his back. _You sure don't like me do ya? All those years of praying and going to church, still doing the praying part ya know, and this is how you say thanks? Okay maybe I am being just a little out of line but please, just let this one thing go right. This people don't deserve to have their town wiped out. Not when all they're trying to do is just live out their lives as peacefully as possible. _

Most of the rooms in the citadel in the center of town had undergone modern revisions to keep up with the changing times. Despite this all one had to do was look at some of the stonewalls and furniture to tell the structure had been built during darker times. From the outside the place looked more like a fortress than anything else, considering there was a once lavish castle just up the hill that probably was the original intent. It offered a lovely view of most of Duncaster, no doubt a tactile decision made by the town's original builders. Apparently since the days of old it had been used as a shelter every time something major threatened the town's existence. When he asked why they didn't use the castle he was told it was haunted by Grimm. That or some freakishly huge Grimm lived beneath the castle thus it was off limits. Rather or not the rumors were true Jaune had no intention of ever finding that out.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and all the action will be taken care of before I get down there." He sighed leaning back in his chair. The idea didn't bother him very much besides it wouldn't boost his reputation. He'd get credit for the plan but not the execution of it. Then again lately he'd still been questioning if he still wanted the praise of his classmates. Childish as it was he still hadn't forgiven them for their treatment of Ruby, her team, or team IONC. _If we fail what are the odds that's going to happen to us? Why are we all so willing to pounce one each other's failings? I know Beacon is competitive but do we seriously need to tear each other down just to- _

_**Boom! **_

Jumping so hard he fell headfirst onto the floor the knight's heart almost jumped out of his chest. Amazingly while his body tried to recover his mind analyzed the sound and identified it for what it was; airship cannons. _No way! There's no way in hell they could have! Just no way a couple of anti-Faunus fanatics living in the woods could have access to airships! _Jaune thought crawling towards the window. As he had wished there were now various columns of smoke rising up from the town in various districts with three gray dots buzzing through the sky. Illuminated by the flames they'd created Jaune spied the three Bullheads raining down fire on every building that came into view. "Shit!" Paralyzed all he could do was watch from the window as the flames started to spread to nearby buildings. "They weren't going with bomb; they plan on leveling this town or at least scarring everyone into…" Eyes growing wide a shudder of fear and anger went through Jaune. Recalling all the stories he heard about the castle he gripped the window sill tighter than before until his knuckles turned white. _They wouldn't! They couldn't! This town has been around for over four hundred years! Even if there was a Grimm living in that old castle it'd definitely have slaughtered the entire town by now! _

Outside Jaune could hear the officers mobilizing to counter the threat. He doubted the police depart had anything that could compete with three Bullheads probably armed with missiles, machine guns, and maybe one or two laser cannons.

_**Boom! **_

Another collection of buildings went up in flames along with countless lives they couldn't save. A familiar heat washed over Jaune's body making him wish he could sprout wings and fly directly into the three airships. The only thing that cooled that rising fire was a tiny voice in the back of his head he'd gained since he began training with Pyrrha and listening to Professor Mulnix's lessons. _STOP! _Jaune commanded his body. _They're already here so there's nothing we can do about that! There's three of them, probably standard-issue with standard weaponry. Downing one is going to be hard but not impossible. _One of the bullheads stopped in its tracks to focus on demolishing an ancient looking structure Jaune assumed to be some kind of library. It got off no more than four shots before a pink explosion lit up its right side engine. It may have been his imagination but Jaune could have sworn he heard Nora's distinct battle cry carry over the night air. _We have Nora who can probably down all three of them if we give her the chance. Besides her Ren and Pyrrha can too if they can get a clear shot at the cockpits. The problem is how do we get them to focus on us? These guys can't be that stupid unless…_Now wasn't the time to gamble on racist stupid but Jaune had to take the chance.

_**Boom! **_

If they could lure the three aircraft into some open square where his teammates could get a shot then they could finish things in one go with minimum damage to the town. Pyrrha's Polarity Semblance could give them the cover as well as dry away fire from them while they get into position. That left the issue of getting Ren up close to one of the cockpits. There was no doubt his dual-wielding best friend would have little issue but they would still need to cover him. Gulping Jaune watched one of the Bullheads release a volley of missiles into a narrow street. Two projectiles flew out of the smoke and exploded meters away from it. _We'll need something to keep them occupied while Ren makes the climb. _The last variable Jaune added was Pyrrha's focus. Would she be able to launch Ren upward while avoiding air fire in the dead of night? _Stupid question, it's Pyrrha! _Now that he had some form of a plan in mind Jaune fumbled for his Scroll. Calls from all three of his teammates and the professor had been coming in while he'd been calculating. _I hope I don't become this zoned out whenever I do this stuff. One day it's going to cost me my head or something. _

Behind him the door to his room burst open, the Faunus officer's face a mask of urgency. "Hey blondie! We got trouble! Everyone down by the…" the words died in his mouth when Jaune spun around to face him.

The blue eyes that had touring the inner walls of the police station conference room were now hard and focused. The same could be said for their owner who stood before the window as fire engulfed Ryswell. "I've got a plan. Spread the word around."

* * *

"Don't you bastards have any decency!?" Nora screamed firing another shot at the Bullhead. "Don't you realize people are trying to sleep!"

"You're not helping the case Nora." Ren chided causing Nora to puff her cheeks. Ever since he'd hooked up with Nora he hadn't bothered firing Storm Flower. As usual when it came to firepower Nora had things covered. Instead he kept his eyes focused on his Scroll. A green arrow highlighted which way they were supposed to go which wasn't easy with an airship constantly raining down gunfire above. He'd used a Dust shard to create a barrier around them though it could only hold up against so much damage. Combined with the narrow streets and Ren found it a miracle they were making headway at all.

Each time Nora took a shot at the Bullhead it would move away just enough to avoid her grenades or at least most of the damage. Nora wanted nothing more than to leap off the ground and bring Magnhild down right on top of the cockpit. When she got Jaune's message that was the first thing she hoped for, whatever plan he had ended with bringing her hammer down on the aircraft. And the other two, Pyrrha and Ren could just watch.

The barrier protecting them came down due to the force of another explosion to their left. Ren threw up another however their pursuers weren't willing to let that happen. Her turquoise eyes caught sight of the Bullhead's gun torrent preparing to fire. Ren wasn't going to make it in time. "Don't freak Renny!" She called channeling a collection of electricity into her palms. Throwing up her hand a cocoon of green lightning enveloped the duo as they continued running. If either of them had stopped to look at the barrier they would have seen the armor-piercing rounds being either redirected or flanking to the ground. With every second that passed Nora barrier grew weaker and weaker allowing a few shots to make it through. "Tell me we're almost there! I want to blow those guys out of the sky already!"

She had no idea how much she shared the sentiment. "There! Town square!"

An array of weaponry had been set up including mortars and rocket launchers Ren found somewhat strange for a policed department to have. In the center was Jaune looking nervous but determined and Professor Port holding his Blunderbuss barrel down. Despite the chaos of his surroundings the old Huntsman was the calmest of the bunch. Pyrrha would have been but the tow childhood friends could see sparks of anger slowly working their way into her emerald green eyes.

"JJJJaune! You've got a plan right? One that involves me smashing those guys right? Or blowing them out of the sky and watching them break their legs on impact!"

Quickly he explained his plan to his three teammates. For her part Nora looked excited about it while Ren remained static. It was hard to tell if being launched over a hundred feet into the earth was enough to even make him nervous but he loaded both of his guns.

The three Bullheads converged on the town square opening up everything they had into the collection of Faunus officers assembled. No doubt they would annihilate the batch here then head off to the citadel where the rest of the police force was. They circled around them in triangle formation like a pack of wolves preparing to take down their prey.

Calling fourth every automobile and sizable chunk of metal she could Pyrrha created a barrier just strong enough to stave off the attacks. The pilots of the three Bullheads were no doubt stunned at what they were seeing however their awe wore off as they continued blasting to find the defense wasn't iron-clad. Machine gun fire was shelved in favor of rockets and laser blasts that did far more in damaging the barrier. Aside from that where would the fun be in just blowing the Faunus and their protectors to smithereens when you could watch their bodies get cut to pieces?

Inside of the barrier Pyrrha commanded pieces of shrapnel to be sent out with speed rivaling that of bullets. None of the bits had the power to do major damage but they did get the three aircraft to back off a little. And lower their guard.

On the radar of one of the Bullheads the alarm sounded just as an entire car flew from the metallic barrier with shocking speed. Cursing the pilot jerked to the left to avoid the collision that would have taken it down. Breathing a sigh of relief he moved back into position to continue his assault until he looked to his sensors. Something incredibly small and nimble had landed on the roof of the Bullhead.

"What the hell is on the-"

_Boom! _

The tail end of the Bullhead exploded in a shower of fire and metal. It began spinning out of control towards the ground with its crew shrieking in panic and confusion inside.

Standing out with his green colored clothing Lie Ren watched the ground grow closer and closer with a cold frown. On his way up he'd seen the logo painted on the side of the Bullhead, OSS, the Order of Sapiens Supremacy. Upon seeing that logo what inkling of sympathy or regret he might have still had for the men inside vanished. Crossing both his arms he encased his blades in wind and fire. Gracefully back flipping off the damaged aircraft he made an X-shaped slash across the roof. It almost split the Bullhead in two before it collided with the pavement creating a small tremor.

Seeing one of their own downed by just one man the other Bullheads began to pull away from the metallic barrier. A split crack in the barrier opened only an automobile didn't fly out. Instead an orange haired maiden sailed through the burning night on top of a silver warhammer. Behind the glass the pilots of the second Bullhead pulled up so they could get a lock on her. A missile exited one of its chambers and flew towards Nora. The Valkyrie sneered at the pathetic attempt to stop her; with one swing she knocked the projectile off course and continued towards her target. Just before she brought Magnhild down Nora could glimpse the frightened faces of the Bullheads' pilots. Nora might have felt sorry for them if she wasn't array of the fact they were unforgiving racist murders.

_Boom! _

The remaining aircraft quickly made a beeline for open air now it was all alone. Back in the square the wall of barrier of metal came down though a few objects such as sign posts and cars remained suspended in the air. The Spartan and the knight sat on top one car each. This wasn't a part of the original plan but Pyrrha wasn't content to let Jaune sit on the sidelines. He wasn't either given how quickly he caved in.

She admitted she didn't do 'this sort of thing' often to Jaune moments before she propelled them across the sky slightly worrying Jaune. It would probably be easier for her since she could magnetize her whole body to stick to the car, Jaune didn't have that luxury. Holding on as tight as he could as Pyrrha launched them forward he found it a miracle he didn't scream at the top of his lungs. The burning buildings, bodies, and destruction flew past him barely giving him time to acknowledge them even if he craned his head to look. Not that he could with the wind hammering against his face to the point he could feel tears at the corner of his eyes. His grip on his sword and shield tightened as their objective grew closer and closer. Within his chest Jaune's heart had begun to thunder once more. It was Forever Falls all over again, only this time it was real. He wasn't prepared for the jump they made onto the ship's hall but he jumped anyway.

Pyrrha caught the edge of the hull and gracefully pulled herself up while Jaune hung by the edge for a minute until he was able to himself onto the hull. Pyrrha was already moving through the crew members at an insane pace. Panicky their shots went all over the place including into the cockpit where the pilots were angrily telling them to stop firing. In the confusion Jaune wasn't exactly sure what he should do until one of the men realized there was more than just the red-headed Spartan on the ship.

When Jaune saw the barrel of the gun swing towards him his instincts brought his shield up and his feet forward. He barely got off two shots before Jaune shield bashed him into one of his compatriots. To his left his sense one of the men preparing to open fire and blindly lashed out with his sword. The rifle flew from his hands then Jaune brought his sword down across the man's shoulders. Briefly he was stunned to see blood spray from the wound and cover his family sword; fear and shock came over the man's face as he stumbled to the side then fell out of the ship. A disgruntled cry came from his right, one of the men had forgone his rifle in favor of charging Jaune head on. Steeling himself he easily blocked the tackle with his shield the pushed back with a shout. Heavy breathing on his neck nearly gave him a heart attack but caused him to viciously slam his head back instead; he was met with another pained grunt. Spinning on his foot he dragged his sword across his next attacker's chest in a diagonal line.

Before Jaune could take in the scoop of what he'd just done something slammed against the Bullhead knocking it off balance. Shapes seemed to spill out of form right before Jaune's eyes followed by his sense of balance being lost. Faintly aware he was falling backwards the blond knight dropped to his knees and stabbed his sword into the floor. Using the chance to scour the Bullhead's insides he saw Pyrrha anchor herself by magnetizing her feet to the floor; the others in the cabin weren't so lucky. With terror filled screams a few toppled out of the airship into the infinite black below.

From the cockpit the two teenagers could hear the renewed screaming of the pilots. "Wyverns! Christ, we got a pair of Wyverns on our-"

He didn't need to say anymore for Jaune to get the hint. Looking back he saw a pair of draconic jaws lunging in his direction. A scream built in his mouth, it exploded even when he saw the jaws fly past him and latch onto one of the occupants of the airship. Fruitless clawing at the air his screaming continued even as he was dragged out of the cabin and out of sight. While he may not have had night vision Jaune could still make out the winged vintages of the airborne dragons. Another impact shook the Bullhead; it performed four complete rotations before the fear-stricken pilots managed to get it back under control. Looking across the cabin he saw Pyrrha looking between the open air and himself.

He already knew what she was thinking, she just needed his permission. "Go!" he ordered, his voice carrying through the cabin like thunder in the dead of night.

The next Wyvern flew towards the Bullhead expecting its ramming would be enough to knock the metallic bird out of the sky. It wasn't expecting to hear the war cry of a well-trained Spartan nor feel the brutal pain of her spear driving its way through its skull. Bucking and howling it attempted to throw Pyrrha off to little avail.

What little joy Jaune might have felt were squashed upon hearing metal explode and Wyverns howl. "We lost an engine! Shit man we're going down!" One of the pilots cried tugging on the joystick.

"Down! Look around you! We woke the whole damn flight!"

_Flight? _The knight repeated mentally. _The hell do you mean you woke the whole flight!? It's not that bad for crying out loud! _Wyverns traveled in flights, the typical total being anywhere from twenty to thirty. With that knowledge in mind Jaune prayed the men were just exaggerating, they must have. Another boom shook the cabin. _Oh come on! _"Pyrrha! Pyrrha! Pyrrha!" _She can't hear me! She's probably free falling through the air right now! I knew- _

_BOOM! _

Right underneath Jaune the airship seemed to break apart leaving him with nothing to hold onto. True fear gripped his heart and didn't let go. He was falling through the night sky with no parachute, no jetpack, and no way to stop his fall. His scream carried for and long, catching the attention of two Wyverns. As he fell Jaune took count, it wasn't a flight, it was only four or five. The two that had heard his scream dived towards him, one had flames building in its jaws and the other seemed to be a bolt of red and black lightning.

Their crimson eyes froze almost every bone in his body leaving him nothing but a human shaped rock descending towards the ground. _I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead! _Through his blue eyes the fireball launched from the Wyvern lagging behind seemed to come in slow motion. Jaune could have sworn he could feel the raw heat from the projectile even if it had just exited the demon's jaws. _This is it for me? This is how my story ends? No great battles? No awards or metals? No hot girlfriend to cry for me? _The faces of his teammates crossed his mind as soon as his mind finished speaking those words. The images of Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha's faces twisted in sadness made him squirm. No one had ever seen any of the three sad but they would be…because of him. Family and other friends came next, their happy faces turning into shocked and tearful frowns. A single familiar face bursting into tears was the final ember needed to light the fire building in his chest. Hefting his shield to the center Jaune couldn't deny the impact of the fireball sent a violent ripple through his body. Grunting through the pain he switched his sight to the second dragon which was getting closer and closer to him. Its wings were tucked in to allow it to descend faster like a rock plummeting through the air just as he was. Flicking his eyes to the sight of the beast's poisoned barbed tail he gritted his teeth. This was probably going to hurt his left arm but with any luck he'd still be able to use it. A low hissing signaled the Wyvern's attack.

Making out its shape in the darkness Jaune titled his shield a little to the right to block the tail slam aimed at his chest. Crocea Mors did its job well in keeping him safe though the impact had sent an invisible shock through Jaune's body. Besides his shield arm the rest of his body had been paralyzed. Catching the Wyvern's red eyes narrowing and its jaw opening in another hiss he retook control of his body. It lunged at him with its jaws aiming to crush his shield in between its jaws. While its jaws did clamp down on the edges it could not crush it as simply as it thought it would. In the moment of confusion that overtook it Jaune thrusted his sword into the Wyvern's left eye socket. Releasing his shield to howl the knight once more took advantage of his enemy's weakness. Driving the sword deeper Jaune managed to latch into its neck. Twisting the blade while it was still in the Wyvern's eye socket he heard the vengeful howl of the other Wyvern. Rays of light to his left made the nerves in his legs blaze with fire. Without even looking Jaune leaped off the dying Grimm just in time to avoid the fireball fired from the second Wyvern. Still with his shield raised Jaune waited for the attack he knew was coming. The only question was what it was going to be: a fireball, a tail sweep, or a head-butt.

It turned out to be a head-butt, one that Jaune had to admit, knocked the wind out of him. He was thrown off guard leaving himself wide open. Through the haze of pain in the Wyvern's skull it was at least smart enough to latch both its claws onto Jaune's shoulders. Biting his cheek in pain he thrust his sword at the only thing he could reach, the foreleg. Wrenching his left arm free he grabbed onto the wounded leg and stabbed it again. Just as the Grimm reared upwards Jaune thrusted his sword into the underbelly. Grim pleasure raced through him hearing the Wyvern shriek in pain. _I did it! I killed two bona fide Wyverns! With no help! And in midair too! _

To the blonde's surprise he realize the reptilian flyer wasn't willing to die alone. Enclosing him with its wings it let gravity took full control and steer the both of them towards the ground.

Shouting in fear and anger Jaune pulled his sword free and wildly began hacking away at the joints of the wings, another useful bit of information he remembered from Professor Port's classes.

"_Always remember, a Wyvern's weakest point is the shoulder joint!" The bearded man boomed standing before a model of the Wyvern. In one hand he held an old hunting knife and nothing in the other but his bare fist. "If you have no weapon on hand then use your fists," he said raising his empty fist higher into the air. It glowed with a pale light the class recognized to be Aura. "Use your Aura, use your bare strength. It won't be easy but the more force you exert the better." _

He was glade he hadn't dropped his sword during the fall, he wasn't sure he'd be able to do as his professor had instructed.

There was a squirt of red and black then the left wing half way came off freeing Jaune. The wind rushed freely through his body terrifying him enough to latch back onto the flailing demon. Jaune looked down once, seeing the sea of forest leaves getting closer and closer he looked to the one object that could cushion his fall. Desperately embedding his sword in the Wyvern's neck he managed to crawl around its shoulder and onto its back. Bucking and roaring its protest Jaune shut his eyes tight feeling the ground was getting closer and closer.

_Please God if you're going to spare anything please spare my arms and legs! I still need those! _

At first he felt the prickly sensation of leaves rustling past his skin then the hard impact of his face and body crashing through the arms of the forest. A single blow to the head and Jaune's head and his world went dark.

* * *

A single ray of moonlight broke through the vale of tree leaves and broken branches to shine down on the unconscious teenager. A subtle cocoon of light began to encase the boy, spreading from his scarred cheeks to the rest of his body. Glowing with a fraction of the same luminous as the shattered moon the various cuts on his body began to heal. Pools of light engulfed each wound before closing. Before long the many but not serve wounds had completely healed leaving the blond youth nothing but an unscarred body lying on the forest floor. First his fingers twitched, then his eyes began to flutter, and lastly his lips parted in a moan.

Jaune felt the darkness of pain slowly relinquishing its grasp on his body as his eyesight slowly recuperated. Moving his hands first to push himself onto his knees he felt the soft dirt between his fingers. Racking his left hand through his hair Jaune was amazed nothing was broken. That was the first thing that surprised him. The second was the fact his right hand was covered in black blood. Startled at seeing his stained hand he examined the rest of his body; most of the right side of his armor and hoodie were stained with Grimm blood. "H-Holy…holy shit." Like a memory of the two Wyverns flew through his skull. Falling back on his rear his blue eyes looked to the sky. "I seriously survived a crashing airship and two Wyverns, and no permanent scars." Releasing a pained laugh he straightened himself up and began searching for his weapons. Not surprisingly his shield was in near perfect condition, the scorch marks already fading from its white surface. Just a little ways off was his sword; the blood of the slain Grimm had dried off as it had ran down to the hilt.

Catching his eye were a few pieces of bone fragments and the mask of the vanquished Wyvern. With twitching hands he picked up the red and white mask, hardly able to believe moments ago it belonged to a ferocious monster. Judging by the size of the mask Jaune had to guess the two Grimm he'd killed were in the middle of their teenage years.

"Not so tough now huh?" Sighing Jaune tossed the mask to the side. With a groan he returned his gaze to the shattered moon. "Where the hell am I?" his whisper nearly being drowned out by the continuous sounds of the forest. _There's no way I'm climbing up a tree like a monkey. _Looking at the towering pillars Jaune had a feeling he wouldn't be able to effectively make it to the top if he wanted to. _How far did we fly from the village? A mile? Do the others know where I am? Stupid question of course they don't, you don't even know where you are. _Sitting against a tree the knight dispassionately looked to the ground. "I kill two Wyverns but I end up getting lost too. Can't I just do one cool thing without paying some kind of cost for it?" He stared at the waning stars for what seemed like hours before he realized the sky wasn't as dark as it was before. _It's going to be dawn in about an hour or two. Maybe I should just wait until morning before I try to figure out where I am. _

As much as Jaune wanted to just lie back and rest he knew he couldn't afford to remain out in the open as he was. Being a first year student Jaune had been given much training in survival training, however, he had been given the basics in case he ever had to spend a night in the woods. Rule one was never sleep in the open.

Lumbering into a mass of bushes and old tree stumps he did his best to make himself comfortable. When his eyes shut Jaune felt a strange sense of peace inside of his chest. _If I live through this maybe this'll be the first part of my life story._

* * *

It was feint but Jaune could smell smoke as his eyes fluttered open to greet the rays of sunlight poking through the tree. _Smoke? _The only reason Jaune could think of as to why he'd smell smoke in a forest was if there was a fire but he didn't sense any danger around him. He couldn't figure out from which direction it was coming from either which also reminded him of just how lost he was. _There's a way out of this. Or at least a way for me to figure out where the hell I am. _Digging into his pocket and withdrawing his Scroll he passed over the icons until he was able to get to his maps. He doubted he'd been able to get a signal but for safety measures he activated his EDB just in case his luck changed. It wasn't the town of Ryswell that he was looking over so much as the surrounding features of it: the hills, trees, rivers, and old mines that lay just outside of the castle town's fortified walls. "The only way I'll be able to see any of those is if I'm high enough." The blond glopped staring at the towering trees around him. "Oh man I hope there're no birds, or raccoons, or squirrels, or…forget." Sighing he picked out the nearest tree he thought would offer him a good view and began to climb.

He wasn't like some of his sisters who enjoyed climbing everything above twelve feet, he was the opposite. It may not have been moving but the higher he went the more uneasy his nerves became. The branches were sturdy enough to maintain his weight but one wrong move and he knew he'd be hooking back up with the ground again. The thought of his prone body lying at the base of the tree only furthered his conviction. Higher up where the leaves got so thick it almost felt like they were solid masses was where he decided he had a good vantage point. Poking his head out Jaune had to admit it was something of a breath taking sight. Rising above the sea of evergreens was a set of mountains crowned with fortress remains to his northeast. Further to the side the forest parted for a massive river that vanished down what he believed to be a waterfall. Beyond the drop Jaune squinted his eyes in order to make out rising stacks of smoke climbing towards the partly cloudy sky. _Whatever it is it's miles away from me. If I move now I may be able to beat it if it's just a forest fire. _Identifying the ridge of hills in the distance he breathed a sigh of relief. Probably_ half a day's walk from there, more if I go around them. I keep going and I'll be at the backside of the town in no time. And probably get chewed out by everyone for taking so long. _For the first time in hours the young knight felt totally at ease. Besides climbing down he didn't feel like anything going to be a problem. Well sure there might have been wild animals but he was pretty sure he could outrun them if he tried. Running was one thing he had some expert experience at.

As deafening as the silence was Jaune found he almost enjoyed it up to a certain point. For the first time it dawned on him just how little silence he had in his life. Rather it was in a classroom or with his teammates he never had a true moment of peace and quiet to himself. _No Nora, No Ren, No Pyrrha, No team RWBY…heh, kind of sucks without having them all here with me. _It never ceased to amaze him how at times he both loved and loathed having his friends around. Some times when in battle he a part of him wished he was fighting alone so he could prove himself yet at the same time he was terrified. Not having anyone backing him up in a fight unsettled something in Jaune; more than unsettled it made him feel a little hollow inside. What was he without his friends? _Funny, I'm stuck out here with God knows what and now I start thinking about this stuff. But…if I make it out of here alive doesn't that say something? _As nice as it sounded a harsher voice snorted. It came from the back of his head, _Make it out? You mean walk out like this was some market store? Where's the honor in that? It's what a coward would wish for. _The words bit deeply into Jaune more than the natural obstacles in his path such as drops, overgrown roots, and the occasional appearance of a wolf or two. They must have been lone wolves or scouts. Seeing Crocea Mors many of the animals around him retreated back into the shade. Again, the reaction made Jaune slightly ill at ease. "Hoorah, my family hand-me-down can scare little forest animals."

_CRENCH! _

Expanding his shield at the sudden noise the melancholy disappeared from his bright blue orbs. After a few rustling of leaves Jaune spotted a lumbering grizzly bear making its way toward him. Once in the light he saw the countless slash marks over its body as well as its missing right arm. It looked at him with its pained black eyes and for a minute Jaune felt like reaching out to the wounded beast.

_THUNK! _

The blade came down on top of the bear with a sickening crunch he flinched at. Looking at the sickle like blade Jaune felt his blood run cold. Following the black insectoid body protected by a few plates of white bone up to the face of the Grimm. The amber colored hexagon shaped eyes held nothing but rage and contempt for the human teenager standing before it. Lifting its scythe from the corpse of the dead bear the ten foot mantis released a shrill howl then swung its left blade at Jaune.

_Kamakiri! _Barely managing to avoid the attack by falling back on his ass Jaune cursed his ever worsening luck. He couldn't fight this thing! Not even wound it! That left only once choice, escape. "Sorry! Wrong turn!"

Taking his words as some kind of insult the B-Mantis shrieked again and began advancing in Jaune's direction. Its twin blades cut down the wooden pillars impeding its path. Through the flailing of logs and leaves its amber eyes remained glued on the blond boy currently running of his life.

No matter what Jaune refused to turn his head, what he saw might freeze him long enough to cost him his life. All it would take was one swipe for the gigantic mantis to end his life and he was not going to let that happen. Vaulting over overgrown roots and rocks Jaune wished he had way of distracting his pursuer. Even with a small fire arm he'd be able to at least get off a shot at the B-Mantis's eyes or something. Having Ruby's sniper rifle or Nora's grenade launcher would certainly have done the job too.

_SLASH! SLASH! SLIIIIIISSSSHHH! _

_You can't keep going can you? You're too big to maneuver in here and you can't keep cutting the trees down! _Soon the slashes ceased and replaced by frustrated howls. Even then Jaune didn't stop moving; as long as he could still hear that dreaded howl he reasoned he wasn't safe enough.

While he had been going in the right direction Jaune was so focused outrunning the Kamakiri he failed to notice the increasing amount of scorch marks around him. The smell of burning wood and flesh didn't register until he tripped. Spitting the soot and dirt out of his mouth he craned over to see what it was. He nearly screamed at the top of his lungs at what he saw.

A half-melted arm lay limp on the crowd, too stained with blood to be recognizable. Over ninety percent of the limb had been burned so severely the skin had turned charcoal black. Getting up with a screech Jaune realized the surrounding area looked much the same, like someone had gone mad with a flame thrower. Bodies had been left to rot in their blackened state against trees and flat on the ground. Making out who they were and what they were was impossible given the damage. Puddles of blood stretched out of their bodies like extra limbs.

Jaune took one step back in horror at the scene he was standing in the middle of. In that one step he noticed something, something he hadn't noticed as he was too busy examining the burns. These people hadn't just been burned, they'd been _ripped _apart, like a Grimm had caught them with their pants down. "W-W-What…in God's name…" From what he could recall there were some Grimm capable of such carnage but none should have been living in this forest. None could be without _someone_ noticing.

_CLINK! _

The man who shuffled up to Jaune looked like he'd slept in a bear cave over the last two days. His eyes were wide, his clothes were torn, and his body spoke of barely contained fear. The markings of fending off Grimm were present on his shoulders and chest yet somehow he was still standing. Madness danced at the rims of the man's eyes. Once they saw Jaune they completely consumed them.

"You did this!" He screamed lunging at the blond. "All of you God damned animal-loving bastards did this! You killed them!"

Easily bating him off with his shield the blond was unsure how to react. He couldn't kill this man could he? Even if he was a murderous racist did that give him the right to kill him in cold blood?

Continuing his string of un-luck the universe graced the man with power axe. Grabbing it from the arms of one of his dead companion. Whatever power was left in the weapon blazed to the surface as he took a swing at Jaune. The blow came from his right side leaving his sword the only thing he could use to parry. It was a bad idea.

Jaune's could feel his wrist nearly snap from the ill-advised attempt to stop the attack. His sword clattered across the stained ground while he went into a dazed spin. The man roared and brought the power hammer down again with Jaune's head being the prime target. Reacting quickly he raised his shield. Unlike the Wyvern's fireball Jaune felt the power travel through his shield. With a scream he fell on his back with his attacker standing over him.

Insanity had now taken full hold of his eyes. "You sick bastards." He breathed staring down at Jaune. "You traitorous bastards! You know what this is? This is divine punishment for defending the spawns of hell!"

Hearing the man's words caused Jaune's face to twist into a heated sneer. Clearly this man was like the rest, using religion to disguise his hatred for Faunus. It sickened him. Rolling to his left he dove for his sword the minute he caught its silver gleam. Sliding forward to grip the weapon he heard the mad cry of the man coming at him again. This time when Crocea Mors's shield half met the power hammer Jaune was able to withstand the force. He swung again only to be met with a shield bash. Adrenaline fueling his veins the knight noticed the countless holes in his attacker's form. There were so many areas he could go for but in the heat of the moment he went for the clearest one.

Bearing his teeth Jaune drove his sword through the man's neck before he could get both hands back on his hammer.

His eyes went wide for a fraction of a second followed by one last gasp escaping his lips. His body went rigid then completely still, the only thing keeping it up right was the impaled sword. Staring into his glassy green eyes quelled the fire racing through Jaune. Gasping in horror at how close the body was he quickly withdrew Crocea Mors's sword half. Like a chair that had lost two of its four legs the man crumpled to the ground, empty eyes left staring at the sky.

For a time Jaune was frozen, simply staring at the fresh corpse he'd just created. _I…I killed someone. I…I really just…I… _

_Drip! Drip! _

Red lazy dripped form the edges of the family sword that now quivered in his hands.

_I killed someone. I killed someone. I killed someone. I killed someone. _

The cerulean glow from the power hammer fizzled and died in the dirt; rather it was from running out of power or having its owner killed was unknown.

Slowly Jaune's voice croaked out in a hollow whisper. "I…just…" Sword falling from his hands Jaune looked down at his hand in pure horror. These hands that had excitedly flipped through comics, gone numb from countless hours of buttons mashing, grown delicate to years of cleaning, grown used to the dirty touch of the kitchen, had just taken their first life. Vile began to bubble deep within Jaune's stomach. _Oh God what have I done? _

The smoke entering his lungs nearly made Jaune loss it right there on the spot. Wait, smoke?

Throw the forest, possibly for miles out, a ferocious roar shook the forest, it was canine in nature. In the distance a bright red and yellow light advanced towards the scene of bloodshed causing trees and shrubs to catch fire. Footsteps echoed the sound of the air crackling at the intense heat. A black figure manifested within the cloud of flames. The canine mask released a low growl at the shaking knight.

"No, no…no freakin' way…That's impossible!" Jaune screamed feeling his legs turn to stone.

Fire coated every inch of the Beowolf's body making the only visible part of its original form its black werewolf like body. The red markings on its body were nothing but exhausts ports releasing clouds of sparking embers. Its claws, once clean white bone, now glowed with molten light, even brushing against them caused leaves and twigs to catch fire. The same went for the protrusions over its body. Fixing its now torch like eyes on Jaune the Beowolf roared giving Jaune a good look at the tusk shaped flames in the back of its mouth. They wildly jetted in all directions as the sound wave traveled far and wide.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind Jaune couldn't help but laugh at the cold, or hot, irony of this situation.

He was about to die the same way his ancestors had, only he was going to be torn apart limb from limb as an added bonus.

* * *

**VOLUME 3! AT LAST!**

**Once again this part of the story was supposed to be one chapter but given what happens in it next chapters is the better choice. I promise at the end of this Jaune is going to come out stronger though it's going to come at a cost. Realistically any person would break down after killing another human being for the first time, what comes afterward is different for everyone. Some people grow a stomach for it and others don't. There's a reason military and police training spend time addressing the issue of killing. Given the nature of the show it doesn't surprise me RWBY side steps the topic of students having to kill people; the show would be a whole lot darker if it did. With Jaune's character killing another person isn't going to sit well with him at first. Next chapter he'll go through a full breakdown and it won't be pretty. As for why there's a Grimm on fire…author's secret.**


	21. Chapter 21: Jaune Faces the Fire

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 21: Jaune Faces the Fire**

Not waiting for him to get over the shock the Beowolf exhaled a searing stream of fire from its jaws. Yelping Jaune hit the dirt, the fire blast skimming the surface of his shield. His eyes went from the sky to the snarling beast, clearly unset its first attack hadn't roosted him alive. It pounced on him with the quickness one would expect from a wolf, jaws flying open. Grunting he rolled to the side, grabbing his sword along the way and came up in a feeble guarding position. Clouds of fire and dirt flew up from where the Beowolf had landed obscuring his vision of the monster. It lasted for twenty seconds. First its burning vintage quickening towards him then becoming fully visible. With another roar it struck his shield leaving red claws and scorch marks on its white surface. Willpower was the only thing that kept the shield in place against its second attack, one that carried much more power behind it. Hissing in pain at the force Jaune's left arm went wide leaving his chest area exposed and he stumbling back a little. He saw the Beowolf throw back his head and knew what he needed to do. Placing most of his weight on his right heel he waited until he saw the build exit the unholy wolf's mouth before jumping to the side.

Out of the corner of his eye Jaune saw something register in the Beowolf's amber torch eyes. The stream of fire began to move to the side, right into Jaune's direction. Cursing the blond haired youth began sprinting as far as he could away from the burning Grimm. Behind him the stream of fire continued to follow him; Jaune could have sworn he felt the heat of the attack beating against his skin. Actually by this point the whole clearing was on fire. The remaining dead bodies he'd found were now slabs of meat left burning on the ground. Jaune didn't try to picture the man he'd just killed roosting along with his comrades.

Two fireballs shoot past him as he ran through the twigs and branches, they caught fire just like everything the Beowolf passed. Smoke began to flitter into his lungs and sting his eyes. A million questions raced through Jaune's mind. What was this thing? Where had it come from? It wasn't like he could turn around and ask the Beowolf nor did he really want to. One fireball almost hit its mark, he could feel the left edges of his wheat blond hair singe and burn even though it was only a glancing blow. _This is Yang all over again! _He thought with dread, only there wasn't a smooth talking Viking around to save him.

_TINK! _

Jaune's heart nearly dropped into his feet upon hearing and feeling the build of heat to his far left. Cutting his eyes from the front to the side he saw an orange-red object approaching him with frightening speed. Just like before he dropped face first into the dirt to avoid the fireball that would have surely left him a funeral pyre. "You've got to be kidding me." The knight whimpered seeing another burning Beowolf coming upon him. The one that had been following him howled something at its comrade to which it nodded its head. _So they CAN communicate. _

Flames began to build up in both their mouths while Jaune searched desperately for a way out of the dual attack. All his shield could block was one attack, not two. Sweat truly began to mount on his forehead and not just because he was now surrounded by a ring of fire but because his brain couldn't come up with anything.

Both werewolves released the fire they'd been building in their mouths at once. One came from Jaune's front and the other to his left.

The knight stared at the stream of fire heading for him then his face twisted into a determined scowl. Both attacks were coming at him in directions that formed a sixty-four degree angle. With that in mind Jaune crouched low and dove for down the middle of the attacks. The sound of two fire blasts colliding made his ears pop while the intense heat reached the edges of his back. Coming out of his combat roll Jaune saw one of the Beowolves had responded to his evasion, it now stood before him drawing one flaming claw back. No sound escaped Jaune's lips as he raised his shield up.

_THUNK! _

On top of the still vanishing scratch marks form the last attack appeared a whole new set battle scars. Though his shield protected his chest and stomach from the searing heat Jaune's face was naked to it. He hissed as he flew across the ground, through a tree and into a boulder. His back howled in pain while his mind was still stuck registering the flames licking at his face. It made his cheeks and eyes hurt to the point touching them elected a sharp cry of agony. Left on his knees growing he was easy prey for the flaming wolves hungrily eying him. One of them leaped off its hind legs at him raising its claws high just in case its prey tried to struggle.

Jaune was aware of death rapidly coming down towards him with its jaws waiting to sink into his flesh. He bit his cheek in fury at how easily the monsters thought he would go down. Using his sword as a leaver he straighten himself so he could see the image of the Beowolf descending upon him. He held his sword in a style befitting that of the warriors of ancient Mistral; shield up and his sword at the right corner like it was going to be used for stabbing instead of slashing. It was the best he could think of and he'd be damned if he wasn't doing to make it work. _Come and get me! _

_CCCLLLIINNCCHH! _

In the moment the Beowolf came down on top of Jaune he realized something; he was going to welcome winter if he lived to see it. Freezing to death sounded much better compared to what he was experiencing at the moment; having a seven foot Beowolf with a furnace for body odor trying to crush him.

"HOLY SHIY THIS HURTS!" It was a miracle he managed to ground that out as loud as he could given the insane amount of pain he was in. Everything hurt: his face, his arms, his legs, his chest, and just about every other portion of his body. There was no place the flames emitting from the Beowolf didn't reach. Where it was worse was his arms which were the hold thing besides his weapons keeping the Grimm's body from coming into contact with his. He was being bear-hugged by a Grimm.

Above him it barked, angry at being denied its kill.

_I can't keep this up! I've got to kill this thing before it boils me alive! _How long it Jaune held up the Beowolf he had no idea. What he would remember was how long it took for him to kill it. Seventy-eight seconds.

Power surged into his left arm then into his shield creating a white glow that stood in contrast to the ranging red, orange, and yellow. Shouting his resolve he pushed his legs upward. The light exploded pushing the Beowolf backwards. Shutting his eyes as not to damage them Jaune stepped forward and swung his sword as fast as he could, as hard as he could across the Beowolf's body. As its partner fell the second charged forth readying its claws. Going off the last traces of the strength he'd called up he sprinted ahead to meet the demonic canine claw to sword. He did the same when it attempted to swing its other claw.

His arms buckled under the pressure they were under and it showed on Jaune's face. It was red and buffy from the last few minutes which had been some of the most intense seconds of his life. The heat from the Beowolf's molten claws traveled through his blade and into his hands. His shield having been insolated against heat fared better though the strain was no less tendinous. He had to bury both his feet deep into the ruined soil to hold his ground against the struggle Beowolf. No matter how hard it pushed Jaune ordered his body not to give. There was no plan besides holding his ground, whatever could have passed for one was rapidly being assembled in his currently boiling head. Giving a snarl as its only reply the Beowolf lunged forward with both its flame tusk enlarging. They reflected in Jaune's stunned eyes.

The choice was painfully clear. Both choices Jaune had sucked ass but he chose the one that would prolong his life just a little longer. Dropping both his weapon the knight barely managed to avoid getting his head bitten off by the werewolf's jaws. Angrily throwing his weapons away it continued its attack on Jaune with a series of claw swipes.

_Don't look at the face! Don't look at that ass-ugly face that wants to use your skull as a chew tooth! Keep your eyes on the claws and shoulders! _By reading the shoulders he could tell were each attack was going to come from. Didn't mean he could cleanly dodge the attacks though. His armor took four blows that carved deeply into the metallic plates. _I can't keep doing this! My feet hurt like hell and this thing is getting faster by the second! _He needed a distraction to get back to his weapons and needed it now. Acting quickly he reached over his left and tore one of his shoulder guards off and hurled it into the Beowolf's face just as it released another frustrated howl. To his brief amazement the piece of armor melted in the monster's jaws. Regardless, Jaune had the window he needed. Sidestepping the Beowolf and dashing for Crocea Mors Jaune suspected the Beowolf might just stop playing with trying to curve him up and just blast his ass like it'd tried to do earlier. Behind him he heard the familiar crackling fore fire being forced into a concentrated blast.

Jaune went for his sword instead of his shield. A part of his mind screamed at how stupid it was to go for it instead of his shield but the blond didn't care. Grabbing the centuries old long sword he turned to face the stream of fire heading towards him. _Now or never Jaune! _It was the first time he'd tried such a maneuver, and an untested one at that. Either it worked or he was Beowolf breakfast, extra well down.

Gripping the hilt of Crocea Mors with both hands Jaune imagined his Aura has a lake that had a hole blown in it. The lake was his body and the hole was his arms, as Pyrrha had taught him. The water flowed from him into his weapon then into his sword. It may have been his imagination but the sword seemed to greedily take in the power the male Arc was feeding it. It glowed bright white from the bottom to the tip.

Light and flame collided turning into a blinding explosion that uprooted trees and scattered mountains of dirt and rock in all directions. The Beowolf raised both its molten hands to protect itself from the fall out, not suspecting its target had done the opposite.

Jaune came running at the Beowolf still holding his sword with both hands; rather than a simple piece of steel the sword was now almost five feet of glowing white light. Howling its irritation at the teenager it swung again at his head. On his way forward Jaune ignored the blistering heat nipping at his body up until he was within striking distance of the Beowolf. Springing upward he shouted then dragged his sword in a diagonal line, starting from the arm pit up to the chest. Grimm blood and embers flew out as the sword exited the flaming black mass. The Beowolf's head sunk to the severed head fell to the ground with its body following. It jerked for a minute before the flames seemed to condense into hundreds of fireworks over the fading shadows. Within a minute there was nothing left but a burn imprint on the ground.

The young knight stared at the imprint before he fell forward on his knees his breath coming out in labored huffs that hurt his chest. Around him smoke was still rising and filling his lungs. He had to get up and away before the fire spread. Stopping it was out of the question completely. At last able to free his sword from his hands Jaune measly moved pulled off his burned gloves to see what kind of damage had been done to his hands. "Heheh," he chuckled weakly looking at the pink and red flesh beneath. "Maybe first or second but no thirds, suppose that's lucky." The damage was already healing but the pain remained. Never in his life had Jaune thought he'd know what it felt like to have ones hands literally burn to the point just moving them caused him discomfort. Numbness from gripping a sword all day he was used to but fire was a whole different matter. He was beginning to understand why his parents and extended family held such to large flames.

Shuffling over to his shield he saw most of the damage had miraculously recovered from most of the damage it'd taken. How Jaune had no idea but he was gratefully. It had withstand the strikes of the empowered Beowolves and was still usable.

As he was about to leave the area he watched a tree hit the ground after having ninety-percent of its body burnt beyond repair. It fell with a loud thud Jaune winced at. Something flashed in the shadow of the fallen tree that stopped him from moving. At first he thought it was just a trick of the flames but he saw what he could tell was definitely a blinking red light staring at him. It was a drone. It had to be maybe three feet long with copter blades on both sides keeping it afloat in the sea of flames. It was staring at him.

And in another collapse of trees it was gone.

Shaking his head the boy turned around and began walking. "God this forest is creepy. Burning Grimm, drones, and crazy racists, all for the price of a simple mission." He trudged on in silence until he stopped under the shade of the forest leaves. His legs, no matter how much he wanted them to, wouldn't budge. A familiar feeling in his stomach built up demanding its access to the surface.

Kneeling over some bushes Jaune barfed up everything he'd eaten within the past two days. After that came the gush of tears he'd been stopped from shedding almost twenty five minutes earlier.

His head touched the ground while sobs rocked his body. Why was he doing this? Oh yeah, he'd just murdered someone in cold blood. That was the reason he was huddled up in a ball of his own crap and tears.

No matter what he did he couldn't stop his body from shaking. More than the sobs were the shivers that pulsed through his body. He'd never felt like this before. In the darkness he saw the man's body sliding off his weapon over and over again. Jaune couldn't keep from looking him in the eyes. _He'd _done that, _he'd _been the one to extinguish the life in them. It made him feel like vomiting all over again.

_This isn't what I thought it'd be like. _His hands dug into the dirt to the point he could feel it getting under his finger nails. His left hand balled into a fist that he slammed down over and over again. "This isn't what everyone told me it would be like! Where's the honor huh! Why do I feel like this! Why!?"

_Better question, why are you beating yourself up over a racist scumbag?_ A cold voice sneered from the back of his mind.

_He was still a human being! _Jaune fired back.

_A human being who'd decided it was okay to take the lives of those who hadn't done anything wrong. Normally we call that justice. _

That didn't make Jaune feel any better. Timidly he peered over to Crocea Mors's sword half. The human blood on the tip had been overshadowed by the drying life-blood of the slain Beowolves. Only a few scorch marks were visibly on the blade. For the first time Jaune really looked at the weapon, _really _looked at it as if reliving the moment the weapon was passed down onto him.

"_Now listen carefully son," His father started in a tenuous voice_ _he'd only used when talking to Jaune about serious matters. His blue eyes bore into his so deeply Jaune felt like his face had been frozen in that position. From the intensity of his gaze his feet felt the same way, rooted to the spot unable to move an inch. "Crocea Mors has been in our family for generations, since my Great-Great-grandfather's time really. It's seen a lot of things, a lot of horrible cruel things. It's seen wars of epic proportions, battles that shook the earth, blood bathes that would make a demon weep, and victories befitting a king. It's precious to us Jaune, it's a part of our legacy." Pausing for a moment he laid his hands on top of a young Jaune's. _

_Jaune blinked once looking between the sword and his father. "I don't get it dad. If it's so important then would are you giving it to me? What if I lose it? Or break it?" _

_Contrary to the fearfully look in his son's eye Julian Arc smiled. His son really was like him in more ways than he knew. Ruffling his hair to ease his fears he spoke again. "You won't Jaune, and you know why? Because you've got a warrior's heart." With his other hand Julian proudly pounded it against his chest. He knew his son always loved it when he did it. One day he was sure he'd be doing it for his own children and they'd be just as impressed. The older man's smile faded as his eyes fell to the family weapon; his son wasn't blind to this. "Before you accept this Jaune I want you to know something, the life of a Huntsman, no the life of a warrior is a brutal one. You're going to see and do some things you're not going to be proud of. It'll be up to you to decide if you'll let them be the end or not. It's going to hurt a lot but that's why you'll need to keep going. There's no doubt in my mind that you're going to make friends, good ones. When the time comes I want you to use Crocea Mors to protect them. This weapon…it's shed blood before. More than you'll probably ever know. What matters is whose blood it's shedding and why it's being shed. I want you to promise me when you do use Crocea Mors it'll be for good. Can you promise me that?" _

_It puzzled Jaune why his father kept saying when, like he knew for a fact it was going to happen. Beyond the puzzlement was the way in which his father was looking at him. It made him squirm a little but since it was his father he stood firm. Gripping the shield and sword tightly the young blond vigorously nodded his head. "I promise dad!" he didn't get the fully meaning of what his father was saying but he knew it was important. _

_The joyous crinkle in his eyes would stay with his son for years to come. "Then it's yours Jaune. Take good care of Crocea Mors." With that Julian Arc took his hands off the weapon allowing his son to grip it in his own hands. "I know it may be a bloody weapon but trust me my son, that sword has saved more lives than it's taken. With you I'm sure it'll save many more." _

The unspoken question in Jaune's head was how many lives had Crocea Mors taken. Up until that point he hadn't fully gone over what his father had spoken to him that day. He'd always just looked at Crocea Mors as nothing but a family hand-me-down, one he didn't take entirely seriously. Now, as he held up the sword to see his reflection in the steel blade the weight of his father's words hit him like a sledge hammer. _This sword has seen a lot of things, a lot of terrible things. _Mouth slightly agape Jaune's whole body suddenly felt very cold despite the descending heat wave. _His _great-great-great-grandfather had used this sword to kill people, so had the rest of his forefathers including his own father. The sword in his hand wasn't an antique, it was a weapon that had been used to kill countless people. How many, Jaune would never know unless it decided to grow a mind of its own and talk to him.

All he'd done was just add to what was probably an incredibly long list.

Not to mention hadn't the man he'd just killed tried to kill him after murdering countless Faunus in cold blood?

Self-defense? Justice? Karma?

_If I hadn't killed him, _The knight thought lowering his hand to his knees. _He'd have smashed my head in and just gone after more Faunus. Or have gotten eaten by whatever is out here. _

The disgusted rumbling in his stomach had quieted down greatly. He continued to stare at the blood stained sword until the nervousness and doubt had faded from his eyes. Tearing his eyes away from his reflection to the sky he was moderately surprised. Based on the position of the sun it was probably noon.

"I can't stay here moping on my ass." He grumbled grabbing his shield.

_CLINK! _

He stood frozen as the drone took another photo of him from his left side. Now that he had an up close look he could tell it wasn't just a made from scratch device. The slick black chrome metal stood out in stark contrast to the wilderness around it. There appeared to be no weapons attached to it at all.

Immediately guessing it wasn't from Beacon Jaune felt he should strike the thing down. He didn't on the premise that whenever there were drones there were usually people watching from behind them. Why it was watching him he couldn't tell but it hadn't appeared to send any kind if signal or raise any sort of alarm. As long as it didn't he didn't feel the need to slice it in two.

It left him standing there with his sword in hand to fly off in the opposite direction. Before Jaune knew what he was doing he was following it through the maze of trees and bushes. It was tough work keeping up with it on foot and through the collection of tree branches but he did his best. As it rose higher and higher into the air Jaune began to slow his pace; he was getting a bad feeling.

Up ahead there was a clearing that seemed to lead into the mountains. He stopped just short so his form was obscured by the bushes but a clear view of the beaten pathway could still be seen.

There were almost twenty-two dead bodies lying in the middle of the road. There were no scorch marks or scars of battle around. The bodies weren't damaged in any way so Jaune couldn't figure out what had caused their deaths. Each of them were dressed in hospital garments, white shirt and pants and bare foot.

The bad feeling in his stomach intensified whilst hearing a humming sound begin to vibrate within his ears. To him it sounded like a cross between a flute playing and the sound of claws scratching on granite. The longer he heard it the more irritating it made him. He searched for the source of the noise; to his surprise it was coming from the drone. No, the drones, the four drones currently hovering above the pathway.

Almost as some type of greeting a chorus of familiar howls met the odd ball sound striking fear into the spine of every living creature in the area. Around him squirrels, raccoons, and countless other little forest animals either fled or ran as far up the trees as they could. Jaune envied them.

In mass the Grimm emerged from the tree line one like a pack of predators drawn to a fresh corpse. Beowolves, Boarbatusks, Ursa, Creeps, and a few Subterras. The sight of so many timing black masses caused Jaune's knees to go weak. _I should be running now. _Yet he wasn't running. For some reason he felt, dare he say it, safe.

The Grimm weren't interested in him, their attention was on the mass of dead bodies spread before them. The drones continued to emit that strange melody that seemed to hold their attention.

_My God it's like a dog whistle! A way to call Grimm! _

A Beowolf seemed to notice the bodies. It sniffed around the corpse then took its first bite out of the flesh. One by one the other Grimm moved forward taking a piece out of the bodies for themselves.

Jaune felt like he'd been strapped to an airship seat whilst it was doing a barrel roll. It was a good thing he'd already barfed once or else he would have been painting the forest floor for the second time that day.

_Boom! _

Turning back to the sign of the horrific feast Jaune couldn't believe what he was seeing. It blew his mind away and at the same time answered his question of where the fire-powered Beowolves had come from.

All of those Grimm that had taken a bite out of the corpses were now bursting into clouds of roaring flames. Their black bodies rapidly became engulfed in auras of red and orange so bright it lit up the entire area. The Beowolves howled, the Ursa roared, the Boarbatusks snorted, and the Creeps released a deprived moaning. A handful clawed at their masks with their transforming claws. Flames erupted between the cracks forming in their bone armor and masks. Pillars of fire shoot forth from the bony spikes of the Ursa and Creeps. They pounded against the ground and each other as if they could feel the fire racing through their bodies. Apparently they could because half of them were howling in true pain. Then some of them started exploding.

It was clear who was going to blow based on how hot they were burning. The flames concentrated around their chest areas turning them into torches in the middle of their bodies. They all raged wildly in accordance with the howling. Once the torches reached a certain size, they didn't stop growing until they condensed into a ball of fire that exploded with violent force. The black bodies disappeared completely in bright explosions of light and heat.

Countless explosions lit up the horde as many of the Grimm were going up in fiery clouds. A collection of them merged together taking not just the exploding Grimm but those beside them into oblivion. Whole groups of them disappeared in the blinking of an eye.

Dimly aware some of the burning shrapnel was impacting the greenery beside him Jaune reached for his Scroll. Whatever this was he had to get it on record and get it back to the academy. Jaune may not have been the smartest guy around but he knew danger when he saw it. Maybe he also should have gotten a few pics of the drones since they seemed to be recording the whole affair as well.

A few of the Grimm that weren't going up I flames appeared to be having better control over their new found power. Those that gritted their teeth were able to harness their flames, condense them into their bodies. Releasing victorious roars they emerged from the collective firestorms looking like beings walking out some horror novel.

The blond didn't stick around to see how many Grimm managed to tame the fire, he high-tailed it as soon as he saw three of them beginning to look like the two he'd fought earlier. He already knew what was coming next and there was no way in hell he could take down a horde of those flame-empowered Grimm. He wouldn't last a second.

Already he could hear the forest fires starting in the background. _With any luck that'll get SOMEONE to notice that something's wrong! I mean come one, who's not going to notice a horde of burning Grimm at the center of a rapidly expanding forest fire! _Jaune's expression dropped in the blink of an eye. _No, i-i-it's too far away! There's no way those things could make it without getting spotted! _From somewhere inside new strength surged through Jaune's legs allowing him to sprint harder than he ever had. The image of Ryswell going up in flames was clear and present in his mind. That was where the strength was coming from. That was what he feared would happen if he didn't make it in time.

Not much later he found himself running along beaten pathways he realized had to have been used by the older miners. He didn't have a choice in the matter. It was either waste time moving around the mountains or going straight through the abandoned networks to get to the other side.

Jaune already knew it was going to be hell but he'd do it.

That resolve wasn't totally unshaken when he saw the entrance to the old mine shaft blasted open. "Shit!" He yelled dashing into the darkness.

* * *

He didn't need light once he was inside, the aftermath of the Grimm's passage provided him more than enough light. Just by the footprints he counted Beowolves, Ursa, Boarbatusks, and Creeps trudging along the path towards town.

_CLINK! _

This time Jaune swung at the drone as it flew up to his face. "Listen, I don't know who you are or why you're doing this but you can't set those things loose! They'll destroy the town and everyone in it!"

The light on the drone's hood changed from green to blue. The accursed Grimm calling began playing.

Shouting in fury Jaune took a swing at the aerial bot only to miss. "Damn it!" He didn't have time for this! He had a town to save!

Using the burned footprints of the Grimm felt wrong to Jaune but it saved him the trouble of stumbling around in the mine shafts. What was he going to do once he caught up to the horde? The only viable plan he had was using the Fire-Dust he had to cause a cave-in to slow the horde down. That would only work if he found some way to get of them. Like hell that was going to happen. For the moment all he could focus on was catching up with them.

Almost twenty yards ahead the young knight saw an orange ball of fire heading towards him; he no longer had to worry about catching up with the horde.

Since he had such a clear view of the Ursa he was able to easily dodge its roll out attack even as it veered off course trying to hit him. Instead it smashed into the shaft wall. _I've got one chance, one choice here. Either I live to survive this or…_Jaune didn't relish seeing his great-aunt Lucille so soon but she was one of his favorite relatives. He'd at last have a few interesting stories to tell her when he saw her. Her kind wrinkled face was the last positive thing he thought of before he cranked up open a door he vowed he'd never open since his late night talk with Ruby.

Rows of fire began to line the darkness behind him just as he'd planned. In front of him the Ursa zeroed in on him with a keen interest. It wanted first dibs on him so it rolled forward leaving melted metal in its wake. Jumping three feet to the right he was able to watch the Ursa plow right into a conjugation. The rest of the Grimm blasted him with fire instead of trying a melee attack. Running close to the wall with his shield up probably wasn't the brightest idea but it was one Jaune used. He had a feeling his left arm wasn't going to be usable for a few weeks. A Boarbatusk came rolling at him. Stopping for only a fraction of a second Jaune raised his sword then brought it down just as he felt the flames begin to eat away at his skin. Another two came at him simultaneously. Jaune concentrated his power into his sword causing it to glow with that same brilliant light it did before. Cutting through two Boarbatusks felt different than cutting through a single Beowolf; he had to put more strength which was harder since he was only using one arm. Fleeing once the two Grimm were slayed saved him from a fire blast formed by multiple Grimm firing at once.

_Keep going! Keep going! _The mantra continued in his mind. He'd thought enough bad things to draw a significant number of Grimm to his location as evident by the field of torches crowding around him. Fire blasts, skimmed against his body, his lungs burned as smoke took them hostage, and his arms were throbbing from the pain. Still, he pressed onward. Slashing and thrusting at the burning shadows rapidly, he lost track of the number of Grimm he cut down. All he could register was the amount of blisters he had on his face. His blue eyes were stinging like they'd been stung by bees. In the midst of it a single voice spoke one thing over and over again-_I don't want to die in here._-until it drowned out the chorus of Grimm. That drove him to cut a Beowolf in half at the hip then bisect another from shoulder to hip. A boom melted the area to his right as what was probably the same Ursa appeared before him. Its claw swipe was too fast for him to evade or block. Jaune's breastplate took the hit for him. He screamed in both pain and rage then thrusted his sword into the limb in a reverse position. Jerking the sword away he moved in just as the Ursa struck with its remaining arm. Crocea Mors cleaved through the beast's claws, through the arm, and into its main body. Kicking to the side to leave the dying Ursa behind afforded him the view of an over sized Creep tail swiping him. Jaune went into the wall back first feeling like he'd just been smacked with a metal baseball bat.

Blood pulled between his gums then formed a thumb-sized puddle on the ground. He didn't focus on it, he looked up and held out his sword to meet the gaping jaws of the Creep lunging at him. He had to admit, the rumors were try about the jaws of the bipedal monsters; they _did _look as ugly as a bowl of rotten cereal.

_CLINCH! _

Just as the Grimm's jaws closed down on the sword Jaune pushed his Aura into his sword. The Creep's eyes flared up a moment before the tip of a blazing white sword burst through the back of its skull. Sliding the blade clean through the right side of the skull nearly took the top of the Grimm's head off. With his shield the blond pushed aside the corpse before it could explode like the rest.

The countless Grimm took note of the change in the knight's eyes. In the tunnel of red, orange, and yellow his bright blue stood out as a sharp contrast. His whole body was glowing as a matter of fact with a light that reminded some strongly of the luminance glow of the moon. Unwilling to allow such an affront to their flame the Grimm opened fire on the blond knight.

Neither Jaune nor the Grimm saw what happened next but one thing was certain, the Grimm had just made a terrible mistake in attempting to roost the Arc alive.

A shimmering light wrapped around Jaune forming a solid sphere before it rapidly expanded through the mine shaft. It effortlessly plowed through the fire blasts then it slammed into the Grimm. The inferno was quickly swiftly snuffed out by the dome of light; the naked bodies of the Grimm then began to sizzle and catch fire. They screamed in pain, true heart-stopping, tearful pain. Their bodies caught fire only it seemed to eat away at their black fur and flesh like any other animal. If it was possible one might have felt sorry for the Grimm seeing their fearful eyes widening and their claws pulling back to cover their faces.

When the light was gone the only creature left breathing in mine shaft was the star-struck Jaune. No traces of the Grimm remained save for their partially scorched masks. At least twenty of them lay scattered in the dark, some of them were in pieces.

Feeling light-headed Jaune fell back against the wall content to enjoy the sudden peace and quiet. "Holy shit. Did I just…did I do this this?" Clearly he must have, there was no else around. _How _he'd done it was what ate away at his mind. Despite the new found respect he had for Crocea Mors he doubted there were the root of the bright light that had protected him and killed all the Grimm. None of the Dust he had with him was capable of such a feat either leaving Jaune with the last plausible reason, he himself had done it.

In the desperate panic he'd activated his Semblance.

Too bad he wasn't conscious enough to see it or realize how he'd done it. Pyrrha had spent weeks working with him to find out what his was. During all that time he'd been hoping it would be something awesome or spectacular. Judging by the damage he'd done his hopes had been answered.

"Screw this," he muttered shaking his head. "I don't have time to sit around here." Before he took another step Jaune tore the remaining armor off his body. By this point it was nothing but dead weight. "At last for once it actually saved my life." He didn't wait to hear the armor hit the ground before he took off running. With the absence of fire his lungs worked easier though his chest still hurt from the blows he'd taken earlier. He was still sweating to the point it blurred his vision. "Note to self, hit the shower as soon as this is over. First thing off the airship."

After what seemed like hours of running Jaune could see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. For the briefest moments he was blinded by the sunlight's light. Clean and unclean air rushed through his nostrils confirming his fears that the horde had already come through. Once his sight returned in full he could see the trail of ashes left by the advancing Grimm. Following closely behind them was another set of drones. One drone hovered above him; if it was possible it seemed surprised to see him alive. Jaune wished he had a rock to throw or gun to shoot.

The hairs on the back of Jaune's head stood on end; immediately his shield went up as his legs pushed forward propelling him into a roll. Creating a small tremor on impact was another Ursa. It stood a few inches taller than the average Ursa. It must have been waiting for Jaune to make it out of the tunnel so it could ambush him. Jaune counted three battle scores on its mask as proof some brave fool had tried to take it down once and had no doubt not lived to try it again. Rearing back it breathed a stream of fire at him. This time Jaune's heart didn't thunder in his chest once Crocea Mors's shield half met the flames. He felt unsettlingly calm. Step by step he pushed himself forward noting how much stronger the stream became when he didn't falter.

Ceasing its attack the demonic bear rolled towards him, Jaune jumped out of the way still keeping his shield raised. Molten spikes jetted out from the fireball rolling across the blacken ground. Everything they impaled themselves in vanished in clouds of explosive fire. Jaune rolled back when the bone spikes bounced off nor only his shield but his body. Coming back up in a crouch position he fixed the Ursa with a fierce glare. Behind his shield he reached into his back pocket taking out two canisters: one contained wind Dust and the other was bright red with a sword printed on the front. After barreling what few trees remained in the area the Ursa came back directly at him at a greater speed. It gave off a final burst of flames from the spikes on its back propelling it toward, uncurling so it could sink its magma-like claws and jaws into him.

The wind gathered around Jaune as his Aura triggered the Wind Dust first. It grew into a might whirlwind he leaped off of, soaring well above the Ursa's reached. He could almost see the disappointment it felt as it crashed into the ground. Next came the A-Booster Dust, one of the four he'd been given by Ruby about two weeks earlier. A feint red light lit up his body then focused on his sword, giving it a red glow around the stained edges. Placing his shield hand over the palm of his sword Jaune used the last traces of the whirlwind to jettison towards the Ursa's exposed neck.

_THUNK! _

It slammed both its claws into the earth creating a ring of flame on impact. For Jaune it felt like he'd just dropped directly into a frying pain, which wasn't too far from the truth. Just like in the simulation his feet burned expect his legs got to join in on the fun too. Luckily he'd actually remembered to get his clothes flame-proofed at the school armory so the pain was only half of what it could have been. "This looked so much easier in the comics!" The blond shouted struggling to hold onto the bucking Ursa. When it stood back on its hind legs Jaune got an idea what it was planning. "Woah, wait a second!"

Acting faster than reason could stop him Jaune reached out and grabbed onto the Grimm's mask. Using the grip as support Jaune dragged his sword across the neck, one his sword hit open air he let go of the Ursa thus dropped to the ground. He hadn't decapitated the Grimm completely but he'd left it in enough pain that all it would take was one more blow. Seeing fire brewing in its jaws he ran forward and executed a perfect spin slash giving the Ursa a nice large wound on the stomach. Not stopping there he added another slash forming a cross. Its body went slack then still. With Crocea Mors's blade having turned completely red Jaune ended the Ursa's existence with one last slash, this one split it in half at the hip.

_CLINK! _

Something small and metallic skid across the ground, away from the remains of the Grimm's upper half. Blue orbs followed the object across the ground even as the Ursa went up in a shower of red and black. Sheathing his sword while he walked over Jaune didn't know what to make of the object. At best it was maybe a foot long, chrome metal, and somewhat light weight. A red blinking light sat at the end of a series of digital numbers. Near one end of the cylinder a black cog could easily be spun around, each rotation creating a tiny beep sound. Flipping it over brought his eyes to the insignia and a name.

**PESTILENCE **

Alongside the name was a jet black insignia that reminded Jaune of something out of a comic book. It freaked him out honestly. A distinctive bird skull was flanked on both sides by a set of wings that looked more like scythe blades than feathers. Or maybe they were scythes blades crafted to look like bird wings. The more the wings spread out the more sinister they became. Only by examining the wings did he realize the bird skull wasn't a bird skull at all, it was a plague doctor's mask. After wiping some of the blood and perspiration from his eyes Jaune saw the way the wings seemingly connected to the mask completing the scythe look. To sum up the emblem it was morbid; it combined two of the oldest symbols of death.

_CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! BING! _

Recognizing the sound of a gun being cocked he snapped his head back to find the drone heading straight for him. Its light had turned red and the gun muzzle was starting to flash. Impulse caused him to drop the cylinder to avoid being caught in the semi-automatic fire. Judging by the rate of fire and power Jaune had to guess the drone had been equipped with the equivalent of a two-hundred and fifty millimeter barreled Uzi.

_I've been spending too much time around Ruby. _Jaune thought off handedly.

With the young knight out of the way the drone flew in low, a secret compartment opening upon its belly. It was a magnet. The cylinder attached itself to the drone with a clap then it flew away into the open sky far out of Jaune's reach.

"Could this day get any weirder?" he yelled. "I mean come on what else is going to happen today!"

"J-J-Ja-Jaun-Jaune!"

In the blink of an eye the blond' tirade came to an end. Snatching his Scroll out of his pocket relief spread through his face at the sight of Pyrrha's blurry image. "Pyrrha!"

"W-W-We've be-beee-been-si-all day! We-air-air….fo…foro…"

"No! Pyrrha forget about me! There's a horde of Grimm heading for Ryswell from the backside of the castle! I know this is going to sound crazy but you have to believe me, they're not normal! I don't know how but they've…they've got…damn it I don't know how to say but they can control fire now! Yeah, fire! Just like Yang! Call the academy or the military, call _someone _with airpower! Get somewhere between twenty-six to forty-one barrels of ice type Dust ready! I don't know what I can do but I'm going on ahead to stop them!"

"W-Wh-at!? Wa-! Jau-Jaune! Jaune!"

He was probably going to get an earful from Pyrrha but that could wait. After what he'd been through Jaune could say he was probably looking forward to it.

* * *

Catching up to the Grimm horde had been the easy part, getting their attention had been a cake walk, but actually impeding their advance?

Yeah Jaune was sure if any of his peers were around they'd been laughing their asses off at his stupidity.

At least he'd managed to keep himself alive in the middle of a frenzied Grimm swarm as well as a raging wild fire. He came in screaming like a madman and by God had it worked. Before entering battle he'd activated the A and D boosters he'd been keeping stored away. As he fought his sword glowed red and his shield glowed blue.

In his eyes every flaming black mass had to be cut down and he did so with little hesitation. The fear he'd felt during his first time facing a Grimm was long gone. Instead something fierce burned in Jaune's breast. It burned so hot it made the infernos surrounding the Grimm seem tame in comparison. He hacked away at limbs like his life depended on it, which it did. He thrust so deeply in scorching hot fury until the entire blade had disappeared into their bodies. Every kill, every howl of pain, further stocked the fire inside of him driving him to slash and kill even more. It's possible Jaune would have gotten high on the feeling if he wasn't reminded every twenty seconds how painful a price he was paying.

_CLLIIISSSHHH! _

Locking his jaw into a snarl Jaune paid the Ursa back for slashing him across the back with vertical slash. That was probably the fifth time his back had taken a blow he'd been too slow to avoid. His arms had several sets of claws marks and burns on his armors. A handful were shallow and the other half made his arms feel like they'd been transmuted into lead. His legs had too many scratches from narrowly dodging the lunges of Creeps and Subterras. The positive side was Jaune could say beyond the shadow of a doubt he'd mastered learning how to concentrate his Aura into his legs. Whatever he struck out with his legs he was met with a satisfying crunch. Hell, his sneakers becoming stained with blood just as much as Crocea Mors was.

What was strange was no matter how much damage he took none of it was enough to cause him true, bone-searing pain. The concentrated fire blasts that should have boiled him alive never made contact; they hit something, a white wall of sorts that held up until the blasts faded away. Jaune pushed through the blasts with his shield until he was sure he was close enough to strike. The barrier became more and more pronounced with each passing second; its shape was shifting but the fact it was there was made clear to the masses of Grimm timing around the knight.

In its purest form it was an impenetrable shield they couldn't bypass. At least not individually. Forming lines a handful hanged back as their brethren continued their zerg rush against the Huntsman –in-training. They waited until he'd cut through them all, exhausting the last of the A-Booster he'd activated at the beginning of battle. Together Beowolves, Ursa, and Creeps began to throw their heads forward to release the miniature infernos building within their jaws.

Jaune saw the line and panicked. By instinct his body braced for the attack.

Then the loud crack of thunder silenced the nonstop hissing of the forest fire.

"JJJJJJJJJAAAAAUUUUNNNNNEEEEE!"

Jaune had only ever seen Nora's signature _Thunder Drop_, from a distance. Being almost at ground zero made him both fear and respect the attack a hell of a lot more.

_BBBOOOMMM! _

Hitting the dirt nearly broke his cheek bones but Jaune was gratefully. No sooner had he hit the ground was he being dragged up. He grinned sheepishly looking into Nora's turquoise eyes. "You always know how to make an entrance eh Nora?"

Grinning broadly she brought him into a tight hug. "I know right! You were watching that? We should have recorded it! We could make a video! Nora's top ten _Thunder Drops_! We could put it on the school website! It'd be awesome!"

Two more solid thumps took Jaune's attention away from his go-lucky teammate. In the crackling inferno Jaune thought Ren and Pyrrha had never looked better. "Thanks guys."

"Are you okay? Are you…" The words seemed to die within Pyrrha's mouth when she noticed the whit glow covering Jaune's body. Ren and Nora seemed to take notice as well as evident by their mouths dropping a little. "J-Jaune? What is that?"

All of their eyes widen at the exact same moment. Rearing his shield back he pushed it forward just in time to meet the oncoming Boarbatusk. There was another flash of light and the boar was crashing through a tree with its face looking like it'd just been smashed by a mallet.

"Talk later! Fight now!" the young knight cried.

The drone was there again. Jaune thought his eyes were playing tricks on him again but he could see it clearly moving through the wall of shifting orange and yellow. He knew something was coming. A towering figure began to break through the tree line. Jaune saw two scythe-like blades gleaming in the light.

"Guys! Kamakiri at four o'clock!"

"I got it!" Nora shouted getting off a shout in the giant mantis's general direction. It was intercepted by a fire blast.

"I'll handle it! For now you all-gah!"

In Pyrrha's case guarding against the Burning Grimm was much harder and dangerous than it was for Jaune. Most of his clothing wasn't made of metal and his shield wasn't a natural conductor for heat. Pain was nothing new to the Spartan, but the growing sense of urgency it brought screamed at her to end this as soon as possible. Flipping Akuo into its spear form after fending off the Beowolf she split it in two from the hip to the shoulder and went on from there.

Ren and Jaune watched the towering Kamakiri make its grand entrance into the battlefield with baited breath. Behind it the two boys saw the drone move direction into firing position. There was a sharp whistle then the Grimm's body began to jerk and twist. Jaune's face went ashen. In front of them the other three members of team JNPR watched the Kamakiri join the other Grimm in a flame enhanced power-up. Its razor sharp blades turned into wicked sharped flames mirroring its now positively fireball like eyes.

Wide eyes suddenly narrowed on the now flaming twelve foot giant insect. "You weren't kidding about the fire-power." Ren growled.

The Kamakiri swung its blades releasing four burning slashes that sent the four teens scattering across the battlefield. With a speed that betrayed its size it sprinted across the field low on its hind legs. Briefly its wings spread out to perform a three-sixty spin that leveled the surrounding trees as well as the remaining Grimm. The members of team JNPR hit the dirt at their leaders command then rose to continue their attack. Ren and Nora struck from one side while Jaune and Pyrrha from the other. The mantis Grimm crouched low again then jumped off the ground leaving the four stunned. As it descended it fired a stream of fireballs. Once again they scattered to avoid the damage. At random its eyes zeroed in on the single human it viewed as the most dangerous.

A stream of flames blasted from the Kamakiri's its anus like some kind of engine. In a flash of flames it was looming over the downed Valkyrie. Shocked Nora looked up to see the flaming blade heading straight for her.

Ren's pink eyes enlarged to dinner plate prepositions. His body was moving before he'd even realized he was sprinting at full speed. "NORA!"

Jaune was silent as the blade came sweeping down. He didn't want Nora to die. He _wouldn't _let her die. He wouldn't have it! He wouldn't let Ren suffer the pain of losing his closest friend! "NORA!"

_**CLING! **_

Hundreds of burning bone shards flew from the Kamakiri's broken blade. Nearly the entire blade was gone. In fear it stumbled backwards.

Ren and Pyrrha watched frozen the light down around a still breathing Nora. Besides the fact she was alive it was what had saved her that amazed them. A shield, white with golden outlines, hovered above the Valkyrie protecting her. It was six feet long and four feet in diameter. All their eyes stayed on the shield before they traced it back to the source, the second mass of light.

Jaune's eyes were locked on Nora, his body practically becoming a sphere of white and yellow light of the same kind as the shield that had saved Nora. _He _was the source of it. _He'd_ projected it. Jaune didn't take any of that into account though. "Nora! Fire into its shoulders! Freeze them! Pyrrha aim for the legs and Ren blast the arms once Nora's done!" His teammates continued to stare at him in slack jawed awe. "Guys! Battle! Now!"

The gong sounded in their heads. With a savage cry Nora fired four ice-blue grenades at the stunned Kamakiri. Within the fifteen second window the joints of Grimm's arms were frozen Ren emptied Storm Flower, fire and lightning exploding in a crescendo of ice and steam.

"Heads up guys!" he shouted looking towards the sky to see the pair of Bullheads coming in fast and hot.

Against their hot skin the four teens were grateful for the cascade that rolled through the area. The rapid transition from hot to cold were heart-stopping but welcomed, especially for Jaune. In an instant the wildfire that had been raging around them died out. The flame coating the Grimm possessed turned into steam; they weren't able to handle the rapid thus fell to their knees in pain. As for the Kamakiri it howled to the skies, both its arms were gone and its fire had been temporarily snuffed out. Rather or not it would come back team JNPR wasn't willing to find out. Pyrrha darted from one leg to another, slicing cleanly through it with cold determination. Its face nearly hit the ground. Shrieking again it attempted to call back the mysterious power it'd been filled with. Out of the corner of its eyes it saw the blond knight making the final step towards its head. The sword in his hand burned white for an instant then he swung it.

One slash wasn't enough for Jaune, he swung again, and again, and again until the Kamakiri's mask shattered. Another wave of water fell down over the area extinguishing any flames that had been fighting to come back to life.

Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha joined their leader with their weapons still posed at the ready. Above them two Bullheads hovered protectively over their heads. Dropping down without a care in the world a very stern looking Professor Port joined in their little circle. The remaining Grimm knew when to cut their losses. With a snarl or growl the Grimm trudged away into the forest, some leaving trails of embers in their wake and others not so.

Professor Port turned to face Jaune to congratulate him but it died in his throat once he got a good look at the boy. His clothing was torn, he was bleeding and burnt in various places, his arms were throbbing, and if he had to guess he most have been dehydrated Pyrrha and Ren were supporting him and trying to access his condition. The boy kept shaking his head definitely asking if the town was safe.

"Ryswell is perfectly fine Mr. Arc." Professor Port spoke ending whatever argument that had been going on. With a canister in hand he walked over and offered it to Jaune. Greedily he drunk up its contents not even bothering to ask what it was. When he was finished Port knew the boy had seen some grave things based on the hard light in his eyes. "Jaune, what did you see out there? What happened?"

His face grew darker. "If you hadn't seen those Grimm then you wouldn't believe me." He'd lived through it. Against all the odds Jaune had lived through it and he was proud. Now came the hard part.

* * *

**Jaune took his first steps to becoming a badass this chapter; what did you guys think? He bleed, he cried a little, and in the end he's come out just a little bit tougher. His Semblance did make an appearance and what it is will be explained much later on. His fighting style I tried to describe as being rocky now and defined by adrenaline fueled instinct rather than actual skill. In time that's going to change but for now I've set him up to be just a little tougher and smarter than Canon. By the way, I've been thinking about doing a Halloween themed chapter next, what do you think? **


	22. Chapter 22: CRDL in the Wild Pt1

** Almost all the central teams (sort of) have been given a chapter or two and now it's time for the last one, team CRDL. This could count as the official start of their redemption arc. **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 22: CRDL in the Wild Pt.1 **

The Jungle was everything Cardin believed it to be yet at the same time it was unlike anything he was expecting. The Jungle wasn't some vine infested wasteland with fruit trees arching, wild pigs weren't running in the street being chased by jungle cats, bats weren't hanging from the rooftops in the shadow of light waiting for some unsuspecting prey to waltz by, the air didn't smell of repudiate odors fusing together, and lastly they were no human body parts being sold as meat by street venders. It was a little aged but besides the fact that the citizens were part animal Cardin and his teammates didn't feel like they were walking down the center street of Animal Square. They felt like they were walking into Vale City's semi-famous Eastside, the section of the city were everything had an old yet amazingly modern feel to it. None of the buildings looked any older than ten years, hell, a few of them looked brand-spanking new. Compared to the more high-tech structures of the outside they were lackluster but grand none the same. Beside him Dove muttered something about horrible tastes in design. Cardin wasn't an architect nor did he have any kind of artistic eye but he knew his teammate had a point. In the back of his mind Cardin had a feeling the somewhat bland and dull design of some of the buildings weren't due to a lack of taste but funding.

He'd taken Velvet's advice. There wasn't any shame any it since doing so probably got him as far as it did without someone trying to kill him. That morning he swooped out his usual set of armor of a few dark red plates with no emblem to be found anywhere. Beneath the armor he wore a gray hoodie. All joking aside he couldn't bring himself to do anything to his hair, not turn it into a rat's mess, put on a wig (he spent all night trying to get Russel and Dove to drop the idea), and dying it was out of the question. At best all he could do was keep his head down and shuffle along, hoping no one would be able to get a good enough look at him. It's not like he was a photo-copy of his father or his uncles but he was close enough. He had the Winchester hair color, his eyes came from his mother. Unless any of the citizens stopped and really looked at him they'd never be able to tell he was the son of the Minster of Justice. He hoped.

Russel, Sky, and Dove didn't have to go through nearly as much work as their leader did. Neither they nor their families carried as much weight as the Winchesters did. That didn't mean they weren't willing to suffer alongside Cardin. All three of them kept darting their eyes from one corner to another. Maybe it was the paranoia or the installed diligence that drove them to walk with their bodies locked tightly. If someone made a move against Cardin none of them were going to hesitant to attack. Every street they crossed didn't relieve them and it wouldn't until they were safely out of the area.

As the proclaimed "mother hen" of the group Sky was arguably the most on guard. He knew a small number of Faunus had noticed them, more specifically they'd noticed Cardin. They were avian Faunus walking the street, a handful of birds had eyesight that could put a pair of binoculars to shame. If they noticed Cardin then they didn't pay him much. _Just another day, just another team of in-training-Huntsmen passing through._ If he could project such thoughts into the minds of every passer-by he would. Sweat was collecting on his forehead despite the fact it was in the mid-fifties. He felt like if someone so much as bumped into them he'd be ready to start swinging at random. _Smart move Sky, do that and we'll be run out of this place faster than a cat in a dog house. Shit man, can't we just take a bud or something? _

Right beside him Dove voiced the silent plea. "Uh guys, why don't we just take a bus from here?" he pointed at the nearest bus stop. Breaking away from the group to run over he plucked up a map then ran back. "We've got about six minutes before the next bus comes so why not?"

His three teammates all blinked at him.

Russel spoke up first rubbing his chin, "You know he's got a point. It'd save us time."

Now that he had the light Sky was able to go off. "Are you crazy!? What if they jump us on the bus? What if the driver takes us to some shady part of town?"

"We're already going to a shady part of town Sky." Cardin grunted grabbing the halberd wielder by the shoulder. "You've been jumpy since we got here. Sky, you don't think we don't know what you're feeling? Trust me man the same thing's been running in my mind all weekend, what we should and shouldn't do but we're here now! Whatever happens next happens next! We'll deal with it when it happens. For now we need to get to Calaveras Row before sun down. That's in five hours! Whatever is happening there we need to get there so we can set up to knock off whatever the hell it is that's snatching up people!" Firmly forcing Sky to look at him Cardin made sure he had his teammate's full attention. He saw fear in those eyes and he understood that. "We get on that bus, we keep calm, we get off, and we're one step closer to doing all of that. Can you handle being on that bus for half an hour?"

Out of the corner of his eye Sky saw the bus steadily approaching. "Yeah but there's one thing," immediately all of his teammates groaned. "It's not about the bus! It's about Calaveras Row, do you have a plan on what to do once we get there?"

"We use all the crap we got from the academy." Their leader snarled.

With a heavy sigh Sky dug into his pocket and pulled out his transit card. Cardin, Dove, and Russel did the same. With Dove in the front and Cardin in the back they waited patiently for their turn to get on. Not one of them made a sound when they got on; they didn't look at any of the passengers either. Cardin kept his head low when he got on. They sat towards the back, Russel and Sky side by side and Cardin and Dove side by side. They did all kinds of little things to keep them occupied during the ride. At some point each became aware of the fact that the passengers had realized who they were.

Unlike Sky's worst fears they didn't say anything. A handful of them were probably scared they were going to pull out their weapons and start attacking anyone within range. As disgusting as the idea was the four boys could understand the fear. They couldn't immediately do anything to make those looks go away, only time would do that.

As the bus trudged onward they took the time to observe the scenery. Privately each of them made their own judgements on Wittenheim, the unofficial borough of the capital's Faunus population.

According to last year's report Wittenheim held an estimated population of almost seven-hundred and sixty-two thousand souls out of Vale City's estimated three point five million. Not even half the city's population confined to a rough ring of property _mostly _owned by Faunus. Russel could site exactly when, where, and how much every major landmark in Wittenheim had been bought and by whom. Often called the six "Locks" they formed a rough circle that enclosed the borough from the rest of the city. Speaking bluntly it was right in the middle of the city, taking portions from the Residential and Commercial districts. Housing, shopping, and work were all accounted for in those three areas and that was all the people of Vale had been willing to give the Faunus for the past one-hundred and eight years. Beyond Wittenheim there was no greater population of Faunus save for a handful of cities with eye-widening crime rates. Some people preferred to call Wittenheim a city all to itself; they wouldn't have been wrong to do so.

Despite the fact one could easily get on a metro train or bus to get in Wittenheim was a slave to a barrage of never-ending rumors that dominated the borough. Such stories told of the inner workings being made of massive trees instead of steel buildings. Instead of skyscrapers forests littered the landscape for as far as the eye could see. In truth Wittenheim was home to fourteen spread out parks. Inside every building was a semi-functioning greenhouse or miniature jungle. At the top of the tallest structures avian Faunus supposedly made nests from scrapes of metal, straw from the Agricultural district, and garbage. A handful of darker stories spoke of pedestrians being snatched then carried away into sky-high lairs and their remains being found weeks later. Almost eighteen years ago there had a been such a case, the Black Wing Murders, a string of murders so gruesome and animalistic everyone immediately assumed a Faunus had to be responsible for it. The two-year long killing spree had drove residents of Wittenheim to violently defend themselves whenever some would-be vigilante came around. That was just one of the most recent in a long list of events that had turned the small borough into an island in a vast sea.

All the rumors about Wittenheim were almost entirely unfounded team CRDL discovered on the ride. Their eyes wondered towards the rooftops, while avian Faunus did indeed come to some to roost there were giant bird houses or forest-like decorations. Stories of massive aviaries hosting entire flocks? Completely debunked. Stands selling dismembered slabs of meat? Debunked. Predator and prey chases occurring right in the middle of the street with roadkill left and right? The boys were willing to wait until nightfall but for the time being that rumor too was debunked. Collectively what took all four back was how _normal _everything looked. With every stop it became clearer to team CRDL while the borough may have been hotly disliked they couldn't spot a definite thing that set Wittenheim apart from the rest of Vale City. Each of them were hit with a subtle yet still powerful shock at this revelation.

This place wasn't the savage hellhole they'd been told countless times to stay away from. Each of their faces reflected the mild disappointment they felt. Outside of their bus hundreds of Faunus passed them by on the street, some carrying items, and others talking with associates or family. On the bus whenever a new set of passengers got on board they would visibly flinch or raise a brow before picking a seat as far away from team CRDL as possible. It may have just been their imagination but a lot of the times they tended to seat close to the nearest exit. Parents quickly caught their children before they could make it to the back, casting a fearful look in their direction. One by one each of them had come to hate that look.

Cardin thought he would feel something when he saw those families getting on the bus. Some spark of the hatred he held within the depths of his soul…but he didn't. The way those parents looked at him was an all too painful reminder of a night he wished he could forget. He wanted to shout at everyone to stop staring at him; only the rationality of his mind kept the mounting response at bay. _Why _didn't he hate these people? Increasingly he got the feeling it had a great deal to do with the fact they weren't wearing Grimm masks or bore that crimson logo of a snarling wolf on any part of their bodies. The more people looked at him with fear the worse Cardin felt, his teammates showed similar reactions. It reached a fever point when one passenger was forced to sit in front of them, the man couldn't stop shaking until they eventually got to his stop. He all but bolted out of his seat and out the door. Any other time the teenage boys would have found it laughable how there able to make grown men flee from them like a deer from a wolf. Knowing the reason why he was running so fast only made the boys feel like total assholes.

Before any of them knew it they were the last ones left on the bus; they didn't realize it until it came to a full stop. Looking up Dove compared the outside to what he was seeing on his Scroll. "Um excuse us," he beckoned to the driver. "I think you've made a wrong turn or something. The last stop is supposed be at Monroe Court."

Fidgeting a little the driver pointed forward. The four followed his finger to see the road ahead had been closed off with yellow tap and road blocks. Walking up to the front they could see why, up ahead it looked like someone had taken a jackhammer to the entire street.

"I-If you want to get to Calaveras Row then you're going to have to…" fear seemed to temporarily take hold of the dog-eared man. "You're going to have to walk."

It was clear he was bracing himself for whatever retort the boys had coming. Acting faster than his teammates Sky spoke in a civil voice, "We understand but how did you know we were going to Calaveras Row?"

"T-This is the only stop that leads into that part of town. T-The fact you guys were p-planning on getting off m-means you must be h-here to investigate the disappearances happening down there."

Cardin looked between the driver and the road. Sighing he ordered his teammates outside then gave a quick thanks to the driver. Once they were off they watched in silence as the bus quickly made a U-turn and sped down the opposite direction. Beside him Sky remarked how eager the driver seemed to get away the upturned section of earth. The mace-wielding knight had a feeling he should have questioned the driver on exactly what they were walking into, it didn't matter now that he'd driven off. Looking to the sky partial confirmed that. Above them rain clouds were rapidly gathering, maybe some ways away it had already started raining. "Let's get moving. We've got two hours to get into position."

* * *

The fact they were in a ghetto became painfully clear with every building team CRDL passed. Unlike the sections of Wittenheim they'd seen earlier the countless stories and apartments they were passing were run down if not partially destroyed. Speaking of which they quickly found themselves having to climb over mountains of rumble just to cross one end of the street. Piles of used and wrecked cars had been squashed together to form makeshift barricades closing off certain streets as well.

"What the hell is this?" Russel groaned after Cardin had to catch him from slipping down the hood of a car buried in the concrete. "The earthquake was months ago so why does this place still look like crap? Most of the city's recovered by this point!"

Cardin's eyes narrowed as he scanned their surroundings. "Welcome to Wittenheim, Vale City's largest resident Faunus-only borough. Hope you enjoy your stay."

The Mohawk haired teenager shut his mouth. A feeling of guilt washed over him with every step further they took. Once they'd made through most of the most hazardous parts of the road they began finding countless people walking the semi-ruined streets. Again, unlike those they saw before these people were visibly the poorer half of Wittenheim. Their clothes and cold looks spoke it. They weren't happy to see team CRDL just as said team wasn't happy to be walking into such a shady part of town. Piles of trash lined the sidewalk while broken down cars sat by; based on their worn out state they'd been there a while. Half the buildings they passed were half demolished or dunes of metal and wood. Unless one looked close enough they would have thought the earthquake that had ravaged the city had been recent.

People pushed carts all over the place. Their faces ricked of depression and desperation that was alien to the common person. Team CRDL did their best to avoid looking those people as they passed by, they had no desire to see such a sad state of existence. Given the fact that every Faunus in sight seemed to be caught in such a state they all did their best to keep their eyes forward, and even that wasn't easy.

Now the wretched smell of shit began to fill their noises to the brim. Sky was visible repulsed the entire way, having to hold his hand over his noise the entire walk. Dove wanted to withdraw his partner's hand from his noise immediately. Given the way some of the residents were glaring at them he felt acting like they were still in civilization would invite trouble. He might have agreed with anyone who told him it was wrong to say such a thing but from what he was seeing he was convinced they had walked into a jungle.

_So far all we've seen are feline, canine, and a few avian Faunus. They must control the most territory since the earthquake happened. _Dove thought keeping one hand ready to grab at his weapon. He could feel the eyes of the countless Faunus on him, watching him, waiting for him to wonder away from his teammates. _Get it together Dove! You're a trained warrior not some schoolkid walking through gangland! You've faced man-eating monsters! _

It disgusted Russel that people were being forced to live like this, it truly did. It was plain as day most of Wittenheim had been denied relief money. He knew better than anyone the city had the financial ability to fix the damages. In knowing that he felt nothing but disgust at the fact that money wasn't being spent on people who clearly needed it. _Who cares if they're Faunus, _he thought passing a blood stained patch of concrete. _Nobody deserves to live like this. _

_BANG! _

Team CRDL went still at the sound of a body hitting the ground in the alleyway to their right. Still holding his teammates back with a hand he stepped into the darkened alley. In the distance he saw a body being searched by another person, probably the shooter. The shooter looked up at Cardin with cat-like eyes. There was a hiss then he went back to robbing the corpse. Whatever code of chivalry that had been beaten into Cardin's body ordered to stop this injustice. _Yeah, justice in this hellhole, really bring a smile to everyone's face. _His team were looking like idiots, around them the citizens continued walking as if the gun had never gone off. These people were used to gunfire going off at random times, used to bodies dropping like flies. "Guys," he started lowering his arm. "Keep moving." His eyes remained on the corpse a moment longer before he himself started moving.

They found more corpses along the way, lying by the sidewalk. That was the final nail needed to cement the fact that they were now official, in the worst ghetto in all of Vale City. A light rain had begun falling from the sky. It didn't detour the scavengers out stealing anything they could get their furry and scaly hands on though.

None of the teenagers could blame the Faunus for what they were doing, they'd seen first-hand just how ravaged their home had become. They were even willing to bet many of the people still out had lost their homes as very few of the apartment complexes were still standing, even fewer were probably livable. Where they lived was a thought none of them wanted to dwell on, especially because they couldn't imagine how living such an impoverished life would be.

After what felt like another hour of walking team CRDL came to their final destination, Doman Flats. Three apartment complexes stretching into the sky stood in triangle formation. From the roof tops of each the inner city highway of Route 48 stood in plain view. From their point of view ruins would have been an accurate term to describe the three apartment buildings as that's exactly what they looked like. The only worthwhile aspect they shared was the huge graffiti that had been sprayed all over them, no doubt the work of avian Faunus. Some of it were actually words though a good majority of it were symbols. Forget pagan writing, these were straight up gang symbols that acted as a warning to anyone who ventured too close to the area. How they'd managed to survive the earthquake was beyond any of them though it may have had something to do with the rumor that the inside of the three buildings were supported by Dust-enhanced trees roots. If they got the chance to explore the inside of the trio of buildings known as the Red Triangle. Whoever had come up with the name was more than likely dead; the apartment complex had a bad reputation of becoming the graves for its occupants.

Criminals, human, and Faunus alike used the building as living quarters as well as hideouts. The occupants were well aware that they were sharing a building with what were more than likely drug dealers, gangsters, murders, rapists, and even psychopaths. They accepted it because they didn't have anywhere else to go. Rarely did any law enforcement save for federal enter the place least they end up dead or missing something important, like an arm or a leg.

That might have detoured the average person but for all their faults Cardin, Russel, Dove, and Sky weren't the average person. Taking on a building full of dangerous criminals and scum bags? Child's play for them.

Unfortunately such a task wasn't their mission, if their mission went the way it was supposed to then they wouldn't have to enter the wretched buildings at all.

"So," Russel started shivering a little from the oncoming rain and wind. "Which building are we supposed to set up shop in? The one with the big black raven spray-painted on the side or the one that looks like it's been used as a bomb shelter? Oh no wait, don't tell me, it's the one that looks like something out of a British horror movie."

"You do know that's all of them right?" Dove muttered.

"Oh fine, that one," he pointed at a twelve story circular shaped building that might have once been a stadium. Half of it had collapsed into slopes of rock, metal, and mud.

Scowling at his two teammates Sky walked over and bonked both of them on the head while Cardin groaned in to his head. _Here I was wondering why we're always side characters beside our reputation. _"It's the Gielgud building meatheads." All three of them stopped fighting and immediately looked to him. "Yeah guys, this is why I'm the leader of this team. We get to the Gielgud Building, set up shop on the tenth floor, and find out whatever the hell it is that's been snatching up Faunus left and right. Nothing bites tonight we try again tomorrow."

The argument was settled. The four walked across the decaying street, minding the glares they received from the few passersby still on the street. It wasn't just their clothing that set them apart from the other residents of Wittenheim but their eyes, they really did resemble the eyes of wild animals.

They set up shop on the eighth floor by a window. The inside was just as crappy as the outside. They found it a miracle the floor hadn't collapsed under their feet. Sky commented on it, voicing the fear they shouldn't have made such a weakened place their base of operations. The sentiment was generally agreed upon but they had nowhere else to go, especially with the rain growing by the minute.

As Sky and Russel set up the surveillance equipment Cardin found an intact chair to take a seat in. Setting it up by one of the windows he watched a handful of citizens high-tailing it through the streets which had begun to resemble mud more than concrete. Dove took notice of this but didn't say a word, instead he opened up his lab top and got to doing his part. Turning away from the window for a second to watch the dirty blond Cardin chuckled a little. Not many knew the squinty eyed teenager was and out and out geek save for his teammates. Cardin never verbally said it but they knew he took pride in the fact he had such a computer savvy person for a teammate and a friend.

He imagined the Faunus hustling along weren't as lucky. He didn't need binoculars to see people on the ground were scared, terrified even. It didn't take much to understand why they were terrified. This ghetto was an urban jungle that ran on the rules of its organic sibling. There was no life to be found in the eyes of the people. Seeing them reminded Cardin of the abused animals one of his cousins had taken in. The fear, the uncertainty, it seemed so wrong for such eyes to be on a human being. _Human being? These are Faunus! They're freaks! They…they…_Whatever the Winchester wanted to say died as he continued watching the scene below him. It was pitiful. These people were already dirt poor, what did he have to hate about them? Their horns? If his eyes didn't deceive him it looked like some had had their horns ripped or cut off. The same could be said for any tails they had, cut short. While Cardin may have been privileged he knew gang violence when he it, and it always made his stomach churn in disgust. _Their part of the city looks like ours, they walk like us, live like us, and have the same damn problems as us. _The young knight mused. _Just how much crap do you guys go through without racist assholes like us breathing down your necks? Oh who am I kidding? If this weren't a mission we never would have set foot here. I doubt any OSS or some other idiot would even think of coming within five miles of this place. _

Some time passed before something caught Cardin's attention. They hadn't seen any suspicious vehicles for the past half hour. What there a lot of was bullying and harassment. Pockets of hooded gangs had emerged as the darkness slowly began to creep over Calaveras Row. It took a great deal of effort for the four boys to keep from abandoning their hideout and marching up the street to confront these gangs. It was painfully obvious they didn't care if their victims were their neighbors, they just wanted some sick amusement out of the torture they spread. One thing Sky pointed out about them was how most, if not all of the gangs seemed to be canine. That certainly explained the repudiate odor they'd been forced to inhale on arrival.

With a pair of binoculars Cardin noticed a boy, maybe no older than seven, hurrying down the street only to be caught by a trio of thugs. Something in the back of Cardin's head clicked as he looked the boy over. He _knew _the boy. _No way. There's absolutely no way in hell! He was on the other side of town for crying out loud! The part of town that's…still under repair. _Despite the pushes of the thugs the boy didn't give, he held on tightly to the bags and books in his possession. He didn't cry either. _Kid's tough. _It took a single punch to bring the boy with antlers to the ground, then the thugs began to stomp over his frail body. Cardin's teeth bared in fury at what he was seeing. There were others around them but they paid the scene no mind. It was sickening how blind to it they were. _Can you idiots not see the defenseless kid getting the crap beaten out of him!? _He raved mentally. His grip on the binoculars was tightening to the point Dove had to stop him from crashing them. "I'll be right back." He growled.

"What?" Russel blinked.

"Uh Cardin, what are you planning?" Sky worriedly questioned lowering his halberd.

From what he could see he didn't need to ask the blue haired teammate to cover him. Against this kind of garbage he wouldn't need anything other than his fists.

Jumping out of the eighth story window may have seemed crazy but for Cardin it wasn't an issue. He'd done this stunt before plenty of times. When he had to be no more than twelve feet off the ground he forced his Aura into his feet to lessen the impact. As usually he barely felt it. Taking off the ground in a drop dead sprint he reeled his fists back. The beat down got closer and closer in view, his blood continuing to boil the closer he got.

"HEY! YOU FLEA-BITTEN BITCHES!"

The trio of canine gangsters were able to turn their heads just in time to see the violet-eyed teenager charging straight at them. Cardin brought the first down with a bone crushing right hook, in less than a second he took down the other two with a quick pair of jabs. Around him the other gangsters came forth, some holding weapons, and others sharpening their claws. Cardin wasn't scared in the slightest. What did he have to fear from these scum bugs?

His fists made contact with every dog-eared face he saw in the crowd that had gathered around him. Teeth flying out, blood matting his knuckles, Cardin didn't care in the least. Practiced hooks, jabs, uppercuts, and kicks sent each thug to the ground howling in pain. A few tried to restrain him by pinning his arms, when they did he slammed his head back breaking their noises in retaliation. One of them pounced on him like some wild dog. Reaching out with his left hand he caught his attacker in an uppercut. Grabbing him he swung him around into his fellow gang members. When he released him Cardin heard a bang followed by a ting on his back, instantly he recognized it to be a gun. Spinning on his heel he tackled the gun wielder to the ground. In the brief moment his violet eyes fell on the gang member his fist came down on top his gut.

A strangled cry turned Cardin around. His eyes saw two thugs attempting to grab the fleeing boy. In a flash Cardin was behind both of them, grabbing their skulls and bashing them together.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! _

_Sky, _Cardin thought as he continued cracking the skulls of the attackers. _You always gotta butt your noise into my shit. _Grabbing one last thug by the scuff of his shirt he delivered a satisfying right hook. When he was able to move again he scurried away like the rest of his pack with his tail between his legs. Taking a moment to look at his knuckles Cardin grunted. Somewhere in the back of his head he thought he would feel something cracking the skulls of the thugs; he'd barely felt anything but disgust at the one-sided beating of those thugs. _What the hell does beating the crap out of some low life thugs do? Jack shit. Least I got a good work out. _

Cardin turned back to face the young boy he'd come down to rescue. He was sitting on his knees staring at Cardin in awe as if he were an alien that had just come from the sky. _Yep, no doubt about it now, same kid. _Those brown eyes that had once been full of tears were glued to him. A blue hoodie protected his light brown hair and deer like antlers. Wiping some of the blood off Cardin offered the boy his hand, "You okay kid?" He blinked at Cardin for several minutes before taking his head. Sighing Cardin looked over the boy to find he had countless scrapes and bruises he couldn't ignore. "Hold still kid, this is going to hurt a little." Reaching into one of his pockets he withdrew a bottle of green liquid. Rolling up the sleeve he sprayed the first few cuts causing the boy to hiss. Taking out a cloth he rubbed the liquid over the injuries. Within two minutes they were completely gone. He did the same to the other arm though he wasn't sure about asking the boy to pull his shirt up so he could get a look bruises those punks had left on his upper and lower body. He was feeling weird enough as is.

In the eyes of the boy he'd gone from an alien to a magician. "T-T-T-T-Thanks…again."

Cardin's eyes raised in surprise a little. "You still remember me?"

"Y-You're kind of hard to forget." He replied.

_Damn, _Now Cardin seriously didn't know what to do next. The hope the deer kid would forget him had quickly been dashed. _Oh shit, ohhh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Come one kid, stop looking at me like that! _That familiar uncomfortable feeling began to take root inside him. This time though there would be no saving tool to uproot it.

Still with eyes wide the boy spoke, "Are you here to investigate all the disappearances?"

"How do you know that kid?"

"Why else would a Beacon trainee be hanging around Calaveras Row? It's sure as hell know it's not for the scenery."

The kid had a mouth on him, wonderful. "Let's say I am, do you know anything about it?"

"You mean other than the fact that some odd ball vans always pass through hear, get on the freeway and the next morning a house's worth of people have disappeared? About thirty people have already gone missing." Pausing he pointed at the two apartment buildings behind him. "They won't say it but even the local gangs are scared because they don't know what's going on. Some of the higher ups know but you won't get to them without having to level the entire place, ya know, like _The Raid_."

This kid was seriously throwing Cardin for a loop. What they were discussing probably involved the deaths of innocent people yet he spoke about it like it was nothing at all. Then again, considering the possibility the kid might have lived around here made his tone unsettlingly reasonable. "You live around here kid?"

"Yeah," he nodded changing the direction of his finger to another building, this one adjacent to the Red Triangle. It looked somewhat better off than the others in the area though it still could be called a mood of crap. The fact that people actually lived in it just hammered in further how improvished the area was. "I live in that place, Bolotin Manor. If you want to stake out what's happening you can use our apartment."

Both of the knight's brows rose. "Did they knock some brain cells out of your head kid?"

"Not sure if there's any left to knock out," he quipped. "But trust me, our place has a good view of the Red Triangle. If something's going down there then you'll be able to see it."

Now it was Cardin's turn to blink. "And…your parents are okay with his kid?"

The deer boy wrinkled his noise. Straightening himself he looked Cardin dead in the eye when he spoke. "Name's not kid, it's Utz. My name is Utz Avram."

The way he proudly puffed up his chest a little would have made Cardin laugh a little if he wasn't caught off his feet yet again. Somehow he'd manage to run into a kid able to completely disarm him in the shortest amount of time. "Cardin. Did you just say your name is Utz? As in…"

"Yep, as in the same one from that old epic. Don't remember what it's called but my mom named me after the same character in it." For the first time Cardin saw the boy smile, a carefree smile that was totally out of place in this kind of environment.

_Well…this day just gets weirder and weirder. _Cardin mused in his head. He couldn't quite pin it but there was something about this kid that made leaving him all but impossible. Perhaps it was his eyes. Yes, it had to be them, those dark brown orbs that so readily aligned with his. This kid had seen him effortlessly take down a swarm of gang members with so little effort yet he wasn't scared in the slightest of him. He seemed intrigued by him in fact. The way he stared at Cardin in awe made the root inside him grow then flower into something he couldn't identify. What had this kid done to him? In a way he reminded him of Ruby though there was a clear difference if one looked close enough. There was a hardness in Utz's eyes that Ruby's was lacking. Cardin knew that hardness well.

And that was the reason why he accepted the kid's offer. "You want something in return?"

"Maybe, maybe not, depends." He answered still not breaking his gaze.

Groaning Cardin decided he'd work out the details later, when they weren't under the pouring rain. "Why's the term divine punishment coming to mind?" Cardin muttered as the two began walking.

* * *

Oh yes, this day had not panned out how team CRDL had expected. Picking up a seven year old Faunus child who offered him to stay at his apartment for a stack out? None of them could have ever seen it coming even in their wildest dreams. To have the kid take to all four of them so quickly? God must have had a sense of humor concerning their lives.

All Utz did was knock on the door then shout, "Mom! I'm back! And I've brought some friends!"

_Click! Click! Click! Click! Clank! _

Sliding his key inside Utz lightly pushed the door open then held it out for the others to follow. One by one they fanned into the apartment, shock manifesting on each of their faces. Of course they'd walked straight into the living room, a relatively sizable one. Just from looking at the living room team CRDL realized they were standing in probably the only clean space in the whole building. The wooden floors may have been a little dark and torn but they held up well enough, only a creak every four steps. The walls were every shade of brown imaginable with only a few patches of white standing out. It was hard to count the number of holes in walls or the number that had been sealed up. There weren't any portraits up save for wall doodles they immediately knew to be Utz's. A single light illuminated the hallway they walked through and another over the living room. Said living room was almost perfectly square with a couch directly across from the TV. An ugly green carpet covered the distance between the couch and the TV with an oak wood table with four drovers stood above it. To the side against the wall stood at least three book shelves filled to the brim with papers and boxes.

Turning their heads to noise from their right they saw a kitchen counter. Popping over it was a woman with long brown hair a shade darker than Utz's tied behind a bandanna with deep green eyes. A pair of full-grown deer antlers protruded from the top of her forehead through holes in the bandanna. Her eyes switched from Utz to the four boys who nervously started scratching their heads. Her eyes fell back on her son while a sly grin overcame her face. "Brought home some cuckoo birds huh Utz?"

Wearing a similar smile Utz ran up, hugged, his mother as she came around, and then speed off into the hallway beyond the living room. The four boys were now left totally alone with the deer Faunus with absolutely no idea what to do. Nothing their brains came up with seemed feasible.

_And I thought Ruby was the master of awkwardness. _Russel whimpered in his head. Since Cardin was still thinking he decided he'd take the lead. Out of the four of them he was easily the "nicest" of the bunch, at least according to Sky. "Um hey ma'am. We're uh….sorry for…"

"It's not a problem." She said hand waving Russel off. For a minute longer than usually her gaze seemed to stay on Cardin. A soft smile spread over her face as she stepped forward holding her hand out. "Thank you for saving my son."

Hesitantly the team leader took her hand. Her hand was soft even if it was caked with dust and a few wrinkles. Faintly Cardin was reminded of another set of hands that had promised to always be there to hold him. Tasting sand in his mouth he tried to speak only to end up stuttering out mingled words that barely sounded coherent. "W-W-We're to in-investigate the disappearances happening all over Calaveras Row. If you have any information then it would help Mrs. Avram."

Obviously she found Cardin's nervous form to be cute and laughed. With the ice official broken the other three boys joined her until their leader gave them a quiet growl. "Well I know a thing or two about what's been happening. Would any of you boys like to discuss it over something to drink?"

Before any of his teammates to destroy the goodwill Mrs. Avram had shown them Sky leaped forward. "That would be great, thank you."

While the woman went to the kitchen the boys were left to sort out who was going to sit where. It wasn't going well.

"What do you think she's going to do?" Dove hissed elbowing Cardin. "Bite you? Stab you with some hidden knife?"

"Will you shut it!" he barked back. "I just don't think it's right! I need to be able to look her straight in the eye when she starts talking."

"To what? Use the old Winchester Death Glare to coax the truth out of her?" Sky snorted finding a pair of chairs in one of the closets in the hallway. "Look what reason would she have to lie to us? We saved her son, she's invited us in, and is willing to serve us something to drink. How about we try not to ruin the hospitality she's shown us so far?"

"You boys do know I can hear you right?" Mrs. Avram called from her place in the kitchen.

A metaphorical brink fell on each of their heads. Cardin recovered quickly crossing his arms. "I just think she'd want her kid beside her after coming home late like this okay."

Simultaneously the eyebrows of all his teammates rose in shock. Cardin wasn't paying them much thought, his eyes kept drifting to the hallway where Utz had disappeared and the kitchen. Beneath his stern mask he was quietly deducing exactly who their hosts were. _Protection, they want us to stay for added protection. Those punks outside catch one whiff of us and turn around immediately. _He had to give them credit for that one, it was a smart move. If they had to stay they would though Cardin hoped that wouldn't be the case. He still wasn't sure about sharing a tightly packed space with a pair of Faunus. Sky's mini-lecture banged against this thought within his head. _Are you scared? Seriously? You're scared of a five-foot six woman and her seven year old son in their crap shed of an apartment? Damn it man, you're a Winchester! Act like it!_

Just as Utz came bounding out of the hallway holding a notebook Mrs. Avram came back holding four glasses of orange juice. Sky immediately stepped over to help her before she accidentally dropped one of them. In a short time they were seated around the living room table. Utz and his mother sat on the couch while team CRDL did their best to get comfortable in the foldable chairs Sky had brought out.

'Yeah, this is why I don't like poverty." Dove grumbled only to be silenced by Russel with a hit to the head. Bowing his head he shot an apologetic look at the mother and son. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's alright. Around here you don't tend to last long if you can't take any shit face front. You could say we take pride in it." She chuckled a little at her own remark. "I suppose you all would like to know how this all started."

"That would be great." Sky said retrieving a pen and paper from his bag. "Please ma'am don't leave out any details."

Utz got open and opened his notebook on top of the table. Inside were photos and descriptions of all manners of people that had passed through Calaveras Row. To the teenagers' surprise the information was very well taken. _Kid's got some skill. _They each thought sorting through the pictures. The gang members in them were busy talking with humans dressed in all black garb. Who they were or what group they belonged to they couldn't make out, what they did know was that the men sure as hell weren't gang members.

"For some time now," Mrs. Avram began crossing her fingers together just as her eyebrows creased in unease. "People have been vanishing off the streets. There were a whole number of people missing after the earthquake but this was…different. Everyone could feel it. People were going missing right off the streets on their way to and from work. Even…" her hands tightened considerable as she spoke her next words. "Children."

"I…I know this is going to sound stupid but have the police been investigating this?" Russel asked.

With a soft snort the woman flipped a few pages in the notebook until she came to a set of names. All of them were under the category of law enforcement. "Around here police are usually part of the problem, they're either too scared to do their job, too lazy, or too corrupt. A large part of it is we're one of the worst sub districts in all of Wittenheim. The only time Wittenheim PD ever sends someone out here is when they're afraid of totally losing the area to the criminals that hold up in in those dog houses you saw earlier. Even if they wanted to find out what's going on they don't have the resources to," her green eyes flashed from worry to a firm hardness as she looked at teenager. "Remember, you're not in Vale City proper, you're in the Jungle, the Animal House, and that means the only person you can trust to have your back is yourself. Anyways, those few officers that did try to investigate things have either disappeared too or turned up dead."

Utz pointed at a few names that had been crossed off the list unlike the others which had a simple D beside them. "The Ds are the ones' that have gone missing and the ones with lines through them are dead." Briefly sadness flashed through his eyes as he pointed to one name. "Officer Johns, they found his body last week. He was a nice guy."

Now the reason for their mission was starting to make sense. People knew what was going, they just chose to ignore it or weren't able to do anything about it.

That burned team CRDL though none of them were sure why.

"It's no secret some of the gangs are in on whatever the hell it is but for obvious reasons they're not talking." Mrs. Avram mused flipping the page.

"Is there a chance the White Fang is involved?" Cardin asked heatedly.

Every eye in the room turned to him. Collectively they all knew the answer to his question would more than likely determine his mood for the rest of the mission.

Mrs. Avram held Cardin's gaze for the longest time. She wasn't afraid of him nor did she seem hurt by the glare he was shooting her. She could understand the feeling the young man was fighting to suppress. "No." She noticed the other three collectively sigh in relief. _I wonder what would have happened if the White Fang really were involved. Odds are the kid would be demanding every last bit of information I have. Heh, no wonder Utz likes him so much. _"The White Fang rarely comes around here, far less than the police do. Besides that if they were involved I'm pretty sure Beacon would have sent more than you four, no offense."

"None taken." Russel waved it off. "Okay so if it's not the White Fang and not some local gang then who is it?"

Visibly the posture of the woman tightened. One of her hands fell over Utz then pulled him tightly against her.

Something about the motion sparked something in Cardin. With the build of anger gone something took its place, this alien feeling he'd been trying to identify for so long. "Mrs. Avram, whatever it is, whoever's behind it, you have my word as a Winchester we're not going to let it take your son. I promise."

"_We _promise." Russel added.

For the moment none of the teenagers knew exactly how much comfort their words brought the single mother. _These kids…they are different from their parents. _She felt like her prayers had been answered, granted it wasn't in the way she'd expected. "Okay, you know how black SUVs and trucks have been sighted near each of the disappearances. A lot of people don't think they're disappearances, they think they're kidnappings." The four leaned in closer. "Some witness say there was some kind of struggle at most of the kidnappings that ended with s sharp pop. It's possible they're being tranquilized and transporting in these black vehicles to Route 48."

Sky's fingers began working like mind copying down the information. _Oh man why do I feel like we're about to get in over our heads just like team RWBY always does. _Route 48 was one of the major highways in Vale City; get on it from one spot and you could take it to the other side of town, provided traffic didn't bother you. It was partially why the Faunus portion of the city were able to hold jobs outside of Wittenheim. He was familiar with the routine, wake up, get dressed, start up the car, and pray like hell you were able to beat the traffic to get where you needed to go. _If these guys are getting on Route 48 then those people are as good as dead, _Sky mournfully realized. _Tracking them through all that traffic is near impossible without getting a hold of the road cams, and none of us have that kind of leverage, not even Cardin._ He didn't want to think about were those people were being carried. Given their status in life when they woke up and realized they'd been kidnapped they lost hope then and there.

To Sky's surprise he felt a hand fall on his shoulders. Turning he saw Dove was giving him his 'keep your head up smile' he always wore when the halberd user began thinking too negatively. "Dude, relax. All we have to do is sit back and watch, when these guys make a move we nail, then drag them to the police department and get the whole story out of 'em."

"So you guys really know how to fight? With weapons and Dust and all that stuff?" Utz asked eyeing the four with brimming eyes.

"Can we fight? Kid we've taken down monsters that would send grown men crying to their mommies." Dove laughed whipping out his weapon. "Feast your eyes on this bad boy! It's sent more Grimm to their grave then-"

"Why don't you show the kid a real weapon Dove?" Russel snickered showing off his Multi-Action Dust Daggers. His low smirk grew into a full blown grin when Utz's attention stayed solely on the daggers. Clearly he'd won the show off.

Groaning Cardin ran his hand over his face. "Lying idiots," he moaned. The soft laughter of Mrs. Avram was all Cardin needed to make him want to turn in for the day. "Let's just set up shop here and get this over with."

"Yeah about that Cardin, I think we might have to wait until tomorrow." Dove spoke up after breaking off his glaring contest with Russel.

"Why's that?"

Dove showed him the image on his lap top. It was of a weather report for not just the night but for the rest of the week. "There's going to be a heavy fog all day tomorrow. With that kind of weather I think our kidnappers are going to hold off until tomorrow."

"The data says they're going to strike tonight." Sky countered.

"And you don't think they might change it up with Mother Nature deciding to throw them a bone. I know I would." His partner responded with vigor.

"Okay here's the plan," Cardin spoke raising his hands up. "We watch the block tonight, if nothing bites then oh well, we try again tomorrow evening. We stay here the night," he looked over at Utz and his mother. "If that's alright with you two."

"The guest bedroom is the perfect view to see what's happening in the Red Triangle, just please don't wreck anything in there." Mrs. Avram answered.

"Sweet!" Utz shouted jumping off the couch. "Sleep over with real live Huntsman! Awesome!"

_Is this how You're going to make us atone? _The Winchester muttered looking upward. "Funny." He snorted.

"What?" Russel asked.

"Nothing Rus. Let's go set things up."

Just before they could get up Russel spoke, "Um ma'am, not to be rude but…why are you doing this? Why are you letting us stay here?"

For a while Mrs. Avram didn't say or do anything other then take a long sip of her orange juice. Once she was finished she gave a long chuckle that offset the boys just a little. "Why? Maybe because I think you boys have a chance at helping this place. Of course there's also the irony of it which I can't pass up. I mean how often do you get the son of the Minster of Justice, one of the heirs of Thrush Banking and Finance, heir to the Bronzewing family, and one of the heirs to the biggest news stations in all of Remnant offer to help out a couple of Faunus?"

"Oh tell me about irony." Cardin moaned walking away.

Cardin and Russel were busy setting up their surveillance equipment when the mace wielding knight noticed the unease in Russel's form. Placing a hand on his shoulders he gave him a rare smile. "Rus, whatever this place throws at us we can take it."

His smile was weak but at least he was putting some effort into it. "I-I know man. I-It's just…Cardin, tell me we're not getting in over our heads. I don't want to end up like Neptune and Sun."

Cardin's smile fell. He may not have liked either Haven students but that didn't mean he didn't care about what happened to them. When he saw Neptune in the infirmary even he felt pity for him. Everyone knew something had happened to the two in the sewers, something horrific based on how traumatized they were. Whatever it was it had hit Neptune hard. Even if he returned to his cool-guy ways all one had to do was look close enough to see he'd been damaged. For some reason he'd also shown an aversion to the color green or anyone with green eyes. Sun might have turned out the same but he had Blake with him so that took care of that.

"I don't know Rus, I really don't." he solemnly spoke looking out the rainy window. "I don't think we're going to run into some super powered "Burning Grimm" like Arc and his team did. I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about getting our asses chewed out for collateral damage like teams RWBY and IONC did. Hell, maybe out of all of us we'll get lucky."

"Yeah," Russel laughed a little. "Us lucky, just a nice normal mission."

Within their hearts both boys knew that wasn't going to be the case. Not with their track record.

* * *

**I'm soooooooo sorry about not updating in a while! I had so many things to take care of for the holidays! Thanksgiving I mean, not Christmas. Honestly now a days it seems like people tend to jump straight from Halloween to Christmas leaving Thanksgiving waiting by the bus stop. **

**So is team CRDL's mission going to go as expected? Not a snowball's chance in hell. What kind of trouble are they going to run into? You'll just have to week (a week's wait tops!) to find out! **

**Please Review and happy Thanksgiving readers! **


	23. Chapter 23: CRDL in the Wild Pt2

**I do not own anything. **

**Chapter 23: CRDL in the Wild Pt.2**

* * *

"_Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself." _

_-Mohsin Hamid_

* * *

There were a whole number of reasons Cardin couldn't get to sleep that night: the rain, the snoring of his teammates, the smell, and his own mounting anxiety. The whole day had been too weird for Cardin's liking. He wouldn't admit it to the others but deep down in his gut he was afraid. It was no man or weapon that he feared but the uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it yet he couldn't get any sound other than a grunt to come out of his mouth. Why had he been dealt such an odd hand? And why when the FRR anniversary was a week away? If God was testing him then Cardin wanted to demand they get something different, anything other than these.

The guest bedroom they'd both set up shop in and decided to sleep in was tightly crept by modern standards. Besides room for a single bed there was very little space in the tiny square. Mrs. Avram had offered them use of her room but they'd adamantly refused. Utz made the same answer and got the same response.

Speaking of Utz Cardin didn't exactly know what to make of the kid. All Cardin had to do was look him in the eye to tell there was more to the boy than met the eye. His eyes weren't the same as most children should have been, they were hard and battered. That was what didn't sit right with Cardin as well as his teammates. Faunus or not kids shouldn't have the eyes of men and women who'd seen tragedy up front and personal. Yet, for all the promises and legends that was the case throughout most of recorded history. At one point such eyes wouldn't have been out of place in a human child living in a normal village. Now a days such a thing would have been a sign of alarm; unless said child happened to be a Faunus.

"_They're savages, animals. They live in trees and still hunt with spears and shit, how the hell do you think they live?" _His uncle had once told him.

Snorting the disproven fact away Cardin rose to his feet in the darkness. Directly across from him lay a sleeping Dove, his lap top sitting quietly on his lap. Silently he closed the device and placed it to the side; knowing Dove he'd wake the whole hallway if he woke up and accidentally broke the damn thing by pushing it to the floor.

He didn't have to walk very far to get to the living room, it was practically just ten steps away. Sky and Russel were lightly sleeping side by side on the couch. They weren't sharing a blanket and even if they had to one would have refused it on the basis they wanted to keep their dignity. Lucky for them Mrs. Avram had a few extra blankets lying around even if they did have some holes in them. Cardin supposed in that regard they got lucky again. To the mace-wielding knight's surprise he saw the refreigator light on. Since the odds of Mrs. Avram sneaking out for a late night snake were slim to none he immediately knew who it was.

Confirming his suspicious Utz wobbled out of the kitchen holding a bottle of water and a few candy bars. He took one look at Cardin then held one of the candy bars up, "Want one?"

Before he knew it Cardin was walking over and already had it in his hands, "Thanks Utz." Cardin wasn't sure why but when the deer Faunus's face lit up with a smile he found himself smiling a little too. It wasn't often he got a Faunus to look at him with anything other than fear or scorn. Having this one child look at him with respect, admiration even made him feel…happy. The fact he was doing so knowing he was a Winchester only made the feeling stronger. _Now if only I could get-stop! We're not going down that road again! Not happening! No way! _

"Thinking about a special someone?" Utz asked biting into his peanut chocolate bar.

"Perspective little kid aren't you?" Cardin muttered turning his face away.

"A deer's got to be if it's going to survive." He proudly laughed. Side by side they sat against the walls taking joy in the semi-silence of the small apartment. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"All depends on what kind we're talking about." He responded raising an eyebrow.

"What's life like at Beacon?"

_Had a feeling that one was coming. _"It's pretty awesome most days. You learn how to fight monsters, kick ass, and try to avoid pissing off the wrong people. Trust me, there're a few people I go to school with who need anger management." He paused looking down at Utz. He had his full undivided attention. "Word to the wise kid, you ever meet someone with anger issues don't ever tell 'em that to their faces unless you can run like hell."

Smiling he pointed at his small antlers. "Again, deers, we're pretty good runners when we need to be. Next question, what are the teachers like? Is it true? Some of them have taken down whole Grimm hordes by themselves? Do they really teach you guys how to kill a man using only two fingers? Do you build giant robots for fighting monsters like Deathwings? How long do you practice? Are classes cool or boring? Do they make you fight death matches for failing?"

One day Cardin would have loved to meet one of the sources of Beacon's gossip machines himself. He would have had a few choice words to say to them. "The death match part depends on who you're paired with during gym. Don't let anything they saw fool ya', Professor Goodwitch does rig the board so you end up facing the guy you've either been arguing with all week or the one person you don't wanna mess with."

"What about Grimm? Is it true you actually fight live Grimm inside the school?"

"Well Duh, wouldn't be the best combat school in the country if we didn't do that sort of thing." Cardin snorted.

"Have you ever fight live Grimm inside the school Cardin?"

"Yeah," he answered flexing his fingers. Utz may not have known it but he'd brought up some interesting memories. Among the few months his team had at Beacon those Grimm matches were probably the best. Those were the days his team proved they weren't just a team of low life bullies but actually forces to be reckoned with. "My team's fought five matches, personally my Grimm kill score is two-hundred and twelve." There was no stopping the grin on his face when he was able to make out Utz's amazed expression. He was about to lie but that didn't mean he couldn't stretch the truth a little to fire up the kid's imagination. If he could keep that amazed twinkle in Utz's eyes alive for a little while longer than he didn't see the harm.

"What's the toughest mission your team's ever done?" Utz's questioned.

"Toughest? Hands down it was when we were ordered out to Forever Falls. For a couple of days the Grimm had been attacking the railroad tracks and the railway station they've been trying to build."

"Seems kind of stupid to build a railway all the way out there. What with Grimm, wild animals, and all kinds of crazy living there." Utz chirped in.

"Exactly kid," Cardin grunted. "Of course when you're there to "serve" as the leisure of Vale's largest shipping company you've got to keep those things to yourself. Anyway for three days we guarded that damn station from every Grimm that crawled out of the forest. Almost every twenty minutes or something the Grimm started a new attack, worse, after a while they started coming from different directions. One minute things were going good on one front and the next another was at the point of collapse."

"How many teams did it take for hold the line?" Utz asked noticing Cardin had started rubbing his left harm. He could tell the knight had not walked away from such a battle unscathed.

Casting a sideways glance at the deer Faunus Cardin replied, "It took five teams, we were the only first years there." He said that with a little bit of a grin. After weeks of hearing about the adventures of team RWBY he was happy his team managed to complete such a buzz worthy assignment. It was what they needed to heal their wounded pride. "I'm not gonna lie to you Utz, we _almost _died I don't know how many times. I almost got my head ripped off, Dove was an inch away from losing his legs, Sky was nearly split half in half, and Russel came a little too close to knowing what it feels like to be a scratching post." A heavy silence settled over the older and younger boys that was broken by the feint crack of thunder. Without a word Cardin pulled the sleeve of his left arm back to reveal a sharp, long scar running the underside of his forearm up to his elbow.

Utz's eyes widened as he leaned over to examine the scar. Carefully he ran his hand over it. "A Razortooth?" he concluded?

"Yep." The Winchester answered. "Almost twice as big and as mean and with one hell of a lunge."

"Razortooth, a feline like Grimm bearing a strong resemblance to prehistoric smilodon. Besides their claws which have been known to shred solid steel they possess an unusual semi-segmented bladed tail they can use to impale their prey. Their habitat range from tropical jungles, to dense forests, and mountainous regions. They have a threat level of level seven."

"Regular little text book aren't ya?" The older boy grinned a little.

The younger boy returned his grin. "Gotta be smart if you're going to avoid the predators. Were you smart enough?"

With a chuckling Card fell back against the wall. "No Utz, I just had damn good teammates. Russel was able to use his Semblance right after the damn thing nearly tore my arm off, leaving this," he pointed to the scar. "As a reminder. Anyways right after Russel saved me from getting my arm torn off the Razortooth decided it wanted Mohawk and skinny over this, bad choice. It turned its back on me, I brought my mace down, seven times, blasted one of its little fangs off, and then while it was dazed I took off the rest of its head." With his tail finished Cardin waited for the seven year old's response. He was expecting either starry-eyed dazzle or claims he was just making the entire story up. After a while neither came Cardin turned to find Utz staring at him. Strangely it wasn't in total amazement, the more Cardin focused the more he realized it was respect. "You're really going to believe everything I just told you?"

Utz for the first time seemed surprised. "Why shouldn't I? It's not like you've got a reason to little to me. Why should some Faunus's opinion matter to a Winchester?"

Cardin knew that crack was intentionally. He didn't blame the kid for it, matter of fact he found he liked Utz more for having the balls to say something like that because it was true. The way Utz was eyeing Cardin was something he approved of; the look in his eyes reminded Cardin very much of himself when he was his age. That being said Cardin realized if Utz was him when he was younger then Cardin himself was playing the role of his father. That left a bitter taste in his mouth leaving him wanting to change the subject. "Do you study Grimm at school?"

"When I can." Utz shrugged. "We don't have a lot of books at my school, to be honest most days you can walk into the library and you'll be like if you can find an unfinished coloring or picture book. Whatever she can my mom tries to bring home books for me to read."

"Smart woman." The Winchester mused. Already he'd grown a begrudging respect for Utz's mother. When Cardin spied the worn wedding ring yet found not the slightest race of a husband he immediately knew something was up. Already he'd come to the conclusion he was more than likely dead, how was a topic Cardin wasn't up for bringing up. _All things considered…this is a pretty cozy place for a shack in the middle of crime central. _"The dorms are alright provided you know how to use them, and you've got livable teammates."

"What kind of things do you guys have in your dorm? I'm not ready to believe the stories about guys keeping mini science labs hidden in secret chambers."

Detecting the change in Utz's voice Cardin turned his head to see the boy's head was slowly sliding downward. "I'll tell you in the morning kid." Cardin whispered picking the seven year old up in his arms. While walking Cardin realized a startling fact about Utz he failed to notice before, the boy was slightly underweight. The same went for his mother who seemed only to be in shape through constant workouts. He was no Faunus but he could faintly smell gasoline and motor oil on her hands when they entered the apartment. _Whatever she does, she does it for him. _He realized gently placing Utz back under the covers. Normally he would have walked away but he didn't, instead he hung over the deer Faunus, quietly watching him sleep the night away. _Even in this shithole you're still able to sleep like there's not a damn thing wrong with the world. _

Thankfully Cardin didn't feel his vision getting blurry like it usually did though he did feel something start nibbling at his heart. Immediately his first instinct was to squash the feeling before it got too far. He should have but he didn't, the memory had already surfaced. The face, the smile, and the eyes, shining violet eyes his father had come to scorn every time he looked at him. The resemblance between his childhood and now was getting too much for Cardin to bear. _Get out. _A voice barked at him from the corners of his mind. _Get your rich ass out of here before anything else happens! What are you waiting for? Move it! The kid will live until morning, without you standing guard! _Biting back the unwarranted voice Cardin straightened his legs and walked quietly out of the room. "I've got to be losing my mind at that place." The young man whispered silently casting one last glance at Utz.

* * *

It somewhat of a shock when Sky and Dove found Mrs. Avram had already started getting ready when they woke up. It was only six-thirty six yet the grown woman looked like she'd been up for hours. Sky, being the smartest of the bunch entered the kitchen and began making breakfast from whatever he could find. Left in the middle Dove wondered over to one of the shelves containing a collection of photographs. Unsurprisingly mother and son were featured in almost all of them, and so was another person. Obviously he was Utz's father, his face being a perfect model of his son's once he hits adulthood. Though Dove wasn't in the business of judging he had to admit there was something nice about Mr. Avram, something that made him wish he was here in the apartment with them. Lord only knew how his spouse and son must have felt.

Curiosity caused him to reach towards one of the photos; a picture of a four year old Utz being held up on his father's shoulders with his mother laughing beside them while a collection of statues quietly sat in the background surrounded by greenery.

"That was one of the last times we were able to take a vacation." Came the voice of the mother of the apartment.

Startled Dove placed the photo back and immediately began apologizing. "I'm so sorry ma'am! I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Dove, it's fine." Mrs. Avram waved the dirty blond off entering the living room almost entirely dressed in gray. The stains in her clothing were plain as day as were some of the tears in the uniform. A blue cap with an orange insignia poked out purse. "That's my husband and Utz's father, Isiah." Gently she caressed the photo with a tenderness Dove knew all too well. "Don't worry, if he'd been here he still would have let you guys stay, granted I can't promise you would have gotten any sleep. The man snores like a bear."

Smirking Sky handed her a plate of cooked bacon and some eggs he managed to find. "We've got experience sleeping next to snoring machines."

"I heard that Lark!" Came the voice of team CRDL's mace wielding leader from the hallway.

"Um ma'am if you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?" Across the counter Sky shot his partner a furious look that he screwed up at. He couldn't help wanting to know! It's not like he was going to make fun of it!

Breaking up their argument was the clam voice of Mrs. Avram. "He died in a Dust mining accident."

Both boys ceased their glaring contest to stare at the woman. Her face was blank with nary an expression to be found. Gulping Dove voiced his suspicion, "Did he by chance happened to work for the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Yep." She answered with a little bit of a smile tugging at her lips. "Sometimes he hated it and other times he loved it because of the friends he was able to make." Soon the smile fell from her face creating a frown. "There was an…accident in one of the Dust caverns. The whole place went up in smoke and flames, by the time they dragged the bodies out there was barely anything recognizable of them."

Something cold gripped Sky and Dove hearing that story. Just hearing the name Schnee made them think of Weiss however they quickly halted that train of thought. This wasn't unusual to hear about. Last year it was estimated some eight-hundred thousand and seven hundred Faunus had died working under the Schnee Company. Compared to the human casualty rates it wouldn't have been wrong to say working for the largest Dust company in all of Remnant was like putting your name on the grim reaper's waiting list. All too often the White Fang used that as a primary recruiting tool. Sky bit his lip knowing the number was more than likely a little higher than what had been reported; as an heir of the biggest news station in the kingdom he was somewhat privy to the sort of information that couldn't be trusted with the masses. Sometimes after watching the news he wondered if Weiss knew just how many lives her family had destroyed or ruined. It was no surprise they went to school with quite a few of them but to stand in front of one who they had started to know personally was…disconcerting.

Regaining his will to speak Dove bowed his head to the point it seemed he would fall face first. "I-I'm sorry for bringing i-it up. I-It won't happen again."

"You don't have anything to apologize for Dove." She offered turning to the door with a determined and somewhat vengeful expression. "What I would like is something from that damn Dust company." The underlying anger in her tone all but screamed to the boys there was more to the story than she was telling them. At the sound of her son's approaching she dropped the somewhat angered expression in favor of the kind persona the boys had gotten used to. "So boys, before I head out can I know what you plan on doing to my apartment? Should I be worried about trip wires and surveillance cameras being set up all over the place?"

Scowling at the woman's cracks Cardin crossed his arms as he always did when annoyed. He was very aware of all eyes being on him, and while the attention stoked his ego it also made him feel somewhat uncomfortable. This wasn't how he pictured his tenure at Beacon going. "Mrs. Avram, I can tell you we aren't going to be camping out here, besides the spare bedroom no will ever know we were here. You go to work, Utz goes to school, Russel tails him, I scout around the area, and Dove and Sky will stay here. The minute something happens one of us will call in, take care of it, and with any luck that'll be the end of this wonderful little adventure."

Tugging at Russel's pant's leg Utz whispered into his ear, "He's not all muscle is he?"

Snickering the knife wielder replied, "Only on his good days, which this happens to be one of."

"Nice to see you two making fun of the toughest guy in the room." He growled. "The only guy who could take on this entire town without getting serious. Real smart move, remember it when you're getting swarmed and I decided to get a smoothie instead of saving ya."

To Cardin's continued irritation all the two did was break out in laughter that was followed by the snickering of the remaining three occupants.

With a wave Mrs. Avram was out the door soon followed by Russel, Cardin, and Utz leaving Dove and Sky alone in the rundown apartment.

Dove spoke first, "You know I never thought I'd say this about a Faunus but…I kind of like them. They're nice."

"More than likely the only nice people in Calaveras Row." Sky agreed. "Look at this place, how they've managed to stay that way is beyond me. God knows I would have cracked under all this pressure by now."

His dirty blond partner regarded him strangely. Right off the bat Sky didn't understand why his partner was staring at him until he fully comprehended what he'd just said. His shoulders quietly slopped in a hunched position.

There was the dirty little secret no one ever talked about, the fact that in the long run Sky was more than likely the weakest one of team CRDL. All the students whispered it behind their backs and it just wasn't in Sky to do anything about it.

Snapping both boys out of their stupor was a gunshot. Dashing to the bedroom window they spied a few gang members carting away a pair of freshly dead bodies into a truck. They were no screams or shouting from the few walking by. The only effect the gunshot had was making them walk faster. No one made any motion to call the police or anything. Just like the day before the people cared on like it was business as usual.

Stone faced Dove ran a hand over his hair. "Ya know Sky, you're not alone."

"On what?"

"On being weak. Shit man, I'm not sure _I'd _be able to survive this place." Dove's face screwed up as a shudder ran over his body watching the truck drive away. "How does that happen? How do you just shoot two people in broad daylight and not one person says anything? It's barbaric!"

With downcast eyes Sky found himself reflecting on everything they'd seen in Wittenheim since arriving. All the previous viewpoints he had on the place had shifted significantly. "It's…no different than how human ghettos are." Dove turned to face his hardened expression. "Let me guess, how do this people live like this? Because they _have _to Dove. They don't have a choice like we did."

* * *

It may have been cliché but Cardin and Russel knew from the fog that the day was not going to be easy. As predicted a thick fog blanketed much of the area. Though it was only just sprouting a seed of worry had been planted in both of them. In addition to not knowing the lay of the land they were both at a visibility disadvantage. At night it would only get worse.

Utz's school came into view after a short walk that lasted somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes. There was nothing remarkable about the place: average design of three floors with a rectangular shape, brick build, chain link fences that were contaminated with rust, spray paint plastered over the side.

"You guys should see the high school." Utz joked continuing ahead while the other two boys remained behind.

Looking at the school Cardin felt all the alarms going off in his head. Little kids, _children, _went to school here? One wing of the school building had collapsed into slated mound brick and rock. The broken windows all but screamed all he needed to know about the place. Every instinct in his body was screaming for him to not let Utz take another step towards the building. _Wait a minute? What the hell do I care? Why am I acting like this kid's my little brother? For Christ's sake he doesn't look anything like Maggie! _

Cardin saw the smile on Utz's face and knew it was him trying to tell him he was going to be okay. "I did manage on my own before I met you guys." Proudly placing both hands on his hips he puffed up his chest to the Winchester. "We may not have claws or teeth but we deer still know how to defend ourselves. Plus we got a pretty good kick when you piss us off." He motions to his tiny antlers with a look of pride.

The knight blinked at the child.

_The cardinal may not have the talons of an eagle or hawk but it's got its spunk needed to fight back against anything that threatens it. _

Scratching his head he turned away from his chuckling teammate. "Russel…can you…just…watch out for the kid will ya?"

Playfully patting his best friend on the shoulder the knife fighter grinned. "Don't worry boss, I've got eyes on Utz and trust me, even if that kid does get into trouble he'll be able to fight his way out."

There were few people Cardin truly trusted, even members of his own family barely made the list. Among the few that did Russel ranked pretty high; it wasn't surprising given the two had known each other for almost eight years. Even though he wasn't sure why he felt such a protectiveness for the chestnut haired Faunus he was at peace with the fact Russel would be watching over him.

Now free to explore the rest of Calaveras Row Cardin found he liked what he saw even less. There wasn't one area untouched by poverty. Glancing into the windows of various stores did little to elevate his opinion of the place; the store goods were either overpriced or nothing but useless piles of crap to begin with. How these stories managed to stay in business escaped him. That led Cardin to another question as he walked the street, just how much were these people making? Clothing had never been his strong point but even he knew rags when he saw it. No one looked like they'd be able to afford winter clothing, that is, if they could find any winter clothing period.

To satisfy a childhood curiosity he popped his head into a clothing story. The first thing he noticed is he'd come just as a tornado had passed by. Racks lay on the ground bent out of shape and clothing was thrown all over the place in torn rags. Towards the back he spied a set of cardboard boxes he assumed must have been new shipments. All of them had been torn wide open. In front of the counter an elderly man and woman were doing their best to pick up the pieces of their destroyed store. Both of them possessed a pair of bull horns extending from the sides of their forehead as well as a paintbrush like tail pitiful swaying from side to side. He didn't stick around to make eye contact with them when they rose to meet him. To his immense disappointment he found other stores along the block were in similar condition, a handful weren't just wrecked but had been reduced to rubble.

Through the mist Cardin could smell the metallic tinge of blood; it guided him through the mist up to a small crowd that had gathered in front of a restaurant. Wordlessly he pushed through the crowd, inside he four bodies lying on the ground. The blood leaking out of their various wounds had muddled together forming a disgusting pond around them. Stopping at the edge he looked around to find countless messages spray-painted and carved into the wall.

Vile rising in his throat he spun around to face the frightened crowd. Numerous fear stricken eyes killed what he was planning on saying, is anyone going to call the cops? With painful clarity the words from last night came back. Locking his shoulders Cardin stormed aside past the citizens.

Another five blocks and he found more of the same.

Around him the fog seemed to grow thicker to the point he found it hard to see ten feet in front of him. It perfectly represented the confusion spreading through his mind. _How _were people able to get away with this? Innocent people, murdered in cold blood and just left to rot where they died. It sickened Cardin to his stomach, so much he felt at one point he was going to vomit. He'd seen too much graffiti decrying Faunus kind to have any doubt over who was responsible for what he'd seen.

_It's that time of the year. _

Of course that phrase was coined by humans during the first few anniversaries of the Faunus Rights Revolution. Humans, who even if they bared no ill will to Faunus, did nothing to stop the retaliatory violence against them.

_It's that time of the year. _

Things were slightly different in the Winchester household, Cardin had learned that first hand.

No matter how much he may have hated Faunus kind that didn't justify marching into their home and murdering them in cold blood. Not even at his lowest did he want to believe he was capable of such a horrendous crime. He _hoped. _

Only when he reached for his Scroll did Cardin realize his hands had been shaking slightly. Grunting in annoyance he retook control and began dialing Sky's Dove's number; he needed to hear something to calm his nerves, even if his gun-blade totting teammate had nothing to report. At first Cardin got nothing but static which confused him. No matter how bad the mist shouldn't have been-

_BOOM! _

Cold, moisty air rushed past Cardin followed by a cloud of dust. Jumping up he headed off in the direction of the explosion, disregarding the honks from cars as well as the frantic motions of drivers to avoid him. Within his chest his heart thundered as the air had seconds earlier. Smoke eventually began to worm its way into his lungs as did the fresh smell of blood.

It was impossible to tell what the building had been thought whatever it was it certainly took up a gracious amount of space. Dozens of people were crowding around the fire, some were crying, some were trying to rush in only to be held back, and others were simply staring in shocked horror at what had happened.

Coming up on the blaze Cardin turned to the nearest person, an elderly man who was being attended to by a man in a singed lab coat. "What the hell happened?"

"A…c…car…" came the elderly man's whizzed voice. Blood was sipping through the towel the doctor had pressed over the man's abdomen. Weakly he raised his hands to point towards the burning build. "Re…Red…a…b…b…" Another wheeze came through his lips then his whole body went slack.

A little girl came running up to the fresh corpse screaming grandfather over and over while she nudged the body.

Turning his attention back on the blaze Cardin felt something hot and powerful explode within his chest. Tightening his fist to the point he could feel the blood seeping through he shouted out, "How many people are still in there?" Before he knew one hand had already gone to grasp his mace while the other was reaching into his pockets.

Russel didn't see the blast immediately but he sure did feel the force. It threw him from the tree he'd been hiding in half way across the yard. For a time all he saw was darkness, only blurred sounds mingling together forming a confused, groaning beast. Fighting to open his eyes Russel barely made the shape of the school. He was pretty sure one half of it was missing. Dazed he got to his feet only to wonder from side to side.

Rubbing his eyes cleared his vision though only by a little. "Oh my God," he whispered, now able to see half the school was indeed gone. Flames were eating away at the building coloring the mist a horrific orange and yellow. Over and over he tried to rewind what had happened until Utz's face popped into his head. Screaming in fury he ran towards the blaze, dialing his Scroll. He screamed into, his words barely coherent. In retrospect Russel actually didn't remember much when he was finally able to think rationally again. Everything just blurred together: digging through brick and stone, carrying the injured out, getting burned, screaming in frustration at the sight of dead bodies, and trying to fight through the feeling of his lungs slowly choking on the smell of burning flesh and smoke. Where his mind picked up was him lying on his knees with the burning school at his back while hundreds of wounded kids, women, and children lay spread around him. Placing both hands on the grass Russel barfed, he barfed and barfed until he felt his stomach was empty. His stomach may have been empty but his mind was at the moment a typhoon of disgust, rage, and photo shots.

Once he'd collected himself he scanned the crowd of kids, his face growing fearfully with every passing moment.

Utz wasn't among them nor did he find his…

So loud was his screaming he didn't notice his Scroll was vibrating until it fell from his hip to the ground. Snatching it in his hands he didn't even bother to check who the caller was. "Guys! There's been an attack on Utz's school! A bomb I…a bomb…I…"

From the other end came Sky's voice, he sounded like he was running based on the rapid paces of his breath. "We know! OSS! Anti-Faunus fanatic! Listen Russel, this is going on all over Calaveras Row! Utz and Mrs. Avram aren't dead!"

"How the hell would you know that?" The knife wielder screeched.

"Because we put trackers on them dumbass! Just before they left Dove put a tracking device on both of them! Both of them are moving and Utz's near your position! You know what that means right?"

""Means? Man I can't see…" Russel's mouth went dry when he saw the faint images of black trucks speeding down the road in the shattered fog. In a few blinks of an eye they were gone. For Russel the images were there in his mind to stay. "I see 'em," Was all he said before he took off running.

Russel was always a good sprinter, the best when he added his Aura to the mix. He wasn't anywhere as fast as Ruby but he liked to think he could give the redhead a challenge. He needed that speed now more than ever.

At least he was able to get the line of vans back in his sights; however, he could barely keep pace with the last one in line. With every second they grew further out of sight to Russel's ever growing irritation.

_DAMNN IT! DAMN IT! DAMNT IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! GOD DAMN IT LEGS! MOVE FASTER! _

The feeling of his feet impacting the ground began to lessen until Russel wasn't even sure he was on the road anymore. The backside of the van was getting closer and the wind howling in his face grew stronger. _It's happening again. _He thought distantly in the back of his mind. _I don't know how long I can keep this up but if there was ever a time for you to work, now's the damn time! _Pulling both his arms back Russel felt his left foot touch the pavement for a single second then he kicked off. The sonic boom felt very much like a sugar rush: uncontrollable, powerful, and somewhat terrifying.

_BLING! _

His aura took most of the impact though he still felt the pain reverberating through his body. Ordinarily he wouldn't have been able to do much after ramming himself into the back of the van but too much adrenaline was pumping through his thin veins. Even if it broke his body he was going to stop these men.

Striking out he implanted one of his daggers into the backside of the van as it swerved to the side due to his impact. Stabbing the other one in, he climbed over until he was standing over the hood of the car. Down below in the driver and passenger's seat he heard panicked shouts. Fire and lightning encased both his weapons before he swing them in an X shape. Spying the next vehicle Russel called for forth his Semblance for the second time.

Though he'd managed to summon it he still had little control over his velocity or trajectory; he'd overestimated the distance between him and the next vehicle. Once the sphere of energy disappeared he found himself clinging to the windshield of the next van. Beyond the glass he saw the drivers staring in bafflement at the scrawny teenager on the hood of their car. Russel didn't give them a chance to react. The dagger in his right hand was still blazing with fire; without remorse he thrusted it into the glass and let the flames engulf the insides. The teenage warrior was thrown across the road with pain coursing through his body. Shrugging it, as well as some blood, off, he ran at the remaining kidnappers, those that had managed to escape the burning wreckage.

All of them were dressed in black combat gear with gas-masks over their faces. If Russel did see their eyes, their faces, it wouldn't have mattered.

The first one he cut down was barely able to get his gun out of his holster when Russel nearly split his head from his throat. The one beside him jumped back unloading his pistol on him. Easily deflecting the shots Russel dove under the man, cut his arm off then inserting his other dagger into his chest. He was off again before the body even hit the ground, jumping over the smoking van and on top of the next one. Seeing one trying to flee he swung both his blades, arc-shaped blasts of fire and lightning left nothing behind but a blackened body. A scared yelp reminded him of the fact one last kidnapper was still alive. Looking at the unbridled rage simmering in Russel's eyes he reached for his sidearm, as stun baton.

Easily catching the man's wild swing Russel drew back his other dagger. "There were kids you asshole," he seethed holding his dagger tightly. Looking up with tears at the corner of his eyes he roared, "THEY WERE JUST KIDS! WHAT THE HELL DID THEY EVER DO TO YOU!" Continually screaming as he stabbed into the body over and over again Russel thought of the dozens of kids he watched throughout the day. They'd never see the chance to grow up, to get out of this shithole of a town. Huffing he dropped the corpse to the ground. Now he noticed the blood staining his hands, his shoes, and his weapons. The briefest flash of horror shot through his eyes then it was broken by the sound of metal being pounded against. Scrambling over to the doors he cut them down then rushed over to the first vehicle he'd stopped. "Utz? Utz! Are you…"

The inside of the van was packed to the brim with Faunus of all ages and genders. They were huddled against each other, some sleeping and others just now waking up. Russel looked through them as they filed out. When he didn't spot Utz in the crowd he called Sky. "Please tell me you know where they are. _Please." _

"They're heading west of your position, towards Route 48." Came his teammate's voice. "Hook up with Cardin then with the rest of us."

* * *

It didn't take rocket science to figure out the one driving the a scratched blue Honda Accord was Cardin. Russel had seen his partner drive, and he only drove like this when he was both angry and in a hurry. Given the situation it was justified.

With a thud Russel landed on the hood of the car, barely able to keep his grip on the automobile. "Where'd you steal the car?" he shouted over the roaring night air.

"Tell you later!" The knight yelled back. "You saw the four I downed on the way?"

"Yeah! All those weeks of playing Grand Theft Auto and Burn Out sure paid off huh!"

"There's four left! Sky and Dove have already called the Academy but I don't plan on waiting around!"

"Good! Me neither!"

With the coming of night the fog surrounding Calaveras Row had indeed grown much thicker. On top of the darkness it made visibility all but impossible. Even when they cracked open vials of Dust to create torch lights the boys still found themselves just barely managed to keep pace with their targets without crashing into anything.

Despite the anger mounting inside Cardin tried to focus his mind on the back tires of the van they were pursuing. They either found some way to stop those four last vans or else…Cardin didn't want to think too hard about that part. "Russel," he snarled eyeing the tires. "Can you take out the tires?"

It took him pumping a sizable amount of Aura into his pupils to see the black wheels zooming across the black pavement. "Yeah, just keep her steady!" Stretching out both his hands he tried to read the wind so he knew where his beloved daggers were going to be flying. "First time we've done something this crazy huh?"

A maniac fire spread burned in Cardin's violet eyes. "Russel."

He knew that tone, Russel had known it since his days as a kid. _It's weird how much you sound like your old man. If everyone heard you talk like this they might take you a little more seriously. _With an eased breath he threw his arms out letting the daggers cut through the mist like razors.

_SLIP! POP! CRRIIINNGG! _

For a splint second they watched the van spiral to the side of the road then slam into a streetlight. All they could do was pray the occupants were still alive; at the moment they couldn't afford to slow down to check on them.

The third vehicle came in view just as Russel's daggers returned to him. Flawlessly he executed the same maneuver producing the same result. With his confidence built up Russel prepared to do the same to the third. "It's not to have the situation-ah!"

Bullets sprung from the mist towards Russel and Cardin. The sudden evasion nearly caused him to lose his balance just as much as Cardin's frantic attempts to avoid it. "Can't this thing go any faster!"

"You wanna drive Russel! Be my guest!" the leader of team CRDL shouted back using his Aura to deflect the bullets. They only had two cars left, Utz and his mother were in each of them. "Shit! Where the hell are the others!"

"Cardin," Russel began having flattened his body against the hood of the Accord. There was something in his voice that kept the brown haired boy from responding with his usually hot headiness. "Just get me a clear line and I can do it!"

The pieces clicked in Cardin's head instantly. "You mean you can control it?"

"I can get it to manifest and man is it fast." He chuckled. "I'll see if I can take out the other-left!"

A small explosion of flame and light knocked the vehicle to the side causing both boys to curse. "Grenades!? Really? I don't know about you but I'm thinking there's more to this than OSS!" Another grenade flashed by, this time on their right. "Russel! Now!"

When all the mission was over Cardin made a note to congratulate his partner on his Semblance. Watching that green and blue ball of energy propel itself through the mist into the target was a sight to see for his violet eyes. In seconds the second vehicle was out of the way leaving the last one in plain view. Snorting he floored the gas as hard as he could, almost to the point he thought the gas paddle would break.

_Why are you trying so hard to save these people? It's not like anyone cares if they die. A few more Faunus go missing, good riddance. _

Cardin didn't realize his palms were sweating and shaking a little. Rather it was from the excitement or the rage he didn't know for sure. The tail end of the last van seemed to grow further and further away into the fog. _No! No! No! Goddamn it don't leave! _Utz's laughter started ringing in his ears like a bell. He couldn't hear anything besides that soft ringing that made him feel like he didn't to keep his guard up, the same went for his mother. At first he hated those sly smiles she gave him, but secretly he'd come to like them. She and her son definitely had one thing in common, their ability to rattle him as well as calm him. The obvious love they had for each other, the way she'd entrusted Utz to their care so effortlessly.

Cardin could only recall one instant in his life that such a thing had ever happened and he'd failed.

Firmly gripping his mace he aimed it at the taillights of the final van.

Cardin was a second from pressing the button when a gunshot broke the tension in his body. As the leader of team CRDL he knew the sound of his blue haired teammate's weapon being discharged.

Another car slammed into the van moments after more gunshots hit the hood. Skidding to a halt Cardin bolted out of the door mace in hand toward the two downed vehicles. Not five minutes ago had the collision happened and already he could hear gunfire erupting. _Just a thought genius but uh, wouldn't the knightly thing to do be check and make sure the hostages are okay? They are kind of your whole mission right? _Cardin added another item to his to-do-list, find out where that annoying voice was coming from. Even if it was helpfully it was starting to piss him off.

Breaking off from the sound of fighting he ran for what he assumed to be the back of the overturned van. Dozens of voices were screaming at him from beyond the bent doors, begging for help. "Everyone get back!" he shouted grabbing hold of one of the doors. With or without Aura he knew he was capable of wrenching the doors open. He heaved once, it didn't budge, he heaved again, and still nothing. In spite of the cold air Cardin felt the sweat beginning to collect on his forehead. The sound of heated battle was getting louder and closer meaning he was running short on time. Grinding his teeth together he pulled at the door again, biting his cheek in resistance to the countless cuts and burns spreading through his hands. At the first sound of metal tearing he out his full force into his arms. The doors came off with a resounding shudder that was echoed by the sound of it flying high then skidding across the ground. He saw too many faces for him to count but only one stood out, ruffled dark brown hair and wide green eyes staring at him in shock.

Just as he was about to speak Cardin felt something hard and heavy knock him for a loop. His face ended up half-kissing a glass windshield. While shocked at first he quickly regained control of himself and planted his fist through the windshield. The driver's throat was in his palm and he squeezed tight.

_CRACK! _

Pushing himself off the hood of the car h stumbled back a little tasting blood in his mouth. A combination of Aura and quick jumping had prevented him from taking any serious injuries. In exchange he now wanted blood. Seeing four other bodies get out of the car he went charging at them with his mace easily deflecting the bullets. The first man he came upon merely saw the dark gray object heading for his skull then nothing at. After the first of them fell the rest scattered away from the wreckage.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! THUD! _

Two bodies had hit the floor followed by a third that was much closer than Cardin would have liked. Turning around he saw the third body lying on the ground with Sky standing over it, his halberd dripping blood. The two exchanged grateful smiles before Sky's face morphed into an expression of alarm. Following his line of sight Cardin saw an SUV speeding through the mist directly towards them. Snarling he walked right into its bath with his mace by his side. The weapon glowed a brilliant red color as he slammed the weapon down. A cracked red line exploded from the point of impact towards the SUV. On contact fire spewed forth from the line ending in an eye-searing explosion at the end where the vehicle was. Where once a black SUV had been speeding down the block there was nothing but a skidding hump of burning metal. Another came zooming out of the fog; one of its occupants was firing an assault rifle at Cardin. Instead of immediately destroying it he waited until it was about to run him over then he swung his mace. The weapon caused the entire left side to violently explode knocking it off its tires.

Car horns honked to his rear, spinning around he saw five police cars speeding towards them along with a beat up Mustang Cardin couldn't believe was still drivable. "Man this people need better tastes in cars." He muttered. Russel hopped out with Utz at the heel. Cursing Cardin was about to march over when a burst of automatic fire caught his attention.

Near the front of one of the abandoned stores on the block one of the men was hold Mrs. Avram in his arms with a gun pressed to her head. His gas mask had been torn off revealing his red, blood smeared face and crazed eyes.

"Everyone back the hell of right now! You hear me you freaks!"

Utz had to be held back by Russel though that did little to stop his panicked cries. For the first time there was no amusement in his eyes, only mortal terror. To his left Sky slowly walked up keeping his halberd trained on the man. Cardin was barely aware of the few police officers gathering behind them with their weapons trained on the same target. His eyes were glued to the situation on front of him, hell, his whole word had shifted to the crisis standing before him. The struggling mother, the heartless soon-to-be murder and the crying child; something was missing from this picture. No, _someone _was missing from this picture.

_Why the hell…why the hell am I here again? What's this all supposed to mean? _The ugly feeling had returned to Cardin's feeling with a vengeance; it threatened to eat him from within. His breath was deathly short and quiet and his whole body felt like a lock had been placed on it. Only his mace provided some anchor to the reality he found himself drifting away from. _Where am I? I've been here before right? Right? This whole mess. The…gun…and the…_Slowly Cardin turned his head to see Utz still being held back in Russel's arms, only he no longer saw the young deer Faunus he'd befriended. Instead what he saw was a well-dressed little boy trembling in the cold night on his heads and knees. Next his eyes fell on Mrs. Avram and the man; in their place he saw a red headed woman lying against the wall while another man stood over her with a gun cocked at her chest. A red hole on the right side of her chest from which a sea of red was quickly growing. There was another sound nearby, sobbing, gut-wrenching sobbing filling the air along with the huff of labored breathing. _Maggie…_ No matter what he continued seeing the images as he looked back between the Avrams.

_"Cardin, baby, just close your eyes. I promise it'll all be over. When you open your eyes its all-"_

_Bang! _

Briefly Utz's eyes met Cardin's, his indigo and his brown. Right before his eyes Utz's image distorted in the mist. Indigo eyes filled with confusion met violet eyes filled with fear.

The gunmen flinched as Cardin's eyes left the boy's and fell on him. There was something…ominous about them. Something was lurking within them, something hot, vengeful, and most importantly violence. When he spoke his voice sent shivers down the spines of all those present. "You have thirty seconds to let her go." It wasn't loud, that was the scary thing.

"Or else what?" he shot back.

"Or else you're going to end up like them." He pointed at the wreckage where the dead bodies lay. "You either live and talk or die right there. Your choice."

It wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

Snorting the gunman pressed the barrel of the gun against Mrs. Avram's head causing her son to cry out. "What the hell? You're a Winchester, a fucking Winchester! What the hell are you doing defending this animals? Huh? Why after what they did to your family! What the hell's wrong with you!?"

"The only animal I see is the one about to murder a woman in front of her child." Cardin coldly replied tapping his foot. He saw movement in the fog behind the wind.

"Are you kidding me?" he sneered spitting on the ground. "No wonder your old man's thinking of disowning you. First you fail to protect your mom and sister and now you're defending the freaks that butchered them? You really are a disgrace to the Winchester name!"

At that moment the temperature both rose and fell sharply. Heat blasted through the block fanning the flames around the wreckage. Those gathered suddenly felt something cold and raw choking their lungs, it was terrifying. They didn't need to look far to find the source of the sudden shift.

Cardin's indigo eyes practically had rings of molten fire around them when he met the gunmen. "It's decided then, hell it is."

_SLISH! _

A teal colored shadow leaped through the glass window then slashed at the back of the gunman. Crying in alarm he lost his grip on Mrs. Avram long enough for Dove to grab her and make a break for it. While the gunman regained his balance he noticed a red line speeding towards his leg. On contact his foot disappeared in a small explosion of fire. His scream was cut off when he found an angered knight eyeing him from less than two feet away. In his hands was what could only be described as a fireball on a stick.

In that instant before the mace made contact the man made a silent prayer. In the same Cardin asked the Lord to make this man's journey to the pit as painful as possible.

The body flew back into the store as nothing but a curled mass of burning flesh that sailed through the walls until hitting the back of the store with a loud smack. Fire erupted from the impact zone and quickly began consuming the rest of the building.

The young Winchester remained rooted to the spot as the scene exploded around him. Dozens of people buzzing around, fire departments being called in, airships making their arrival, and flames lighting up the misty block. Either by nature or by the fire the fog had begun to recede allowing for clearer vision all around.

"Cardin? Hey Cardin?"

Snapping out of his daze he saw Russel staring at him with worried eyes. Beside him Sky and Dove were the same. "Y-Yeah guys. Don't worry I'm fine. How's…how's Utz and his mom?"

At that the three boys smirked and directed him to an ambulance. Huddled together with a blanket around them were the Avrams crying into each other's arms. Utz was holding on to his mother like she might disappear at any second and Mrs. Avram was doing the same. "Ani ohev otach." He heard Utz saying over and over again. Walking over Cardin found himself lost at what to say. Both deer Faunus faced him causing him to completely freeze up.

Utz ran up to him and practically bear hugged his leg like he was some long lost relative finally coming home. Mrs. Avram sniffled once then did the same. A warmth like Cardin had never known washed over his body like a flood. He didn't throw them off or say some snappy remark to make them get off. For the moment he was simply happy to know the two were safe and that they still had each other. Once Utz saw the other boys he ran over and gave them the same treatment.

While her son was busy thanking their saviors Mrs. Avram smiled at Cardin with tears streaming down her face. It was an unusual sight considering she'd always been smiling. "Rav todot Cardin, rav todot." She continued to speak clasping Cardin's hands in her own.

The anger within Cardin melted away into something else, something cooler and softer. Slowly a smile fell upon his face and he squeezed the woman's hands in return. "Bevakasha."

* * *

**And that's a rap people! How was it? Exciting? Suspenseful? **

**Etymology: **

**Ani ohev otach-Hebrew for "I love you" **

**Rav todot- Hebrew for "Thank you" **

**Bevakasha-Hebrew reply to thank you **

**Utz-A variant of the Hebrew name, Uwts, meaning "soft and sandy earth" or to "consult" **

**Avram- A Hebrew last name derived from the name Abraham **


	24. Chapter 24: Eve of a Bloody Anniversary

**No two-parter this time, in fact you could say this is going to be a cool down chapter to see how the recent events have affected things. Less than five chapters left until we reach the end of the "Daily Life" story arc people! After that is when the real story is going to start! I should warn all of you readers, this chapter is going contain backstory that is no way supported by canon. **

**Chapter 24: Eve of a Bloody Anniversary**

* * *

Halsten already knew he wasn't going to be getting any sleep before the first reports of Calaveras Row rolled onto his desk. As he suspected Beacon had finally acted on a case that the city police should have. With a short read through of the report he grabbed his coat off the hanger and headed out the door. He could count the number of times on his finger he'd set foot in Calaveras Row and that fact was enough to unnerve the lawman within him. For personal reasons he never went too far into Wittenheim for fear of what he would see would make him lose faith in his job. Too many times he'd come close throwing away his badge after seeing the naked racism within the police department. No doubt the aftermath of this case was going to leave him feeling the same way.

In the past few weeks the Vale City Central Police department has become nothing but a nonstop hive of activity, never slowing down, never stopping. If an ordinary person were to walk in every day for the past month they would have confused the police station with some kind of clockwork machine. Personal viewpoints didn't matter anymore, from a certain perspective it might have been a wonderful sight, until you actually stopped to listen to half the things that were being said. Over the last three weeks there had been over four hundred hate crimes from every corner Vale City that the police department had been by federal ordered to investigate and solve. The day the order was given everyone knew what was coming: chaos, pure and simple.

Halsten could only remember maybe the first twenty cases before everything started blurring together. That was always how a cop could tell the crime rate was getting too large to handle. For both pro and anti-Faunus cops among the Vale City Police Department, the last month had been total hell.

_It's just that time of the year. _

He hated it whatever that excuse was used, like it was supposed to wash away the fact that every year in the second half of autumn thousands of Faunus are brutalized and humans are given a free pass. It wasn't a Goddamned holiday.

"Captain!" A female officer called just as he was about to enter down the hallway that led to garage. "The commissioner wants you in his office!"

Halsten's entire body froze at the woman's words. He could have tried to play if off like he didn't hear her but he just didn't have it in him. With a heavy sigh he acknowledged the request then turned in the opposite direction. Almost everyone around him, rookies, veterans, lawyers, prosecutors, and the rest cast him an uneasy eye. Reading their expressions didn't do anything to lighten his mood. He did as he usually did when the elevator door came into view. "Ear buds people!" The last sight he had was of the dozens of men and women scrambling around the building looking for something that would keep them occupied for the next half hour or so. Luckily they didn't have to look very far for that.

Not too long afterwards Halsten was pushing the commissioner's door open. "In case it's slipped your mind I'm kind of busy Bernard, so if you can make it quick." The blond stated taking his seat without taking his eyes off the fifty-three year old man before him. He was the only person who could speak so brazenly to the commissioner and get away with it.

As usually the narrowed blue eyes reminded him of how much Commissioner Merrick longed to have that privilege taken away. Almost every detail that could be gleaned off of the police commissioner of Vale City pointed towards him being an extremely business oriented man. His dark brown hair was combed back as it was graying near the edges and receding just a little. His body frame seemed to be following the same pattern as his hair, once it was in its prime but now time was beginning to dig into it. A thin scar ran from the tip of his left eyebrow down an inch giving him a look that went well with the imposing aura he generated. His right hand, more accurately his fingers, had a scar running over each knuckle like they'd been laid flat then half cut through. Not one piece of his uniform was out of place just like how not one item in his office stood out.

With only a look Merrick ordered into his seat like he was just another low man on the totem pole. In many ways that's how most young officers left the commissioner's office with red cheeks and a down casted head. Halsten; however, was a different story. "I don't need to tell you we're busting our asses to keep this city together do I? Good, then you'll declare this case over to the public and that'll be that." Silence greeted the older man's order. When his desk clock ticked for the twentieth time he knew he'd have to do things the hard way. "Halsten, it was just some OSS fanatics getting sadistic. It's-"

"Just that time of the year?" Halsten sharply interrupted. "You know, fifty years ago people would only say that kind of stuff during Christmas, which by my count, is still at least a month away." His intertwined hands tightened considerably as his harden glare met that of his superiors. "You know it was more than that Bernard. I know you hate Faunus just as much as the general public but even you need to see this could be the start of something bigger. Something that could affect baseline human beings."

"The evidence hasn't showed that." He answered coldly.

"All the evidence hasn't been collected yet." The younger man retorted. From the get go Halsten had rolled out several arguments for why he was going to devote as much of his resources as he could to solving the case. The safety of the city's Faunus population had been marked off the list immediately. "The law was broken, these people were wrongfully kidnapped and more than likely killed. As officers of the law isn't it our job to do something about that?"

There was little change in Merrick's voice or in his body posture. "Halsten, how about you stop and think about this for a second? You want to put resources that are already stretched, into investigating rather or not some punks in black vans were part of some…what? Faunus smuggling campaign? Murder ring? Experimentation?" Merrick questioned making a face with each possibility.

Halsten hated it when Merrick made those faces, they were belittling to an ear-stretching level. "Isn't that the more reason to find out?"

"Right on the eve of the anniversary?" Merrick frowned pointing to a calendar he had hung on up on the left side of his wall. Like almost every calendar in the building one date in particular was circled. "Go right on ahead. Give the White Fang more fuel to add to the fire. We already know something horrible coming for us next week, let's give them all the more reason to rip each and every last one of us limb from limb." Things had always ended like this over the past eleven years, the two of them locked in a tenuous standoff neither was willing to back down from. Sometimes it got loud, sometimes it didn't. Merrick wasn't up for a shouting match at eight-thirty in the morning. "You want to investigate this? Fine, but wait until a_fter _the anniversary."

"You mean wait until after the trail's no doubt gone cold?" the captain sneered. "Bernard, the weapons we recovered were Cydonia?" Grabbing one of the files he cracked it open then slammed a photo of the weapon down in front of his superior. "The Cydonia AR2, one of the standard issue rifles of the kingdom's army, are in the hands of some unknown group killing Faunus. I'm pretty sure that's worth investigating."

The commissioner returned his sneer with equal intensity. "You aren't going to find a damn thing Halsten. I looked at that report before it was on its way to your office. First off, we know for a fact the military's been having problems with equipment theft. Odds are these guys got the AR2s off the black market. Second, all the suspects are dead curtesy of Beacon's little WMDs in training. I don't suppose you're willing to ask Ozpin if he has any necromancers lying around that place. Any psychic mediums? I heard Beacon's got a handful of those."

Halsten grinded his teeth. "I hate it when you do that."

"The only reason I do it is when people get stupid ideas and think it's okay to voice them." Merrick responded.

Just as the blond prepared to open his mouth he closed it. He was already wasting enough energy having this stupid debate with Merrick when he was going to be needing it for when he got down to the crime scene. While he respected Beacon he still felt things like this, kidnapping, hate crimes, and the like chiefly fell under the dominion of the city police. "Look, I'm not here for politics, I'm here to do my job. Are you going to let me do that?"

"So long as this matter is wrapped up by the week's end. I don't want the press getting a grip on this either." Merrick agreed leaning back in his seat.

On that front both men were in whole-hearted agreement. The media had a field day with the soaring crime rates and the disappearing Faunus had only added more fuel to the fire. If Halsten found anything the reporters and news networks would do anything to get their hands on it; moreover, they'd trample anyone to get their hands on it including each other. Lastly God forbid whatever they broadcast making the fragile human-Faunus relationship any worse than it already was.

"So are you done busting my balls? Good, then I'll be leaving." Halsten stated jumping out of his seat.

"Halsten."

Turning around the two men locked eyes one last time. Merrick's blue irises seemed to have birthed an intense flame. They reflected themselves in Halsten's green eyes. "By week's end." He simply said.

"Yes sir," Halsten replied narrowing his eyes. "By week's end."

For a few precious moments it seemed like the sound of the door slamming shut was the only sound on two out of the six floors of the Vale City Police Department. Collectively every man and woman at work in their offices breathed a sigh of relief. They all had one single thought as their work continued, _I hate this time of the year._

* * *

"Commander of Fort Kaldakvisl?" Ruby questioned.

"Tywin Drogo, successfully held the fort for five days against wave after wave of Faunus attacks." Jaune responded not taking his eyes off his current task.

"What happened to Fort Aemon in the fourth year of the war?"

"The soldiers at the fort realized the base was going to be lost on the third day of battle. In order to prevent Faunus from gaining an advantage they made the decision to blow up the entire fort taking out some two thousand Faunus and fifthteen miles of surrounding forest at the cost of their lives."

"What battle in the second year of the war was considered the bloodiest?" The young reaper asked flipping to the next page.

There was a pause as Jaune's focus fell back upon the stove he was currently using. It took him a second before the answer came to him, "The Battle of Craster Swamp. By sunset both sides had suffered monumental losses due to friendly fire incidents, Grimm, poisonous insects, natural terrain, and each other. The final death toll for the battle was estimated to be four-thousand eight hundred and twenty-two. Most of the dead weren't able to be retrieved at all meaning their remains are still rotting at the bottom of Craster Swamp."

"Really didn't need to know the extra details but nice work! Next question, Faunus leader who led the assault on Fort Castle?"

"Jacala, a crocodile Faunus who made himself known through his use of cut-throat tactics as well as his daringness to strike at heavily fortified bases and forts."

"What was considered the second turning point of the war?"

"The Tarvit Offensive." Jaune responded staring at the pancakes currently sizzling before his eyes. Even though Ruby was doing her best he could practically e the drool running down her lips. He couldn't blame her. "On April 28th, under the cover of an intense rain storm Faunus forces launched a cross-country assault on every major human military base. For three days it seemed the plan had worked but the human coalition deployed its latest achievements in mecha warfare, the XTC-V2 Solidus. The immediate counter attack was organized by Atlas general, Alon Eisenhorn, was one of the most successful counter offensives in the entire war, and even in Remnant's military history."

"And just what was General Eisenhorn's counter attack?"

"Using previously gathered information as well as analyzing the attack patterns of the Faunus he deduced their new base of operations as well as their supplies lines. Two days after the Tarvit Offensive was repelled he mobilized all the coalition forces. His counter attack, alter dubbed the Eisenhorn Raid, dealt a major blow to the Faunus war effort in that several of the only truly fortified military bases they had were utterly destroyed and their food supply, farm towns, were burned to the ground. The tradeoff was four heavily defended forts and outposts: Fort Morikawa, Fort Fulgrim, Fort McMillon, and Cardea Castle."

The change in Jaune once he finished speaking disturbed Ruby; his body locked up like it was bracing for a hit. Her silver eyes fell to his trembling hands. "Jaune?"

"After three weeks of heavy bombardment and village to village fighting the final death toll of the Tarvit Offensive was sixty-thousand and six hundred lives lost. Over half the human causalities resulted from the decision to abandon the defenders of some of the more highly valued bases in favor of making it look like the Faunus had truly struck the coalition with its pants down. Leaks in command made its way to the public resulting in mass outrage over the fact the four councils were willing to throw away countless lives so easily. On the other side of the defense pictures of the Eisenhorn Raid became known to the public resulting in even more Faunus living in the kingdoms to rising up in rebellion. Race riots broke out all over Remnant greatly disrupting the coalition's ability to wage war over seas. As Councilman Eli of Vacuo said it, "We have forsaken out domestic peace for a foreign victory". Following this public opinion of the war would begin to gradually shift as some began to see the hopelessness of the war when the Faunus continued fighting long after suffering the losses of the Eisenhorn Raid." The young knight coldly concluded.

Ruby was greatly disturbed by her friend's history lesson. He'd already answered the question, hell, she had a feeling she could ask him every question from the ten page packet they'd been assigned and he'd get every one of them right. While her knowledge may have been lacking, she was pretty sure all the information Jaune had just repeated wouldn't be needed to answer a single question on the test. What off set her more was the tone of voice in which Jaune had spoken. Rarely had she heard him sound angry, she'd just heard him seething. "Jaune? Are you…okay with this? We can always stop?"

The reaper's words brought Jaune out of his darken thoughts back to the white and silver world of the kitchen. Immediately his nostrils picked up the smell of his beloved pancakes burning in the pan. "Shit!" After throwing out the tarnished pancakes Jaune found himself leaning against the counter running a hand over his blond hair which now clung to his face. "I'm sorry Ruby, I just…I'm not…angry I'm…"

She waited until he'd set up another batch of pancakes, this time they were strawberry flavored before she spoke to him. "It's what happened in Ryswell isn't it? That and Calaveras Row?"

His shoulders sagged while he finished preparing breakfast. "You're right. I've never…I knew racism was out there but when I saw those OSS guys, people who were willing to fire bomb innocent towns I just…I had to take a step back." Looking up at Ruby's silver eyes caused the rest of the dam to crack. "Calaveras Row didn't help here either." He gloomy added. "Kids Ruby, freakin elementary school kids."

At that even the rose themed reaper couldn't maintain a smile. Like the others when she saw the news about Calaveras Row she felt sickened to her stomach. She kept running over the headline in her mind. How anyone could have done such a thing, bombing schools and clinics, was beyond her. By the time she'd finished reading the article her Scroll was trembling in her hands. Ruby could only fear how Blake would respond when she found out. Come to think of it she imagined the entire academy would be in an uproar when the Faunus portion saw the news. "I never thought much about the war." She admitted quietly. "Did you…have any family that fought during the revolution?"

It may have been wrong but Jaune analyzed the way Ruby phrased her words. She used "during" instead of against. That wasn't uncommon. To be fair when people usually spoke of relatives fighting in the Faunus Rights Revolution they used "during" instead of "against" just to be polite. As insane as it was there were a number of humans that actually went overseas to fight alongside Faunus against the Four Kingdoms Coalition or FKC. They were the ones who said they fought "for" the revolution. "No, my family didn't play much of a part in the war. For a long time my family's looked at Faunus as equals, partly because my ancestors fought alongside them and passed their views downward. My dad…was…vocal about the war. We weren't like…Cardin's family."

A thick silence fell over the teenagers. There was quite the buzz when word got out team CRDL was being deployed to investigate the Faunus disappearances in Calaveras Row. Like so many others Jaune had been skeptical of the headmaster's decision to send them there. At Beacon mission hand outs were usually handled by the upper staff, the headmaster only stepping in if something was vitally important. Jaune didn't need a hint to know Headmaster Ozpin had some hand in sending the team of former bullies to the Faunus heavy borough. Ruby was optimistic when she got word. Maybe having Cardin spend some time among the people he despised would do something to help his attitude towards Faunus. She'd picked up how he'd gone from shunning their mere presence to tolerating it. Of course when she voiced this all three of her teammates were quick to disagree.

"Hey Jaune," she started causing him to meet her eye to eye. "You don't think this is connected to what happened in Ryswell do you?"

There was a slight pause before Jaune responded. "Yeah." Out of the corner of his eye the knight noticed Ruby was staring at him more intensely than usual. "What?"

"Jaune, you know you can trust me right?" she asked staring him dead in the eye.

Alarms sounded everywhere in Jaune's head. Clearly she knew he was holding something back. "Of course I know I can trust you." In the few months they'd known each other Ruby had become one of the few people outside his team he could whole hardly trust. She wanted the truth, she went straight to him. The day after his team reported in his account was met with wide scale skepticism; Jaune didn't blame them for thinking he made the whole thing up. Ruby was different, the moment he was out of the infirmary she was there making sure he really was okay. She hadn't voiced one criticism when he told her what had happened to him. In return for that kindness he owed her the truth, "The day after I told you," he started checking to make sure the pancakes, as well as the rest of their breakfast wasn't burnt. "Olivia came to me and…_asked _me to recount the whole thing."

To the knight's surprise he saw a sliver bit if anger pass through Ruby's silver eyes when he told her. The first time they met Ruby had treated Olivia with the same respect and kindness she treated everyone; however, that changed a little after their sparing match. She'd noticed the way her gray-green eyes seemed to follow Jaune in class and in training. She was watching her while Olivia was watching Jaune. It was quite the paradox. Ruby's face screwed up like she'd just ingested a piece of sour candy. She wouldn't confront Olivia over this, not unless she took things a step too far. Faintly Jaune wondered exactly what that "too far" would look like.

"The only way for us to find out is to ask team CRDL when they got back." The knight spoke as he collected himself. "Not that I want to dive headfirst into this sort of thing."

"You mean you don't want to find out if any of these stuff is connected?" the reaper inquired narrowing her eyes. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Jaune wanted to say it had been kicked out when he'd came home with burns over his body. Sadly he couldn't say that with full confidence as a part of him did want to know what the hell was going on. Not for the first time he wondered if this was a side effect of hanging around team RWBY. "If it makes you feel better I think Olivia is on the case." He half-chuckled. "I, uh, talked to Neil yesterday and he told me she's turned half their dorm into an evidence wall. Word is Sun and Neptune are helping out too."

"What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"Come on Jaune," the fifteen year old pouted. "Everyone's got an opinion on what's been going on, even you. What's your take on things?"

_That Hitchcock class is making her smarter. _The knight mentally sweat dropped. _Normally she would have just let this whole thing go and we'd be eating breakfast right now. _"I think the White Fang's going to use some kind of chemical weapon at the anniversary." He blurted out. There, he'd gone the linger fear off his chest. "Not to make this sound like some comic book plot but that's what I think the White Fang higher-ups have in mind."

"So all we have to do is bring enough gas masks for everyone." Ruby nodded. "First minute class is over I'll hand over to the armory and purchase enough for both our teams."

"Okay, that should-wait. What? The armory sells gas masks?" Jaune questioned.

The reaper's grin was practically ear to ear. "That's why I love Beacon Jaune. Their armory sells _everything_." Suddenly her smile dropped. "Have you taken this to the headmaster?"

"Knowing him he's already figured it out. I've already put enough weight on my shoulders, I don't need to go marching into his office just to state the obvious."

"…You really can't sit down and let this thing go can?" Jaune mused smiling apologetically.

To his joy Ruby returned his smile. "I've never been the kind of person who can just sit around while something big is happening. It's kind of why I didn't have a lot of friends at Signal."

Now he could detect the sadness in her voice. Jaune noted how so little she talked about Signal, and those times she did they were filled with wild stories of the few friends she did have. _If I had made it into Signal would we have met? Would I have gotten into some of those zany adventures? _"If you're so full of energy then maybe you should take up that sparing match this Friday."

"What sparring match?"

"Well, in part due to the heightened security a whole lot of professional Huntsmen teams have been buzzing around. A few of them have offered to teach at the academy and even spar with us." Jaune answered smirking. Instantly Ruby's silver eyes lit up like stars. "Yeah, I had a feeling it'd slipped your mind."

After practically crushing him in bear hug the two young leaders grabbed their now cooked breakfast. Ever since their last "incident" in the kitchen they'd been much more care with what they used. It was almost a game to them, to see how long they could keep up the charade without either of their teams finding out. Weiss had correctly deduced what they were doing early in the morning but chose to let it slide, on the premise she get her own serving of Jaune's finely cooked food.

"On a scale of one to ten how to do you think this day is going to go?" the reaper questioned quietly closing the door behind them.

"Based on what's more than likely going to be the front page noise, I'd say it's going to be a long day." Jaune answered with a sigh. "It's that time of the year."

* * *

By noon just about every professor in the academy was praying for a miracle to quell the in-class fighting as well as riots breaking out all over campus. First it started when everyone turned on the news, finding the Calaveras Row incident splashed all across the headlines and front page. That got more than half the Faunus population in a rip snorting fury. Then some idiot students thought it would be a good idea to antagonize them. Before first classes evens started eight fights had broken out between human and Faunus students all over the place. None of them were bloodless nor were they free of collateral damage. No buildings had been destroyed, but the amount of damage done to campus grounds were eye widening. As news continued rolling in things seemed to only get worse.

Dozens of students were either sent to the infirmary or to the detention hall where they were separated for the remainder of the day. Headmaster Ozpin's voice came over the speakers when the staff actually was able to get the students under control.

"_It is with deep sorrow that I ask everyone, student and teacher, human and Faunus, to pause for a moment in silent prayer of the lives lost yesterday evening." _The cane wielding Huntsman started over the silence he had temporarily enforced on Beacon.

When the speech was over it seemed things had been quieted down at last by a fraction of what they were before. Obviously the entire student body had been shaken; by nature of their positions the adult staff couldn't show they were in the same boat as the kids they were supposed to be instructing. Eyes were kept open at all times in every class room for the slightest hint of motion, one wrong move and it was straight to the detention hall. That threat was enough to keep most of the students well behaved, but then there were the handful who didn't care if they had to spend the whole school day inside a pseudo prison cell.

Such was the situation in Doctor Oobleck's fourth history class. It was the day of the Faunus Rights Revolution test he'd been preparing his students to study for. Three weeks of learning the politics and events of the war and suddenly he was brushed with a race motivated tragedy. Just before class truly started the doctor took a moment to ponder if whatever god that ran the world was laughing at him. Once he faced his class he had to make a decision: either go ahead with the test or push it back a day. Neither options were precisely favorable. In the end after a few short minutes of debating he went ahead with having his students take the unit test. Sure there was some protest but in the end Oobleck was able to say the class was over all peaceful.

In his long years Oobleck found teaching history was a tricky subject. History was a plain, blunt object, there were facts then there were opinions. His job was teaching the facts. Unfortunately as he'd learned that was incredibly hard when his facts were challenged by the strong opinions of his students and their parents. Hundreds of letters had been written to the school about what was being taught in history class. He couldn't count the number of times there'd been demands to challenge the curriculum. While his students busted their brains for the knowledge he'd pounded into their skulls Oobleck found himself slipping back to those days were there were calls for his head on a spike for teaching certain subject matters. The Faunus War was a particularly nasty example.

He never cut corners when discussing the war, it was a part of his code. What he taught were the evidence backed facts of the war, not the idealized version so many parents preferred telling their children. The end result were always clashes between Oobleck and his students believing the stories passed down to them to be the undeniable truth. It took quite a bit of work on Oobleck's part shatter that perception, and even then the job wasn't one hundred percent complete. Handing out the unit test was one way for Ozpin to see if he'd done his job or not. Though it was wrong by academic standards certain questions on the test were designed to test a student's tolerance of Faunus. Depending on the end result the teaching department was able to see if the lessons taught had any real impact on the students' perception of the war. Oobleck had done the task so many times a part of him had grown extremely wary of the entire thing.

"_If we could show them, really show them what kind of hell the war was then maybe they'd understand." _He once said to Blain and Port years back after a depressing turn out.

"_I understand where you're coming from Oobleck." _Blain spoke meeting his eye. Deeply he shared the doctor's viewpoint being a veteran of the war, yet for that reason he also found his words pointless. _"If we showed this kids what the war was like, really like, they wouldn't be able to handle it. The Faunus students might, but then again it could foster whatever discontent they already have for human beings." _

"_As painful as it is I must agree with Blain old friend." _Port added placing a hand on his shoulder. _"You have to remember these children aren't our generation. Not all of them have the…" _The old Huntsman hated using the term weak to ever describe any of his students. _"They don't have the same kind of mental strength we had. Also, they didn't…they don't feel the same hatred or pain we feel." _He spoke with an uncharacteristic heaviness that weighted heavily on Oobleck's shoulders.

Half an hour into the test Oobleck let his eyes wonder the classroom to gauge the emotional state of his students. Some looked fidgety like they wanted nothing more than to leave the test on their desk and leave, others had mounting expressions of anger, and a handful or so just stared blankly at the paper not showing a hint of emotion. Oobleck's eyes fell over four empty seats that were usually occupied by team CRDL. When they got back they would have to be given the test; it was their results he waited for with baited breath. If they could change their views then he believed there was hope yet. If he got lucky their time in Wittenheim would be a positive influence on the team, especially for Cardin.

In his career as a huntsman Oobleck knew hope was a dangerous thing. He was hoping two days in Wittenheim would be enough to make Cardin forget the fact his family had lost several sons and daughters to Faunus during the war; moreover, the fact he'd lost his mother to the war's after effects. Dove's family also had members of its own engraved on war memorials all over the kingdom. Among his total student roster Oobleck knew for a fact at least half of them shared similar circumstances with the two boys. Simply put, the pain of loss made forgiveness a hard pill to swallow. Adding to the difficulty was the fact the twenty first anniversary was right around the corner.

Two hours after he'd handed out the test more than half the class was finished. Most of them looked physically exhausted like they'd just come off of running a marathon. _Wait until most of you become second years then third years, then we'll see if you're still burned out after learning only a fraction of what really happened during the revolution. _By his estimate there would still be a good twenty-five minutes left in class once everyone finished. His new dilemma was clear: either let the class relax or gauge how they feel about the war via the direct method. Ozpin had advised the instructors not to do anything that might set off tempers; Oobleck could do just that with one simple question.

Seeing the last pencil drop Oobleck came to the conclusion it was worth it.

He waited some time for the students to collect themselves before asking his first volley of questions. "So what do you all think? Was the test hard?" He got various hand gestures and nods of heads that conveyed no real emotion. "Was the test fair?" The confusion came instantaneously. "Do any of you have any questions about the test? We are going to revisit this subject later on in the year." There was a resounding shudder that went through the entire classroom. Oobleck decided he'd use that to leap frog his analysis. "If you don't have a problem with the subject then why does revisiting it bother any of you?"

Dead silenced swept over the room like an autumn wind. Now was the time he would see which of his students were willing to step forward to assert their viewpoints, for good or for ill.

"D-D-Doctor Oobleck," one student to the far right began raising his voice over the silence. "I-It's not that so-some of us find it boring we just…we just don't see the point in bragging it up. I mean it's hard to see how some war that happened twenty years ago…"

Sharp growls and snarls cut the student off before he could finish. In Oobleck's fourth class he had an eighteen Faunus among his total forty-two students. Naturally any argument that was anti-Faunus was going to be met with a response.

"How it doesn't affect you?" One of the Faunus students snarled barring his shark like teeth. "Oh sure, of course it doesn't affect you, you weren't the ones being forced to move to some shit hole far from the public eye."

"Or hunted down like animals on safari." A female student with insect antennas added.

"Not too far off considering you a_re _animals." Another student sneered narrowing their eyes.

"The only animals are the ones who're willing to burn down innocent villages and its inhabitants just to prove a point." A third Faunus student countered.

"Hah! That's rich coming from the people who boiled and a_te _men just doing their jobs!"

"Their job being murder!"

Like a powder keg half the class room went off while Oobleck silently observed the reactions of several of his students. Team RWBY were his first observations. Ruby had little to no idea about the Faunus Rights Revolution, being the innocent child she was. Weiss, naturally, looked like she wanted to disappear into thin air even though her face went through a revolving door of anger, sadness, regret, and outright fury. More than a handful of Faunus turned their attention to the white haired heiress; she returned their hate filled glares in full force. Blake was surprisingly quiet, no, she looked similar to Weiss in wanting to disappear however her face revealed all the emotions raging within her. The last member of team RWBY was watching the scene play out was a mixed bag; she was trying to argue in defense of the Faunus though that was only getting her blow back from her own human classmates. He counted at least three angry knots forming on her forehead.

Team JNPR's opinion had always been neutral on the issue of Faunus. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were doing their utmost to calm both sides though while their hammer-wielding teammate pulled out a collection of blank sheets to draw on. Oobleck had seen a handful of Nora's drawings and they were…interesting to say the least. Focusing on the team's leader Oobleck found Jaune was arguing in the defense of Faunus just as Yang was, just as intensely as she was. He could see the disgust in his eyes when he clashed with those who believed Faunus were less than humans and thus deserved the treatment they received. No doubt it was an after effect of his team's last mission.

Other teams crossed Oobleck's eyes though known stood out more than team IONC. Oobleck saw them less as the rumored "problem team" and more of a puzzle he felt an increasing need to solve. Izaak, a person who had just as much right to speak about the war as anyone, was painfully silent even as insults flew over his head. Unlike usual the Viking wasn't smiling or humming, or for that matter exhibiting any of his typical carefree behavior. His Aura reeked of sadness, an emotion Oobleck was somewhat taken back to find. For half an instant his hazel eyes stretched across the room to meet his behind his glasses.

Oobleck knew he knew what he'd done, and the son of the medical prodigy was not pleased in the slightest.

With a sorrowful expression he reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook in which he began to write in. Beside him Olivia cracked open a book she began to read with a crooked eyebrows. Unlike Izaak her chief emotion was annoyance as evident by her constant tapping of her finger against the corner of the book. She looked like she was waiting for some horrible TV show she was being forced to watch to end so she could move on with her life. Neil took one look to his left then to his right and lastly put his head down on the desk. Oobleck could have sworn he could hear the scar-faced youth snoring through the shouting match. Possibly the strangest reaction of the team was Chicahua. As a person who proudly proclaimed his Faunus heritage Oobleck expected him to be on the front lines of the debate, instead he was silent, even as racist cracks and slurs were directed towards him. Just as his teammates had found something to keep them held over he did so as well; withdrawing a small piece of rock from his pocket he produced a small knife and began to carve into it. The only time he spoke up was when his fellow Faunus called upon him, once he finished speaking he would return to his task.

_The war may have produced an even odder generation than we first thought. _The historian thought scribbling down some quick notes. As he was currently seeing it wasn't going to be easy changing the opinions of the post war generation. Around fifty-percent of the human half of the class were engrossed in heated arguments with their Faunus classmates. The rest were either indifferent or trying to calm the storm. In Oobleck's day the percentage of those arguing with the Faunus would have been close to eighty-five percent. _I suppose I've let this go on for long enough. _At his desk he dived into his drawer finishing through the numerous items he'd somehow managed to fit inside such a tiny space. Pulling out a blow horn he walked up to the front of the class one hand held behind his back. "Class," he moderately called pressing down as hard as he could. As usual it did the trick in silencing all the noise. "Now I'm very well aware all of you have your own viewpoints concerning the war; I also want you all to keep in mind none of you were alive from 1544 to 1553." His words cut through classroom like a knife through butter. "I'd advise all of you to listen when your elders speak of events they listened, lived through. Having a personal opinion on a matter is acceptable, trying to force your views on another on the other hand, is not. Miss Rose, what do you think of the war?"

Ruby looked like she'd just be caught in the crosshairs, which wasn't too far from the truth. Even though he had high hopes for Ruby Rose he wasn't expecting much of an answer when he called on her. The entire concept of the war was no doubt alien to someone like her.

Fearful she looked between her teammates and friends. She hated it when the entire class's attention was focused solely on her. "Could…you clarify sir?"

"What's your opinion of the war? Do you believe it was worth fighting?"

Thoughts of Blake, Sun, Chicahua, and Velvet flew through Ruby's mind at the speed of light. "No, I don't." her words carried over the room. "The number of dead, the aftermath, the whole cause of the war," passionately shaking her head she looked up disregarding the angered glares of a few of her classmates. "I can't agree with it. Faunus have just as much right to decide their life as humans do." To Ruby's own surprise her words sounded stronger than she though they would; she was expecting her voice to be trembling and full of doubt yet there was none. All she was doing was speaking her mind in all its honesty.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Oobleck's face, then he looked to his next target. "Miss Nikos," he called catching the Spartan's attention. "I believe you had relatives who fought in the FKC, what's your opinion?"

Like her fellow redhead Pyrrha was conflicted on how best to answer the professor's question. Her hesitation though, was for an entirely different reason. "I-It's true. Many of my uncles, grand uncles, as well as a handful of cousins fight during the Faunus Rights Revolution. My family in the name of Mistral, nothing more and nothing less." She spoke, lacking some of the usual regality of her usual voice.

Across the classroom there were countless sneers and snorts. "Really? Nationalism?" a dog-eared girl questioned with a bemused expression. "That's your family's excuse for murdering innocent people in cold blood?"

"My family has served in the Mistral army for decades, centuries even." Pyrrha defended sitting up straighter than before. "We gave our word that if ever Mistral went to war the Nikos family would pick up their swords in her name."

"Convenient excuse." Some sneered.

Pyrrha sank back into her seat, a first timer of many in the room occupants including the doctor.

With Pyrrha down Oobleck had to pick out his next victim. It was too soon to call any member of team IONC, calling Weiss would have provoked too strong a reaction as well. "Miss Belladonna, what's your intake? What do you believe the worse year of the war to be?"

Collectively teams RWBY and JNPR flinched the moment they heard Blake's name being called. Team IONC turned one collective eye in their direction showing their attention had been captured. Blake felt like she wanted to disappear into the shadows. Fear clawed its way up her spine, paralyzing every limb on its way up. She had to fight the urge to bolt from her seat while keeping her bow tucked in place. It was maddening. "T-T-T-The worst year…of the war…was…in my opinion it was 1547, the seventh year of the war." Blake honestly didn't need Doctor Oobleck's class to know how awful 1547 had been for Faunus. It was sheer hell. "First there was t-the Sheena Outbreak then the Red Heat, those two things were…"

"Were the fault of those animals." A student above her snarled. "My grandfather always knew hanging around animals got you nothing but rabies."

Yang spoke for Blake when she barked at the student to be silent. The cat-eared ninja could feel her own hands shaking. "B-Between those two incidents is when I think the war was at its worst. That's when humanity was at its worst." Within the same breath Blake realized she needed to balance out her statement. "B-But I don't think the Faunus were justified in retaliating by mass arson and murder at home."

It seemed her answer sparked a whole new wave of outrage among her classmates. It took the doctor five minutes of holding down his blow horn to quiet the class down again. Oobleck took four more points of view before his gaze fell on the docile team IONC. Only two of them would have had a strong opinion of the war but Oobleck only wanted one.

"Mister Egilson, what do you have to say about this? About the Sheena Outbreak? About the events of the war itself?"

It dawned on several people then that the team of transfers had been almost totally silent. Rather from a lack of interest or unwillingness to play the doctor's game they'd kept their personal views to themselves while everyone else had been all but screaming it over the shouting of their classmates. Some may have found it admirable.

Izaak released a deep breath placing his book down. He met Doctor Oobleck's eyes for the second time with the exact same expression. One thing had changed though, there was a slight annoyance in his eyes directed primarily at the glass wearing Huntsman. Annoyance at being forced to play his little game. The edge in his voice may have slipped by most but not a trained warrior like Oobleck. "My personal opinion is…the war was a colossal waste of life and resources. In the end nothing about the status quo changed, Faunus like to think they scored a victory but the reality is they probably just made things worse for themselves." The subtly of his comment sent a shock through the room, especially among the members of team RWBY and JNPR. It didn't sound like the go lucky Izaak they were used to. Just as he was about to receive the cold slap from the Faunus half he opened his mouth to continue. "Humans didn't benefit either. Humans wasted all that money and resources and the end goal still wasn't accomplished. Adding salt to the wound they helped create a now highly fanatically terrorist organization that's willing to go to shocking lengths to see humanity wiped off the face of the planet." He shrugged. "All in all, I'd say no matter which side you were on the war was a shit-stain of a loss."

_Heh, interesting opinion. _The thermos wielder noted not backing down from his gaze. "What of the Sheena Outbreak?" That was all he needed to get the Viking's gaze to narrow into a near glare. Rather Izaak liked it or not he was going to play along.

_Damn you. _The brown haired Viking thought feeling his eye begin to twitch. "The outbreak wasn't anything unusual so it's stupid to blame Faunus for it." He began with the same near tone of voice. For all he cared the glares and stares from his classmates might as well have been leaves blowing in the wind; even those of his friends barely phased him. "When two groups from totally different ecosystems come into contact with each other it's only natural disease and the like will be transmitted. Thousands of years ago when Atlas explorers set out to colonize the rest of Remnant they brought with them countless strains of bacteria that flocked to the tropical climates of Mistral and Vacuo. These bacteria mutated in ways that are to be expected, end result, a few dozen of the native tribes and early civilizations of both kingdoms disappeared. That was a bunch of fur-wearing bearded mountain men, the Faunus War saw men being deployed to tropical jungles timing with biodiversity. What those men were carrying wasn't a concern, nor was it to what the Faunus might have been carrying."

"So do you believe the Sheena Outbreak could have been prevented if the kingdom had taken the proper steps to inoculate its soldiers?" Doctor Oobleck questioned crossing his hands.

Again the boy shrugged, "Maybe it'd made a difference, maybe it wouldn't have. Let's say they did take into consideration the possibility of soldiers catching some unknown disease. During the war human soldiers were forced to scrape through dense mazes of jungle, deep swamps filled with every kind of insect imaginable, endure scorching hot heat, and of course spend every day praying they weren't going to be shipped home in a body bag, assuming they would have a body left. Sorry but those are prime conditions for a harmless sniffle to transform into a death cough." Flicking his gaze around the class he made sure his next words were loud enough to hear. "This isn't something that can be stopped by law or policy, that's just nature."

"Mother Nature or the nature of war?" Oobleck further questioned.

"Both." Izaak answered not missing a beat. "The Sheena Virus is believed to have originated in the Sheena Valley of Megagerie, when the FKC launched an attack it's believed the virus spread through the soldiers through the rest of the troops and then somehow it made its way onto the mainland. You can't blame the human population for going ballistic when evidence that the virus may have been an intentional bioweapon created by the Faunus surfaced. Bombing you and shooting you up to hell is one thing, but sentencing you to a slow painful death via Black Plague 2.0? In my view that's understandable." Throughout the whole time he was talking Izaak kept his focus on the good doctor. Through his shiny glasses Izaak could read him almost like a book; he was waiting for him to bring up his father, no doubt to brag about him. Briefly he grounded his teeth together. "The Red Heat, the summer of 1548 that saw some of the most intense, bloodiest fighting since the Delta War, is the only thing that could have resulted from something like that." His hazel eyes shot to the clock then widened. "Humans wanted blood for the Sheena Outbreak, the Faunus wanted revenge for the slaughter that followed it, nothing could have stopped that."

_**RING!**_

"It seems we're out of time." Oobleck said pushing up his classes. "Apparently we'll have to find another time to discuss this matter. Have a nice day ladies and gentlemen, oh, and please all of you do try to keep your tempers in check."

As the class flooded out Oobleck saw the young Viking shoot him an angry glare from the crowd. With a sad chuckle the old Huntsman accepted the fact he may have just made an enemy out of the leader of team IONC.

* * *

"Why in Oum's name did Doctor Oobleck do that?" Black wheezed falling against a wall outside of the classroom. She felt like her knees were close to turning into jelly. "Was he trying to get us to turn on each other?"

Reaching out Chicahua placed a comforting hand over the ninja's shoulder. "No Blake, I suspect he did it to see who's taken his teaching to heart and those who've chosen to stick with their own personal views."

"How did you do that Chicahua?" Blake asked looking up at the tribal warrior. "How were you able to stay so…calm? Your tribe were on the front lines of the war twenty years ago."

All eyes fell upon the orange eyed teenager. His unusual calm had left a lasting impression on all of them. "It's as you said Blake, the Revolution is a part of my family's history. I grew up with it, I grew up hearing the Faunus side of the war," pausing his eyes met Weiss's. "And when I was old enough I decided to research the human side of the war."

Needless to say his answer caught teams RWBY and JNPR off guard. Looking between each other they regarded Chicahua with a new found curiosity.

"That's…good." Yang voiced still trying to recover from the revelation. Taking note of the fact Izaak and Neil had chosen to go on ahead to their next class the boxer pointed in the direction of Doctor Oobleck's classroom. "Was it just me or did it seem like Doctor Oobleck was baiting Izaak? Seriously? I've never seen him act like that before?"

Olivia and Chicahua shared a knowing glance with each other. Across from them she noticed Pyrrha grow somewhat fidgety. Everyone else caught onto it fairly quickly. Together their combined looks forced the three to come clean.

"Izaak's father," Pyrrha began looking each of them in the eye then stopping on Yang. "Was a veteran of the Faunus War. No, you could say he was a hero of the war."

"Eh?" was the collective response.

Clapping her hands Olivia brought the spotlight onto herself. "You guys remember the Sheena Virus right? The one that killed an estimated eighty-thousand humans during the war? You see Izaak's father, Rikard Egilson, was one of the army doctors who found a cure for the virus. It was how he and his colleagues, Ascelepius Pierce and Giovanni Yersinia, made their first impact in the medical world." At the shocked expressions of her friends the Mistral native snapped her head to the side. "If you want the full story then crack open a history book later on." With that closing she began to walk in the opposite direction with Chicahua following closely behind her. "Don't expect to see much of Izaak or Neil this afternoon."

"Why?" Weiss asked her rival with a raised eyebrow.

"Izaak has a part time job and Neil's got a date with his girlfriend."

There was no greater reaction amongst the eight than Weiss. The color nearly drained from her face and hair. When her voice exploded it sounded like a grenade had just gone off. "WHAT!?"

"Her name's Gráinne." Chicahua offered watching something resembling hurt flash through Weiss's eyes.

* * *

**In retrospect I probably should have done more to build up the Faunus War in previous chapters instead of cramming most of it in here and saving the rest for the future. Definitely would have made the big anniversary more impactful. Ah, I digress. Hopefully I'll be able to get one more chapter out by New Year's. Until then Happy Holidays everyone and may the Force be with you! **


	25. Chapter 25: A Strong Man

**Chapter 25, talk about a milestone. Thank you everyone for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Speaking character wise this chapter is going to be important for several people, in one way or another but you'll have to wait to find who and why.**

**I do not own anything, expect the OCs baring Buruan, he belongs to neonswampy5.**

* * *

**Chapter 25: A Strong Man **

"Boss I don't think you understand our situation." Mercury sneered into the Scroll. "We need extraction, _now_."

Cinder's face remained passive at her underling's pleas. Emerald had already tried begging her to pull them out of Beacon to no avail. Both of their faces mirrored the frustration building within each of them. Cinder was frustrated as well, both of them were hardened criminals yet they were begging her like five years fearing having their favorite toy taken away. She would have found it pathetic if she didn't know what the cause of their distress was. Even though she couldn't exactly blame them for being scared she still expected them to do their job.

"Is the list complete yet?" she questioned not revealing a hint of what was going on in her head.

His inability to read his boss's thoughts nearly made Mercury shout to the ceiling in fury. He hated it when she played with their lives like this. "No," he snarled shooting a glare in Emerald's direction. "But I'm pretty sure we have enough candidates for the program. Isn't twenty enough?"

"Twenty?" Cinder's voice mocked. "Yes Mercury, clearly your definition and my definition of an army are two totally different things."

"We can't get closer to the upper classmen without blowing our cover!" the silver haired criminal shot back. It's a miracle those idiots haven't discovered us already! Do you have any idea those four will do to us if they find us?"

Her lone visibly eye narrowed while a half-smirk half-frown decorated her face. "You mean if Neil gets his hands on you?" There was no helping the expression of fear that flashed through Mercury's face. "Ah what's wrong? You were the one boasting he could take him? What happened Mercury? Where did all that confidence go?"

Only a fool would have been stupid enough to give Cinder an answer and Mercury Black was no fool. All he could do was bite his tongue in protest. That and subconsciously rub his crossed legs, his prized legs. In the back of his mind the image of the scar faced knight slicing both his legs off at the knee continuously played again and again. While Mercury shivered in fear Cinder watched on with amusement. He wanted to scream she had a hand in this, she was the reason the son of the Gray Phantoms had a vendetta he was deathly intent on settling with them. Replacing the nightmare scenario in his head was the unsettling idea that she might not care if Neil chopped both his legs off then let him rot in jail. Cinder _did _others who could fill his position, granted they were nowhere as skilled as he was but lately that problem had been…taken care of.

_There's no way she'd leave me to rot. _The kick boxer feverishly thought feeling sweat gathering on his forehead. _Not after everything I've done for her! Not after everything I've put myself through for her! _He was barely aware of Emerald behind him, cowering to the side. She'd removed herself from this whole conversation there by eliminated any help he might receive from her, not that he'd been expecting her to do much.

"Can we at least can on you to get us out if things go south?" Mercury decided to change the direction of the conversation since extraction was no longer an option. All they could do was pray Cinder at least cared enough about them to get them out. If both of them managed to make it out in one piece was up to them.

Again, that damn smile that told them she was still toying with them. "Why of course the extraction plan is still good. You make it sound like Izaak, Neil, Olivia, and Chicahua have altered the entire plan."

Mercury had to shut Emerald up with a glare to keep her from saying something smart. The last thing they needed was angering their boss. "The only reason we haven't been found out is the fact they don't know we at Beacon. They know _you're _somewhere in the city courtesy of Torchwick. We had to scramble the school's register system when we found out they were here." He snarled scratching at his knees. It may have been the anxiety but he was pretty sure there was some kind of pounding happening either outside their room or inside it. Rather it was from their hearts or thunder they didn't care to find out.

"You know you two are blowing this out of proportions right?" the criminal mastermind sighed leaning back. "All you two have to do is avoid being spotted by them."

_You make it sound like one of them doesn't have telescopic vision, one isn't a would-be-criminal who knows the playbook, the other isn't a genius, and the leader is a hellva lot smarter than he lets everyone believe. _Mercury gravely mused. "Boss," he began swallowing a lump in his throat. "Because of recent events you do know a handful of professional teams have showed up right? I mean we're talking about big namers like teams ANTH, KOJK, CLVR, and BOOM. Team ANTH is here today, they're holding exhibition matches with the students."

"Hmm," she put a hand to her chin in thought. "That could be a problem. Ever since those four went to the headmaster the city's been losing much of its appeal for me."

"Not to mention you can't keep a leash on CuraGen anymore." The kickboxer let slip. Immediately he regretted his slip of tongue.

Flames flickered within the lone eye Cinder showed to the world. Mercury and Emerald tensed as if she was right in the room with her, ready to incinerate them on the spot. Both career criminals broke out in hot sweat. In the back Emerald squealed in fear retreating as far back as she could leaving Mercury alone. The Scroll in his hand seemed to heat up so much Mercury thought he'd drop it if Cinder's death glare didn't fry him first.

The fire died though Cinder's glare continued to hold the two in their place. "Just. Keep. Your. Heads. Down. And get me that list."

The screen went black leaving Mercury and Emerald alone. Finally free of their boss's presence they fell onto their backs letting out tensed breathes they'd been withholding. For almost half an hour neither said anything. It turned out there was no thunder outside, it really was their hearts trying to escape the inferno they'd created for themselves.

Once they finally recovered the emerald haired criminal snarled at her partner. "Are you out of your God damn mind!? Are you trying to get us killed!?"

"It just slipped out!" He defended. "You weren't much help either! All you did was sit down in the corner like an idiot!"

Emerald was about to reply when she heard the sick sound of laughter, warped, sadistic laughter. She feared it for whoever was able to laugh in such a way was more than likely someone who wasn't to be trifled with. Adding to her dread was the fact she knew who the laughter belonged to.

"Holy shit, talk about a bad boss."

Surprisingly it was Mercury who jumped at the cackling voice. No matter how tough he tried to act it was obvious he was just as scared of the intruder as she was.

He was sitting quietly in the left hand corner of the dorm, one leg propped up and the other lying outstretched. His hood was done revealing the youthful face of the grinning psychopath. His merlot red hair was brilliant, the kind of shade most women would have killed for. It would have made him handsome if his face wasn't always twisted into such a psychotic grin that went all too well with his shining gold-brown eyes. By some twisted work of fate the shadows of the room hid the rest of his body leaving his demented face the only thing visible. They were barely able to make out the outline of him twiddling his thumbs like nothing was wrong. What scared them though, was they had no idea if he had his weapon with him or not. Even if he did it wouldn't matter much because this person was dangerous enough without their weapon, all he needed to do was touch someone and it was game over.

Emerald had come uncomfortable close to having her story ended when she pressed too far into the psychopath's warped mind, if it weren't for Cinder she would have been dead. It was for that reason that she scooted back behind Mercury.

"What are you doing here?" the kickboxer coldly questioned. His boots were just a short distance away though he knew their guest could kill both of them in the time it took him to get them on. "You know the orders, Beacon is our turf."

"Well you see me and Hoyt just got back from business out of town and I wanted to see what Vale's coolest weapons factory was like. This place is pretty cool, I'm jealous you guys get to stake out here." He said.

Mercury was shaking, he could at least admit that. Usually you could tell what a person was about to do based on the look in their eyes. The problem with dealing with a psychopath was their eyes were simply unreadable, you know something was coming but you had no idea what. That made things doubly bad for Mercury because if his lunatic wanted to keep screwing with them he had all night to do it. Of course he knew he wouldn't do anything too extreme but that didn't mean he and Emerald were safe. "Pox," he started inching towards his weapons. "How the hell did you get in here?"

Pox chuckled at his question. Innocently he placed a finger on his chin in mock thought. "Let's see now, I've been sneaking out of secret government facilities since I was eight, I've survived more fights than the babies here have ever dreamed, oh and I was trained by world-class spymasters. The first two kind of make this place look like a front yard fence. Kind of makes ya wonder why we can all have so few moles inside it."

"Because anymore and it'll make extraction worse." Mercury replied.

Pox grinned that sadistic grin that made the criminals wish they were able to kill him on the spot. "Roman told me you two were more confident than this, guess he was just bullshitting me again. I wish I could stick around to watch the fights tomorrow in person but business calls. Me and the boys in masks have a lot to do for the anniversary." He cackled as he walked towards the room. Silently he cracked the window opened and placed one foot through it. "At least my boss doesn't threaten to roast him alive, maybe once Vale's a smoldering pile of rumble you can come join us. Come on, it'll be fun."

Behind him Emerald feverishly shook her head in protest while Mercury just continued sneering. With another chuckle the mercenary was out the door, the last thing they saw of him being the black bird mask logo on the back of his jacket.

Mercury ran to the window and looked all over the place. As far as he could tell there was no sign of Pox. "He's gone."

Emerald crawled over to the freg to grab the first drink she saw. "Why?" she started. "Why of all the PMCs for us to team up with did it have to be the one with a preference for using lethal viruses, plagues, and psychos like that!? Seriously! What's she thinking!?"

Finally free to express his thoughts Mercury leaned back against the wall. "Because they're the only NGP out there with enough power to take on the entire Vale military…Atlas too if it comes to it." Mercury answered. "You saw what they did that night Emerald, that's only the tip of the iceberg." The silver headed boy shuddered. When they were first told they were going to be working with PESTILENCE, one of the highest ranked PMCs in all of Remnant Mercury was less than euthanistic, oh he would have laughed at his previous ignorance now.

Beacon had never seemed like a dangerous place to either of them before. They knew they had nothing to fear from the lowered ranked students such as those of teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY, but now their perception had changed drastically. Suddenly the place had become a private torture chamber for them.

* * *

Something was different with Chicahua and everyone around the table could feel it. It was in the way he ate, how little he spoke, and how determined his eyes were. In the morning classes it was easy to tell he wasn't all there for his eyes remained locked on something in the distance. At lunch as the group sat together they observed how Chicahua seemed to be paying particular attention to what he was eating, picking out what he believed would and wouldn't slow him down later on.

"The exhibition fights." Pyrrha voiced with a small smile on her face. "He's been preparing for the exhibitions matches with the professionals that have arrived."

"He does know these guys are professionals right?" Yang beckoned leaning over the table to get a better look at the eagle knight. "We're talking about guys who are _miles _ahead of us and you want to fight them?"

Breaking from his food the tallest and most well-built member of team IONC just flashed her a short smile. "That's exactly why I'm going to fight Yang. I want to know where I stand in comparison to the kingdom's finest."

In any other case the others would have called Chicahua insane for thinking he could last more than a minute with a professional Huntsmen or Huntress. Even the most talented of the bunch like Pyrrha had to admit the longest they'd be able to last against a seasoned veteran was five minutes at best. On the flipside nearly every member of team IONC had shown themselves to be extremely formidable so they weren't willing to roll out the possibility.

"Sounds like someone's got an ace up their sleeve of you're that confident."

Nearly all heads around the table turned in the direction of the young yet oddly serious voice. The owner of said voice happened to be sitting right beside Ruby, his team taking up the space beyond her. Give or take a few things and he might have been Ruby's distant cousin, both were about the same height and silver eyes. From a female standpoint he might have registered as cute with his youthful face and red bow that mirrored Blake's in style and purpose, guys would have immediately known something was off given the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Did you have a hand in setting up the baiting pool?" The onna-bugeisha cut to the chase.

"Now that's just hurtful Olivia." He laughed in mock pain.

"Better question, why are you still eating desert for lunch Buruan?" Blake added raising an eyebrow at her fellow Faunus.

The wolf Faunus looked at the bag of mouthwatering candy that was currently being eyed by Ruby then back to Blake. His silver eyes caught wind of Yang and Weiss's disapproving gaze. "It's not like I have to worry about cavities. Ruby eats tons and tons of chocolate and you don't see her paying a visit to the dentist."

A webbed hand reached over and plucked one of the many candy bars from Buruan's stash. "I think all the sugar and crap just goes to your head instead of your teeth." His female teammate, Ndidi offered. Easily a head taller than her teammate her skin was the opposite of his Caucasian complex. Her skin was a deep dark color matted with pure black pitches that gave away her frog-like nature. Her long thick black and green-streaked hair freely fell down to the base of her neck and just above her deep green eyes. "In case you guys haven't heard he's been setting up something of a food stand during sparing matches."

"It's not like there's a school rule against it." The wolf Faunus innocently defended.

Ruby's eyes lit up and in a second she'd pulled out her wallet. With a groan Weiss swiped it away. "You know in another life you would have made a great con artist."

"Then it's like for you guys I have too much fun learned how to blow things up with you guys." He grinned.

"Between the two I'm not sure which is worse." A second male voice muttered beside Ndidi. He was maybe a few centimeters taller than her with bright red hair that grew in a right sided rotation and shining blue eyes. Unlike his teammates he gave off an air of "intelligence", making him the smart man of the group. "If you had access to the food storage I'm pretty sure you'd do that Buruan."

"That's hurtful Rad."

"Maybe but let's face it it's true. Watching us get our butts kicked wouldn't stop you from making a Lien watching it."

"Shouldn't the team leader be to blame for this? For not doing something about my supposed bad habits?" Buruan offered with a grin.

"Who says they're bad?" The reaper said patting Buruan over the head much to the boy's affection.

"Said leader regarded him with a playful smile as she leaned over the table with one hand on her cheek. "The only thing I can think of is sending you to obedience school, and I don't feel like wasting the money because you'd probably just sneak out."

Naturally being part canine Buruan was able to pull off a set of puppy dog eyes that would have made even the most stone hearted members of the table give in. "I'd sneak out because I know all of you would miss me., especially you Chun Tao"

Team's CNBR's leader merely rolled her eyes in playful amusement. "Back to the originally topic I can understand why Chicahua's excited, it's not every day you get to spar with a living legend."

Yang couldn't take it anymore. She slammed her fist down on the table startling everyone. "Who's he planning on fighting? I've heard everyone chattering about some super strong dude but nobody's told me his name or what he can do!"

"You might know if you actually bothered to listen." Weiss coolly countered.

"I think we should nominate Weiss for a sparring match." Yang said.

"Or we could sign you both up and whoever lasts the longest is the better fighter." The group Viking laughed.

The brawler and heiress regarded him coldly then snapped their heads to the side. "Like we need to know that." They both stated simultaneously.

"Adelhard Von Blau."

The many eyes of the table all moved to the resident blond knight. It was rare for Jaune to have any knowledge of any famous Huntsmen not a member of his family but when he did it usually indicated just how famous said warrior was. "His name is Adelhard Von Blau, he's going to be the sixteenth head of the Von Blau family, a warrior clan stretching back over four hundred years that has the honor of being one of Vale's six noble families with lineages stretching back all the way to the Grimm War." The blond took a quick breath then as quickly as he could he said, "Their family and my family are kind of, sort of old friends."

At this almost every mouth around the table dropped.

"Adelhard Von Blau," Neil echoed leaning back in his seat. "AKA the Knight of Brightroar, aka the Knight of Knights, aka the Cobalt Dragon, aka the Hero of Myrefall, aka Blade of Victory, aka…the LeBron James of knights." He finished with a sly grin that fell a little when he noticed Weiss glaring at him. "Any kid who dreams of becoming a knight knows who he is…and would kill for just five minutes with him."

Ndidi blinked once with her big green eyes before leaning over the table to the point she was practically on top of it. "…And you want to challenge this guy to a fight?" she asked Chicahua.

"Am and going to." He smiled proudly.

In a single leap the frog Faunus was by his side holding her fist up. "Gutsy."

"More like suicidal." Weiss sneered watching the two Faunus fist bump. "Fine, go humiliate yourself in front of the whole school, see if we care."

"The exact same way you don't care when you took the time to give each of us at least one vial of badass Dust straight from Schnee Labs?" the gray haired knight quipped. He continued smiled even when Weiss gave him something of a near death glare.

"I trust you have a plan in mind?" Pyrrha inferred. "We're talking about a man who's said to have dragon blood pumping in his veins."

Izaak snorted at the Spartan's words. "That may be true Pyrrha but Chicahua had something else pumping through his veins."

"Insanity?" Rad offered.

"Crack?" Yang put forth.

"You've got some secret technique you've been saving?" her younger sister said.

With all eyes on him Chicahua puffed up his chest with the same full tilt grin he always wore before a fight. "You'll just have to wait to find out my friends. I promise you a fight for the record books and I never break my word."

* * *

_**About four hours later… **_

Laying eyes upon Adelhard Von Blau really made the students question Chicahua's sanity. As each of them sized up the knight they each considered talking the tribal boy out of his foolhardy objective. Even Pyrrha was having doubts about her rival's ability to keep up with such a man.

Six foot four of muscle and power hidden well by an armored plated combat jacket Adelhard stood as what some would say was the modern day image of the lone swordsman. His darkish-blue hair fell to the base of his neck in a wild yet at the same time extremely attractive way. The bangs fell by the side framing a handsome face surprisingly free of scars. Most enticing were his eyes, a shimmering bright green-blue mix that was extremely rare. His combat coat fell to his knees, being a silvery white with blue outlines. Armor plates on his shoulders and the forearms reflected all the light around them giving the illusion they were constantly shining. What he wore it beneath it was hard to see at a distance but it could assumed it was a second set of armored clothing in case his primary coat was ever lost. The black combat boots he wore seemed to be steel toed though no one knew if they were just for show or not. Similar plating seemed to cover his knees as well as being woven into his navy blue pants. Like most Huntsmen he wore an elaborate belt, a single line of white and blue that held his sword behind his left hip.

If his appearance wasn't enough the fact he stood so proudly at the head of his team, three more confident warriors made up another man and two women was enough to make every student go weak in the knees. There he stood before them, the leader of team ATHM, one of the strongest teams to ever graduate Beacon Academy.

And he was tapping his foot in anticipation over who was brave enough to challenge him.

There had been three exhibition matches between the students and the visiting Huntsmen and Huntresses. None of them had lasted any longer than six minutes.

Adelhard had been waiting patiently for one student to muster the will to face him and it showed on his face. When not one came forward he continued to sigh. He couldn't blame them, his name alone was enough to get them to back out of whatever dare the teenagers and young adults have cowed each other into. The fourth years, students who were practically full-blooded Huntsmen in all but name had not sent one of their own out for they looked at him with the same fear their juniors did.

As another fight ended he found Glynda standing beside him. "I told you one day you'd be hating that fame of yours."

"Trust me, I've hated it since freshmen year." He chuckled. "Class started less than twenty minutes ago and not one person has stepped forward to fight me or anyone from my team."

"Can you blame them Adelhard?" Glynda chided. "Even I'd be hesitant to fight you in a sparring match."

The knight let out a snicker that turned into a full blown laugh. It increased in volume as he observed the way the witch's face seemed to redden. "Whatever happened to that hot headed girl swinging around a cattle prod who was willing to fight everything that moved?"

"And I ask whatever happened to that bubbling idiot who got knocked halfway across the Emerald Forest after trying to kill a Death Stalker bare fisted?" she fired back.

Once the fight came to an end Glynda stepped onto the arena with Adelhard trailing behind her. As usual the entire crowd seemed to shutter at the sight of the Knight of Brightroar standing tall waiting for them. _I wonder if anyone would complain if I said they could bring their whole team to fight him. _

_THUMP! _

Just as Glynda was about to open her mouth to speak she felt the arena floor shake at the sudden impact. Behind her spectacles she watched with wide eyes as Chicahua Valiente stood proudly before the two of them with his eagle wings spread out. _Oh it figures it had to come from THAT team. _The female blond chided rolling her eyes. "Mr. Valiente? I assume you're not doing this just for show are you?"

Shaking his head all the way the walk up he faced Adelhard with his orange eyes practically brimming with fire. Stepping just in front of the older knight he spoke his challenge in a voice seemed with his usual confidence. "Adelhard Von Blau, son of the House of Von Blau, Descendent of the Dragon," he began tightening his fists. "I, Chicahua Valiente, son of the House of Valiente, crown prince of the Texcoco Tribe would like to challenge you to a one on one battle!"

It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the amphitheater in that instant. Teachers, students, guests, and pretty much everyone else stared with slack jaws at the young man who had just so brazenly challenged one of the strongest Huntsman in all of Vale. More than half of them had to slap themselves or those next to them to confirm that this wasn't a dream.

Once they recovered enough they reacted in the only way to be expected.

"Go back to the jungle freak!"

"Get out of here!"

"Stop wasting everyone's time animal!"

Chicahua paid them no mind, even when they started throwing things at him. His attention was solely on the man who stood before him.

Adelhard held the teenager's gaze with keen interest. _This is him, _he thought with a mental smile. _This is the student I've been waiting for. After all this time I've finally found him! _On the outside he lowered his head so low it looked like his hair was covering his face. Then he opened his mouth, "SILENCE!" Every motion and every sound around them came to a stop at the booming of his voice. Those that knew him knew whenever he raised his voice in such a manner it meant he was serious, and those that didn't quickly found that out. "From one knight to another I accept your challenge." He said smiling at Chicahua.

His face lit up like he'd just won the lottery. With a hearty thanks he stepped over to his side of the arena while Adelhard moved to his. Just before he did so he leaned in and whispered into Glynda's ear. "You've got a good student there Glynda."

"If you want a challenge you chose the right one." She muttered.

Before the battle started Chicahua caught sight of his friends: his teammates, teams RWBY, JNPR, CVFY, SSSN, and CNBR. Each and every last one of them were cheering for him but none more so than his teammates. Izaak and Neil shot him large grins he knew was there way of giving him luck and Olivia…she was smiling though it was different than that of the others. It was that rare smile she only gave him when he was facing someone she knew he had little chance against. Every time he got it Chicahua could feel his heart flutter.

Chicahua had to admit that Adelhard's sword was one of the most finely crafted weapons he'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. He could only imagine what Ruby was thinking as she eyed the weapon from through the monitor. To be fair anyone with a taste for battle would have been loathed to admit the sword known as Dracheträne was not just a sword but a work of art, even as it was busy trying to separate his hands from his arms.

Around five feet of steely death with a faint blue flame like pattern etched into the blade cleaved the air around him as if it were butter. Every time the blade came so close his eyes could make out every detail he found himself falling further and further in love with the weapon. The blade's guard seemed to be some freakish collection of claw like extensions stretching out, deflecting the sword gave him better look at the guard. It was plum of fire, the six extensions resembled claws or flickers of flames branching upward with a deep blue gem at the center of it. The handle was rather simple yet Chicahua found he would have given anything to hold it; so much so he'd almost lost his hand when Adelhard made a horizontal slash that he quickly turned into a downward swing. The two handed handle's grip resembled dragon scales ending in a three pronged shape that reminded Chicahua of a short stubby trident.

Chicahua fell back avoiding an upward slash that would have blinded him in his eye if he hadn't been quick enough. Rather than attack again Adelhard rested Dracheträne over his shoulder. "Are you finished checking out my weapon? I'm sure she appreciates the attention your eyes have given but I'm sure she'd rather have your sword's." He chuckled.

Chuckling himself Chicahua twirled Sprekelia twice. "Yes, I think from here we need to let our swords do the talking for us." That smile, that self-assured smile was standing before Adelhard in the blink of an eye. "Here's our hello."

The power behind Chicahua's swing brought a smile to his face. Raising Dracheträne into a vertical position to block the attack he saw the shield coming in from the other side. Knocking the teenager away Adelhard spun once, swinging his sword with him. Six black objects rotated in the space above his head. _I see, so the shield contains throwing knives. _Flickering his eyes back down he saw Xolotl coming at him at a speed at remarkable speed. Fast as a blur he knocker the saw shield away then with both hands he angled his blade to meet the incoming saw tooth sword wielding by Chicahua.

_CLING! _

They broke away from each other then clashed again, and again, and again. Chicahua moved back alerting Adelhard to the fact Xolotl was more than likely on its way to returning to its owner, after cutting through Adelhard that is. With a small smirk he threw his left arm out. The grinding of metal against metal resounded throughout the whole chamber while Xolotl spun out of control. Chicahua surged forward, his hawkish eyes narrowed into focus slits. Flipping his sword into the reverse grip he aimed it at the eagle knight's charging form.

Countless faces watched in suspense as Dracheträne's blade extended forward with the speed of a bullet. This was it, thought many watching the blade extend in slow motion, this was when the hotheaded Faunus would get put in his place for taking on an enemy light years ahead of his level. Even those who bore Chicahua no ill will knew he was about to have his prized fight ended.

Sitting quietly in their sits nine faces grinned at the screen.

_CLINCH! _

For a second Adelhard was stunned as Chicahua spun around the extending blade, the tip burrowing itself into the ground.

"You'll have to be a lot faster than that to beat my eyes Adelhard." The teenager grinned.

Instantly the sword retracted to its original five feet, Adelhard spun three hundred and sixty degrees, both hands on his sword. Both their blades collided with a force that sent shivers down their spines. "Noted." Adelhard went on the offensive.

Chicahua was able to block every slash before Xolotl returned to him. Adelhard was fast, one of the fastest swordsmen Chicahua had ever encountered; his eyes had only a second to take note of each slash. He knew what he had to do, the problem was every time he took care of one slash another was coming to end the battle. He waited, falling back with each step, until Adelhard aimed at his right side ribcage. Adelhard saw the shift in his eyes but it was too late to pull his beloved sword back. Sprekelia caught Dracheträne between two of its obsidian teeth and didn't let go. Now that he had Adelhard locked Chicahua swung Xolotl, the saw shield screamed for the dragon blood that pumped within its target's veins. The owner of said veins said nothing as he removed his left hand from Dracheträne's handle to meet Xolotl with a closed fist.

"Tough knuckles." Chicahua noted looking him in the eye.

"The gloves help." Adelhard admitted.

Both men ran over the calculations in their hands, there was only one thing they could do. Breaking off from each other Chicahua unfolded his wings and then launched himself directly at his target.

Planting both his feet down Adelhard held up Dracheträne like a baseball bat. The flame like pattern on the blade glowed before the entire blade was engulfed in blazing blue fire. In the span of five seconds the Faunus was within striking range of the human who immediately swung his sword down. A seven foot arc of blue fire shot from the weapon only for Chicahua to once again. Shock manifested on the veteran's face until he saw Sprekelia extending towards him. With one swing he deflected the attack though Chicahua had taken the chance to get some distance between them. In two quick steps Adelhard had closed that distance. The young knight couldn't attack, Sprekelia couldn't be recalled in time to parry the glowing silver blade coming for him. Luckily he didn't need his sword. Xolotl happily met the diagonal slash that would have bisected Chicahua from his shoulder to his hip. The shield didn't sizzle or begin to melt as most weapons did when meeting Dracheträne's edge. Adelhard pushed down but Chicahua didn't give, at least not in the way the elder knight wanted him to. Shifting his feet he fell to the right with Chicahua bringing the now full assembled Sprekelia down on top of Adelhard's back.

_CLING! _

"Not so easy getting through the dragon's scales is it?" he laughed still with his back turned to Chicahua.

"That just makes this all the more fun." Chicahua joked watching the blue light coil around Adelhard's sword. With his wings he managed to avoid the eight foot energy slash Adelhard fired off. With Sprekelia he parried the next four he sent out; then he parried the blade itself when Adelhard took the opportunity to join him in the air.

Adelhard kicked him down to the ground while a whirlwind of blue energy formed around his sword. "Here comes the Dragon's Gust Chicahua! Let's see if you can weather it!"

It was rare to see an energy slash of such magnitude such as the one Adelhard fired at Chicahua. Eye-witness accounts have said the Dragon's Gust has been strong enough to bisect Death Stalkers and three Qilins in a row. Surely such an attack would have been enough to down the sword and shield wielding first year in the path of the attack.

Grounding his teeth Chicahua gripped Sprekelia with both hands before swinging the saw-tooth sword from left to right. The energy slash collided with the macuahuitl causing sparks of pure energy to fly. Grunting in effort the eagle knight deflected the attack making it crash into the ground beside him thus sending pieces of tile and earth jetting out in all directions.

"My turn." He muttered filling Sprekelia with his aura.

An energy slash similar to Adelhard's flew from Chicahua's sword only instead of blue it was a blazing orange color. It collided head first with him creating a thick cloud of smoke. Shock rung through the crowd at what they'd just seen. It grew when Adelhard fell from the smoke, not a scratch on him.

"B-But…how?" Blake whispered looking at the Aura meters of each combatant. It wasn't the fact that both had barely exhausted one-fifth of their Auras but that there was no visible damage on Adelhard's body. "I've seen Chicahua's slashes split Ursa and Gigadeaths in half so how…how is it that didn't do a thing?"

"It's the jacket." Ren clarified with both hands clapped together beneath his chin.

"Now that you mention there is something worried about that armor," Yang said. "What the hell is it?"

"The kind that's infused with Dust." Neil answered chewing on a Hershey bar. "That jacket Adelhard's wearing is infused with Dust, not to mention the plates are made from a type of metal made to resist attacks, not adamant like my swords and Izaak's axe but something close to it. Makes wounding him a major pain in the ass."

"A literal armor of dragon scales." Chun Tao confirmed. "Getting around that won't be easy."

"Why can't we just say Chicahua bit off more than he can chew and call it a day?" Weiss exclaimed

"Because he can still chew through more." Olivia hotly countered.

Adelhard had to give Chicahua even more credit, he'd barely reacted when his attack failed to do any damage. _You were testing the waters weren't you kid? _He thought parrying an overhead strike. He fought back, hacking away with more strength than before yet the seemingly stone and metal weapons his opponent wielded continued to block his attacks. The shield didn't give no matter how fiercely Dracheträne struck it, at best all it left were scorch marks that left no lasting damage. _It's just like back then, weapons that look like they belong in an Indiana Jones movie being able to stand up to the best of modern weaponry. _

At the moment Dracheträne came down once again Chicahua pressed Xolotl forward, its orange center glowing bright orange for a split second. Blue and orange collided when they met, a sound like gears turning being produced.

_Paralyzed my sword arm! _Adelhard realized bracing himself.

Like a gust of wind Sprekelia came in from the side hitting the middle of his sword. Adelhard nearly lost his grip on his sword but managed to regain in just in time to prepare for Chicahua's follow up: a Stinger.

His wings were tucked in though up close he could have sworn they were spouting flames like rockets about to take off. Chicahua jetted towards thrusting his weapon towards his chest.

_**CLING! **_

"Shit!" the teenager cursed.

"A beat followed by a Stinger," Adelhard commented. "I'm impressed." He surged forward bringing his sword across Chicahua's chest. He'd finally drawn first blood and now he was ready to end the match. "A nice match kid, you got my blood pupping but it's time we ended this!"

Excitement flashed in the predator eyes of the Faunus. "Not yet! I'm having too much fun to stop now!" Rebounding from the bleeding wound across his chest Chicahua brought both Sprekelia and Xolotl up together to meet Dracheträne's overhead attack. "Now that I've blocked the dragon's tail I will take it!" he yelled kicking Adelhard away. Putting one on top of the other Chicahua spun forward, becoming a tornado of orange flames and wind that quickly jetted towards Adelhard.

Adelhard met the attack and was pushed back. Sparks flew from where his sword made contact with the macuahuitl and saw shield. He jumped back and launched another Dragon's Gust at the orange twister. Fire, wind, and smoke exploded from the point of impact.

"I don't believe it." The Knight of Brightroar muttered just as the orange tornado surged out of the smoke.

Screaming his people's war cry Chicahua met Adelhard's sword in force. He pushed him back, Adelhard felt the push back and grunted in effort to keep from losing his balance. Once he had both feet firmly on the ground he roared and shuck the teenager off. Dracheträne burned bright blue fire. Sprekelia and Xolotl blazed to life with the flame like Aura of their owner.

_**CLING! CLANG! CLING! CLANG! THING! CLING! THANG! CLING! CLANG! THING! **_

To the two dueling knights nothing else existed but the rush of battle propelling them to swinging their arms as hard as they could and as fast as they could. The gaping mouths, the pointed fingers, their Aura readings, and the energy exploding from their repented clashes didn't matter in the least to them. The only thing that did was making the other go down.

In the midst of their maelstrom of steel they locked eyes and grinned.

_You live up to all the hype._

_In my humble opinion you've done your ancestors proud. _

_No, not yet. Not until I've drawn blood for blood! _

His muscles tensed seeing the energy infused blade coming at him, his wings removed him from the ground in one might flap. Adelhard fired off an energy slash to keep him from escaping. Xolotl was swing forward, six black objects coated in layers of red energy met the slash at key points, defusing the attack.

Some twenty fifteen feet now separated the two warriors; before Adelhard could close it Chicahua struck first extending Sprekelia to its full length. The parrying of the attack let loss a gust of air so powerful it made an impact against the force field surrounding them.

He wasn't done.

The swings came faster and faster, becoming more powerful with each hit and miss. Adelhard was swinging his arms like a mad man to parry each one.

_CLINCH! _

The heir of the Von Blau family felt the sting on his left arm.

_CLINCH! _

From his left leg came a sharp message alarming his brain it had taken a worse blow.

_**CLING! CLING! THING! CLING! **_

"What…is that?" Ruby questioned unable to comprehend what it was she was looking at.

"I…never knew he could do that." Velvet whispered awe-struck by what was happening before her.

"Be happy you're not on the receiving end of that." Sun nervously chuckled rubbing his backside like he was reliving a painful memory. In fact he was watching Sprekelia continue to "feed" off the heat of battle.

Each segment of Chicahua's whip-sword was burning red. What had started as a small glow had turned each piece into a miniature object of pure heat and power with every impact. It didn't matter if the attack hit Adelhard or not, what did was that it connected with _something_. Too late did Adelhard realize what Sprekelia was capable of. He had to break off.

"Blood for blood." Came the eagle's knight's voice.

Something had changed in his voice, it sounded much deeper than it should have.

Within the span of two seven seconds Sprekelia was a full sword again and Chicahua was coming at Adelhard with the speed of a rocket.

The veteran Huntsman raised his sword. The young tribal warrior's sword flashed.

_SLICH! _

Glynda watched the exchange with a ghost of a smile on her face. "Well what do you know, an eagle's talons can pierce a dragon's scales.

Blood spilled from the wound across Adelhard's left shoulder. It wasn't deep but it was certainly worthy of notice. Behind him Chicahua kneeled in the ground, his sweat forming a small pool below his face. He said nothing as his opponent took the time to examine his wound.

"You know…I came here hoping someone to would have a set of balls big enough to take me on." The Huntsman admitted.

…

"I'm glad it was you son of the Texcoco."

The two knights faced each other with joyous grins on their faces.

"You've earned this Chicahua."

"Finally, now I can make my ancestors proud."

Chicahua's grin persisted even as Dracheträne changed shape right before his eyes. The blade broke down into a mass of shifting diamonds while the handle elongated until it was nearly six feet in length. The blade reformed, now looking like a proper spearhead.

The seventeen year old jumped just in time to avoid the spear space where he once kneeled. Catching the other end with his hand Adelhard spun once so the weapon was now resting on his shoulders. He aimed it at Chicahua and once again the weapon elongated with its peed providing all the force it needed. Stopping the spear was different from the sword; the spear was made from thrusting which made blocking a deadly gambit.

Chicahua was able to knock the spear away three times before it rammed into the center of Xolotl, sending him on a crash course with the force field. His wings screamed in pain at the sudden contact. The spear retracted, for the second time Dracheträne changed shape, this time into a weapon he knew Cardin would spend long nights dreaming about.

The blade disappeared completely, or more rather, it amassed around the guard which was morphing itself. In a flash the metal had formed a sphere around the claw like spikes that once made up the sword guard. A long chain connected the handle to the red and silver mace that cackled with blue energy.

"Oh well now that's just typical!" The teenager exclaimed jetting out of the way just in time.

The force field distorted and screamed kicking back the mace. Adelhard twirled the weapon around for a few minutes to let the weight of it sink in, then he hurled it at Chicahua. "Now this, is the dragon's tail Chicahua! Can you stop it?"

Chicahua stopped it, when it wasn't able to graze his flesh leaving him with a bruise or a burn. Sword and shield once again worked in tandem to deflect the medieval. It rose into the air then came down, bringing Chicahua with it. His back hit the ground while Dracheträne was recalled in order to be transformed. Looking up he saw the spear heading for him. Kicking himself back up he deflected it with Xolotl only to find a nasty surprise waiting for him.

Catching the spear in his hand and morphing it back into a sword Adelhard said only two words. "Dragon's Gust."

Chicahua crashed through the floor, tearing chunks of it out on his way into the wall. On the monitor his Aura took a nasty hit, not falling into the red but now he was at half strength.

Hundreds of eyes watched with baited breath for Professor Goodwitch to call the match. Forget Aura for surely no student could survive such a blow.

"Now that," came Chicahua's voice from the rumble. "I'm going to be feeling in the morning. Mind if I return the favor."

The spear was chosen to meet the frontal assault attack used by the eagle knight. Swinging from the bottom left to the upper right Adelhard knocked Chicahua's Stinger off course so he could begin his own assault. The thrusts came too fast for him to avoid while off balance. Blood came through the teenager's clenched lips, it finally came out upon the faithfully meeting of Xolotl and Dracheträne's mace form.

Once again the Chicahua's back met the force field surrounding the arena.

"Someone please tell me I didn't just see that!" Coco shouted. "How in Oum's name did he just do that? A sword? A spear? A mace? Can someone tell me exactly what that thing is?"

"I WANT ONE!" Ruby, Buruan, Ndidi, and Nora all shouted at once nearly deafening the group.

"It's a sword, a sword with a blade made of nanites." Izaak explained bringing the group's collective attention on him. Both his hands were clapped together, no doubt for his teammate currently holding his ground against the assault of sword, spear and mace. "There're still in the testing stages but there exists weapons whose bases are made of nanites. Given the right programming and Aura manipulation you can make them form anything of relative size and strength. That's the other thing that made Adelhard such a stand out student during his days at the academy. He was able to create that weapon, Dracheträne, through a fusion of his family sword and nanotechnology. He did that almost ten years before hardcore nanotechnology was given any real thought. They called him a genius when he did so, his family called him a heretic."

"Chicahua's boned isn't he?" Buruan muttered slowly feeling his appetite leave him. He'd been supportive of his fellow Faunus but after seeing what his opponent was capable of he now know there was no hope of him winning the match. _The worst part is that guy hasn't even brought out his Semblance yet. _

"Of course he is, doesn't mean Chicahua's going to just give up." Neil chided.

Carefully Weiss looked at the remaining members of team IONC. "He _knew _he didn't have a snowball's chance of winning didn't he?"

"It took you that long to figure things out Weiss? I'm disappointed." Olivia shook her head not taking her eyes off the fight. "You think he's that arrogant? Maybe a little wild and crazy but even he knows when h's biting off more than he can chew."

"It was never about winning you guys." Sage offered. He'd been watching the fight closely without saying a word unlike the rest of the group. "Chicahua didn't want to fight Adelhard to beat him in front of everyone."

Pyrrha quickly picked up on the green haired teenager's words. "He did it…so he could see how much higher he needed to fly…and show _us _how high he could fly."

The depth of Pyrrha's words hit the group like a block of ice. All together they refocused their attention on back on the fight, each of them viewing Chicahua in a new light. Jaune especially kept his eyes on the two figures; he felt something resonating in his chest as he watched Chicahua draw blood from his opponent even when he had to take hits in return. Adelhard's attack was one thing he noted Chicahua seemed to choose when to avoid and when to take.

_His Semblance! _The Arc realized catching his breath. _Chicahua's Semblance is all about absorbing energy and that Dragon's Gust…_On the ground Chicahua met one of Adelhard's Dragon's Gust before it could fire. Though they were miles away from each other Jaune could have sworn he could see the fire burning in Chicahua's eyes, a fire that seemed reflected in his adversary's eyes. He kept attacking and parrying, no matter what damage he took in return. "Twenty-two minutes." Jaune whispered with a shiver. _You've lasted longer than the rest of us put together. You've coaxed an honest to God smile out of a man who could kick all our asses with one hand tied behind his back. And…on top of that you…_The spear sent Chicahua flying half way across the arena but he retaliated by throwing Xolotl. The saw shield flew in a zig-zag pattern that Adelhard couldn't follow. It slammed into his right shoulder giving Chicahua just enough time to get in his face. Jaune seemed to see the macuahuitl cut into Adelhard's chest just as the mace slammed against Chicahua. Both flew across the floor only to pick themselves up and go at it again. The ringing, the ever present ringing caused Jaune's heart to race. _Yeah…I know now, you're pretty strong Chicahua. Way stronger than I ever thought I was. _

Chicahua knew it was time for him to end things, his body was telling him enough through his wounds. Despite that he wanted to keep going. He didn't want the fight to end. "You're everything the stories said about you!" He called to Adelhard.

"And you are everything I wanted out of you!" He was coved in a dozen of cuts, his shoulders and right side having the worst wounds of them all. They were undeniable proof that this teenager was able to stand toe to toe with him on equal footing. "I'm glad I got to fight you today Chicahua!"

"Who knows! Maybe one day we can do this again!" He was on his feet now, wings proudly pounded the air.

"Survive the Grimm, your classmates, and everything this academy throws at you and we will! That goes for every student in here!" Adelhard yelled raising Dracheträne into the air. "You kids want to learn how to do this you're going to have to survive this place first!"

Brave Bird had been activated, and its effect was stronger than ever. The tribal markings on Chicahua's body were concentrated lines of fire over his burning body. His wings had become nothing more than torches shaped into bird's wings and Sprekelia was the same, only in the shape of a seven foot long sword. His eyes stood out in the human shaped blaze glaring down Adelhard.

Raising his sword high above his head Adelhard called up his Semblance. Beneath his feet the ground cracked with ethereal light shining through. He breathed in and out as Chicahua sped towards him, a mass of heated energy intent on knocking him down. _It was because people like you fought in the war we didn't win. Why I think we didn't deserve to win. _

The bird of fire met the sword of light in a titanic collision that shook the entire amphitheater. All eyes were pulled back when until the light died down enough for them to see. What they saw was Chicahua lying flat on the ground with Adelhard still standing. The monitor showed the elder knight still had half his Aura left while Chicahua had none. The arena floor was scorched and cracked like a meteor had made impact. The force field crackled then fell, at last unable to withstand the sheer amount of energy being thrown around.

Glynda took a few steps into the center. After surveying the damage she raised her hand. "The winner is Adelhard Von Blau!"

The second she'd finished the announcement Chicahua's partner was at his side. She could hear the two of them laughing like one of them hadn't been through one hell of battle. Glynda found herself chuckling. "Today's youth…" she muttered watching the rest of team IONC join them followed by the rest of their friends.

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**Happy New Year's everyone! Looking forward to 2016!**


	26. Chapter 26: That Time of the Year Pt1

**Ah the big conclusion to the story's second arc. I can say a handful of plot points will be wrapped up. Build up could have been better but hey, too late to complain about that. After a long wait the White Fang make their true entrnace into the story as well as the primary villains, PESTILENCE. Of course before we get to that there's a little matter from last chapter that must be wrapped up. Onto the story! **

**I do not own anything save the OCs and made-up locations!**

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**Chapter 26: Just That Time of the Year Pt.1**

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If Jaune's mind wasn't in the middle of what he believed to be a mental breakdown he might have taken note of the fact he'd completely lost his way. He'd never been all that familiar with the entire layout of the amphitheater so that made wondering off a particularly bad idea. He could have just simply gone to the bathroom but he knew better than that. Jaune Arc, wanna-be hero in training caught having a breakdown in the bathroom right after witnessing one of his classmates going toe to toe with a professional Huntsmen? Forget worrying about his secret getting out, the sheer humiliation of seeing his sobbing face splashed over the school paper would be enough to send him running. What he needed was some place far off and quiet where he could quietly curse himself. Not surprisingly the amphitheater despite being such a hotspot of activity had plenty of those.

Jaune glanced around the hallway to make sure he was alone then his back fell against the wall. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" he yelled into his trembling hands. If the sweat running down his forehead wasn't bad enough he could feel his entire body shaking. No matter what anyone might have told him, Jaune knew how pathetic he looked. "SHIT!" his fist left a small dent in the metallic wall. Maybe he could have taken some proud in that. In his head Chicahua's battle kept looping in his head; it was a little scary how Jaune could perfectly recall almost every move that was made. His classmate had come at Adelhard with serious intent from the start and only half way through did Adelhard return the sentiment. A boy barely a month or two older than him had gone head to head with the Knight of Brightroar and earned his respect.

While everyone crowded around the two fighters once the match ended Jaune felt like his feet had been chained to the ground. He could hear the voices of his ancestors growling in his ears, _Why wasn't that you out there? Why weren't you out there showing the school the strength of the Arc family? Are you that much of a coward? _In a span three minutes the voices had turned into a mounting chorus that drowned out the noise of the amphitheater, all of it directed solely on Jaune. Try as he might he couldn't keep his eyes from wondering over to Chicahua, eyes filled with envy and even a little hatred. _Why isn't that you? _Was what all the voice had collectively ended up saying. There wasn't an answer for that so that left Jaune to mule over the self-hatred currently eating its way through his psyche. If he didn't bail out right then and there he could only imagine how disgraceful he would have looked.

At least no one could see him now.

The blond felt a set of hands rest on his shoulders then he could feel something warm being pressed against him. Immediately he knew the scent and feel of the person now holding him.

He'd spoken too soon.

"I-I-I'm sorry you have to see me like this. I-I j-just had to-"

"I know Jaune." Pyrrha finished for him rubbing the back of his head. "Trust me when I tell you I know what you're going through." In the time they'd known each other Pyrrha hadn't revealed much about her past to her partner. What she did tell her was she'd been in his position once. "The trembling, the envy, and the anger, trust me when I tell you it's natural."

Jaune could only thank God he hadn't shed any terrors though that didn't stop him from registering the fact one of his closest friends had just caught him at his lowest point. Sucking up whatever dignity he had left he pushed himself upward nearly knocking Pyrrha to the side. "S-Sorry." He dismally apologized. "I-I shouldn't be feeling like this Pyrrha. I mean I just sort of had a…I don't have any right to feel this way towards Chicahua." His focus remained on the ground as he was too ashamed to look her in the eye, not even when she brought him into another embrace. "He'd probably hate me."

"No he wouldn't Jaune." Pyrrha comforted. "You may not know it but Chicahua is a very understanding person, just another trait people don't see too often."

"How well do you two know each other? I mean the first minute he saw you he was demanding a rematch with you and I think I heard something about you two fighting each other during the Vytal Festival."

It was to Pyrrha's great joy they were finally able to have eye contact again. One of the few things she hated about Jaune was when he went into his little shell. "We don't know each other as well as I like but on a professional level we're pretty familiar with each other." She said with something resembling longing. "You see back in Sanctum he was one of the highest ranks students, one of the best fighters you'd ever seen. You could almost say he was a Faunus version of myself…give or take a few things." Pyrrha explained with a sad chuckle. Recalling the days of their earlier years always seemed to leave something of a bitter taste in her mouth. Now that she had actually social interaction she was able to look back on those days and curse how she missed out on so many opportunities to have at least one actually friend. "He was forced to endure a lot of racism because he didn't hide what he was, he was proud of his Faunus heritage, most of the people around him found it disgusting. I stepped in once or twice but I kept my distance because I saw he could handle things himself. No matter what happened he always kept his head held up high," the Spartan laughed. "He's a strong person in that regard."

"Yeah," Jaune half-heartedly agreed with a pathetic chuckle. "I kind of got that."

Still smiling Pyrrha gently turned Jaune's head so their eyes were locked with each other. "No Jaune, I mean he's a strong person, not a warrior but he's strong as a person. Sir Adelhard is the same way, and so are you." As expected his face fell. Pyrrha was ready for that, "You tracked through an entire Grimm filled forest, you saved Nora, put your life on the line numerous times for the sake of the innocent, and you bare no ill will to any Faunus I've seen yet."

What Jaune wanted to say was Pyrrha's entire speech sounded like something out of a heroic novel, something that should have uplifted his spirits. The Spartan's words had an unintended side effect on the knight, he realized just how cliché this whole thing looked. "Okay, got it Pyrrha. Thanks for the speech."

She hadn't missed the snark hidden in his comment but since he was on his feet she decided she could let it pass. Still, one thing kept nagging at her mind. Maybe if she clarified the differences between Jaune and Chicahua that would help his self-esteem. "Jaune I'm not trying to be rude but it's ludicrous for you to hold yourself up to Chicahua."

Just as Pyrrha had learned, quite easily, how to read Jaune the J of team JNPR had learned to do the same to his apple haired partner. There was an uneasy in Pyrrha's eyes Jaune jumped on. "You know something about him the rest of us don't." he deduced. Gone was the self-pity he'd been in, now there was a curiosity in his eyes he needed to have soothed. Pyrrha knew a great deal more about team IONC than the rest of them and it was getting a little arrogating having her only reveal bits of pieces of information at a time. "What's this thing I'm missing? I know he comes from a warrior family the same way I do but even that's-"

"No Jaune." She quietly but sternly countered shaking her head. "Make no mistake I have great respect for your family but Chicahua's family, his people are…different."

"Is it because they're Faunus?"

"Close to that but Jaune, you have to understand something," gripping his shoulders Jaune realized there was something unreadable in her green eyes. It was nowhere near fear nor was it admiration, he couldn't quite place it. "Families like ours see war as a duty, Chicahua's…they see war as a _calling." _She could see her words sink into her teammate. Jaune may have been learning slowly but give him a hint and he could go from there. "We Mistral natives used to tell ghost stories about The Texcoco clan, war stories too because at one point we tried to conquer them."

That came as a shock to Jaune. He tried to picture in his head what that would have looked like, a thousand or so Pyrrhas clashing with an army of avian-winged fight-happy maniacs. Admittedly he trembled a little at the image. "I, uh, take it things didn't work out."

Her firm shaking of the head confirmed his words. "Long before the Delta War we of Mistral called them the Phulé tou Polemos Theoús."

"The what?" Jaune blinked. He'd heard Pyrrha's native language several times yet he couldn't understand one lick of it no matter how hard he tried.

"Tribe of War Gods." The redhead clarified with a deadly serious gaze.

Just from that look Jaune knew she wasn't joking around. _Seriously? His family's so badass they get a cool moniker like that? _He wanted to roll it off but something in Jaune knew that wasn't the case. Having seen Chicahua in battle several times he began to seriously question exactly what kind of environment his Faunus counterpart had grown up in. Based on the scarring over his body it certainly hadn't been a nice one. _Wait a second, is it possible Chicahua's family fought in the Faunus War? Is it possible his dad's a veteran like Izaak's?_ Jaune suddenly felt the desire to know more about the C of team IONC. Was it possible whatever training Chicahua had been put through would work on him? Would Pyrrha allow it?

"Finally found him?" came the voice of the R of their team. Both teenagers turned to see Ren and Nora jogging towards them. The concern on their faces immediately cleared up upon seeing their leader was okay. "You know you picked a bad time to explore the amphitheater right? Some people say ghosts haunt the hallways of this place."

"Oh please Ren, like that matters to Jaune." Nora snorted marching over to Jaune with something behind her back. "Guess what Jaune?" The Valkyrie asked with a shit eating grin. "He signed it! He actually signed it!" In the blink of an eye Nora shoved a grenade up to his noise.

Naturally he had to wait for Nora to rotate the incendiary device around for Jaune to see what had Nora so excited. In black ink was a name and an insignia he recognized. "He's doing autographs?"

"We came partly out of concern and partly because…we thought you would like one." Ren offered with a comforting smile.

"Me? Seriously guys?" The blond huffed standing up straighter. "You guys really thought I'd turn into some kind of instant fanboy just because the knight of knights is sitting around signing autographs for a dozen moon-eyed fans?" Jaune's three teammates waited a good minute before their leader spoke again. "Where?"

"In the infirmary." Ren answered still wearing that same smile.

In a brilliant display of speed Jaune was running down the hallway leaving his friends behind to stare at the fading dust outline he'd left behind. One by one all three exchange smiles with each other then clasped their hands together. For her part Pyrrha had a look of proud on her face as they chased after Jaune.

* * *

There were a handful of things Jaune never expected to see in his tenure at Beacon. These were things so bizarre and out of the way they defied all logic he'd reasoned governed the academy. There had been breaks however. He'd seen one of Yang's rampages stopped with his own two eyes as well as the blond boxer beat down by one of his fellow freshmen. What was standing before him left a similar taste of shock in his mouth.

Cardin stared the blond waiting in line after him with his mouth agape. _Lord kill me now. _He misally moaned nearly dropping the gauntlet pad he had in his hands. The first interaction he had with Jaune Arc and it's with him caught in a total fanboy moment. He could have dropped the armor piece and walked out, but then he would probably lose the only chance to ever talk with Adelhard Von Blau face to face. Could he stomach it?

Jaune found the strength to work his mouth at the last second. "I didn't know you-"

"Shut it Arc." The Winchester snarled. "One word and I'll-"

"You do know at least fifty other people have seen you right?" Jaune shot in which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. "You like him just like the rest of us, what's wrong with everyone knowing that?" What he wanted to add was doing so might have helped his attempts at mending his reputation though Jaune wasn't about to give his former bully that much help.

Cardin's mouth opened and shut three times before he just stomped his foot in irritation.

"Score one point for Arc and zero for Winchester."

The two teenagers snapped their heads back to see Neil calmly leaning on a sheathed sword with a half-smile half frown on his face. To make matters worse behind him sitting comfortable on a nursery bed was a smiling Adelhard Von Blau. Seeing the man they admired so much they snapped to attention completely forgetting their previous animosity.

"You guys are lucky, the nurses are just about ready to kick everyone out even though both me and Chicahua are finished up." The older man laughed.

One of the nurses marched passed the boys and angrily shut the door. "They could have at least waited until after you were discharged." She snarled shooting a glare in Jaune, Cardin, and Neil's directions.

The set of blue and indigo eyes traced the small room finding not another soul save for Neil, Adelhard, and Chicahua. Instantly the two teenagers began to have something that would have passed for a panic attack. This was not how they picoted their autograph signing going. For Jaune the set of armor pads he had in his hands suddenly felt ten times heavier. Oh how he wished he could have cracked the door open and weaseled out of the room.

Taking a deep breath Cardin marched up to Adelhard and held out his gauntlet. Once he was finished the remaining eyes in the room fell to Jaune.

_What the hell is your problem! _Jaune screamed at his fleeing courage. _How come you're never around when I need you?_

"If it helps any of you, you don't have to call me sir or anything." Adelhard offered with a chuckle.

"Yes sir." Cardin and Jaune said at once before snapping to each other.

Seeing the blond and the orange haired teenagers brought back fond memories for Adelhard. He couldn't contain the laughter building in his chest. When it came out all four young knights trained their eyes on him. "I-I'm sorry about that guys, it's just both of you remind me way too much of your parents."

"W-Wait a second, you knew our parents?" Jaune stuttered out clearly surprised.

Cardin sneered at the boy's shocked expression. "Same graduating class Jauney Boy. What your dad never told you he went to school with a legend?"

"If his father is Julian Arc then I'm sure there's a lot of things Jaune was never told." The Knight of Brightroar chuckled. "How's Julian doing these days? When I heard he'd had seven daughters and a single boy I thought he'd finally lost his mind."

"Hey they're Arcs, what can you say?" The mace wielder snorted rolling his eyes.

"He's doing great." Jaune answered giving his rival an aside glare. "He's been busy though as the head of the family, we really don't get the chance to talk all that much."

"I see," his cobalt blue eyes fell on Cardin. "And what about Griffith? Is he doing alright?"

"My old man's fine." Cardin responded keeping his answer short and simple.

Adelhard knew full well Cardin was half-lying through his teeth. The last time he'd spoken to his father was barely over a month ago, and he may have sounded fine but he knew better than that. It both saddened and amazed just how much of Julian Arc and Griffith Winchester he saw in their sons. In Cardin's case it was a little bit painful considering the family history there. From what he could tell Jaune seemed to be the much more carefree of the two, something he noted to be a great contrast to his father.

"So," he started looking between the two boys. "I'm assuming the old Arc-Winchester rivalry is still going strong?"

In near perfect coordination Jaune and Cardin exchanged a look with each other.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Winchesters are winning?"

In a proud display Cardin puffed his chest up while Jaune's head fell. "You both know that can easily change don't you?" The tone of his voice quickly knocked both boys for a loop. They stood at attention just as the two knights of team IONC stepped over to join them, their bodies carrying the same tension as their peers. "Personally I wanted to speak with all four of you because Glynda's told me out of all the knights coming out of this generation you four have some of the highest potential. Don't let that go to your heads." His stone mask didn't break as he saw the glimmer of hope in Jaune's eyes die. _The boy's going to need some serious work if he expects to walk down this road._ "Your potential doesn't make you anything more or less than any of the others attending this school; it doesn't give you the right to use your power to bully them into being your personal squire." All of Jaune's nervousness seemed to jump from him to the orange-haired mace-wielder standing beside him. All Adelhard needed was one glace to get his point across. "I can imagine you were all very impressed with the things I did out there and deep down you want to be able to do the same, am I right?"

"Definitely." Chicahua vigorously nodded.

"Well I can kind of already whip up tornadoes capable of demolishing a brick building but hey, there's always room for improvement." Neil shrugged.

Cardin bravely nodded his head signifying he wanted to one day be on the same level as him just like the others. Jaune didn't immediately respond and that worried Adelhard a little. Out of the four young knights he was most definitely the odd one out. Unlike Neil, Chicahua, or Cardin he didn't carry himself with a knight's confidence or pride. He knew self-loathing when he saw it. Adelhard had something of an idea what each of the four were like: Chicahua was every bit the steadfast warrior one would expect a knight to be, Neil may have come off as a slacker but Adelhard knew all too well he took his role as a warrior very seriously just as Cardin seemed to, even if he abused the power it brought with it, and Jaune just seemed like he was trying to find his place in the set up. Looking over Neil and Chicahua he realized they were both sparing aside glances at Jaune, silently nudging him to keep his eyes forward. Adelhard smiled a little at that.

There was a quiet bing on his Scroll that caused him to curse. "As much as I'd laugh the chance to talk to the four of you I've got some very pressing matters to get to. I'm sure you can imagine what they are." He said hopping off the bed and beginning towards the door. "Before I leave though there's something I want to ask each of you. What are your creeds?"

Neil's answer came out so fast Adelhard knew he'd more than likely been asked the question before. "Justice."

"Glory." His Faunus teammate responded before casting his orange eyes on the Arc and Winchester.

It took Cardin a full minute to process the question, once he did his face took on a very harden expression. "For justice, same thing as Liath."

Now that he was all alone Jaune felt smaller than ever. He now had another thing he could add to the list of things his fellow knights had he didn't. It wasn't just Jaune didn't have an answer to the senior Hunter's question he didn't even know what the question meant.

Adelhard decided to give him a hint. "Why do you fight? There's got to be a reason for you to subject yourself to this place for four long years. Every knight has a creed they fight for, sometimes even willing to lay down their lives for. Jaune, what's yours?"

Of course, given his luck it had to be that. Jaune was sweating bullets as each second flew by him. His classmates had their eyes on him, Cardin seemed to be doing his best not to grin at his increasing twitching. _Think you idiot! Just tell him the truth! The whole reason why you came here! Why you ran away knowing you were probably going to be disowned! _Roared Jaune's inner psyche. His breath was short and his words came out in gobbles the others had to strain to interpret. "P-Pr-Pride! My family pride! That's my creed."

There was a pregnant pauses as Adelhard looked at the four boys. What did the future have in store for these kids? All four of them in some way were crystal reflections of either himself or people he knew in his younger days. _Justice, glory, and…_He couldn't accept Jaune's answer because he knew deep down the blond didn't believe his own answer. The Arc had no idea why he was at Beacon. _You've got maybe five months to change that Jaune. _"I see, well thank for your time boys and good luck."

The second the Knight of Brightroar was out of the infirmary Jaune fell back on the bed.

"Smooth Arc." Cardin sneered making his way towards the door. "Maybe next time you'll actually be able to hold a conversation and at least make you look like you know what you're doing."

"Maybe you should take your own advice about holding a conversation Cardin." Neil spoke watching Jaune's trembling legs make the transition from solid to liquid and back again. "I mean it's not like you were able to strike up a hour long conversation with the guy. Not even we could do that."

With a snort Cardin left the infirmary leaving the storm knight and Eagle knight alone with the Arc. Jaune lay there oblivious to everything going on around him. He did hear the word fangasm thrown in his direction but he was too star-struck to focus on it. _Is that what this is? Man it feels worried. _He stared at the armor piece that had just been signed by one of the strongest Huntsmen in all of Vale, maybe Remnant, someone who'd just spoken face to face with him. And of course he'd made himself look like an idiot while doing it. _But why? I told him why I'm here so why did he look like he didn't believe me? Isn't my reason just as good as theirs's? _

Jaune probably shouldn't have dwelled on what the encounter had meant but he did; throughout the rest of the week and into the next week.

Up until the day he and his team were given their biggest assignment of their freshmen year, and maybe even their one of the most in their entire lives.

* * *

It was a partly sunny, partly cloudy day with the cold air drifting over the city in short bursts. There wasn't a chance of rain though the possibility of it raining the day after today hadn't been rolled out. Word was it was going to be a long wet weekend. Some people would have argued that was a sign some kind of divine sign, others would say it was just bad luck.

As big as Vale City was the anniversary of the Faunus Rights Revolution was always something that could cause city life to grind to a near screeching holt. Certain parts of the city had become ghost towns for all intents and purposes. Only a hand full of business operated normally and even then the air inside of them was ripe with tension. It was…unsettling to say the least.

It wasn't like this rapid shift had come out of the blue, no, it had almost a month of build-up. Every week that passed, every day that drew to a close, heralded this day of almost supreme silence and suspense. First were the whispers, then came the riots, and lastly there was Wittenheim. During the month of November there had been an estimated two-hundred and eight-three reported racially motivated crimes in Vale City. Many of the city's sharper residents knew the actually amount was nearly double that. Nearly every other sizable city in the kingdom was either in the same boat or worse, that goes for the other three kingdoms as well, especially Mistral. There was no known corner of Remnant that hadn't felt the coming winds of the revolution's anniversary. Even small Faunus villages far removed from the mass of human civilization had gone into overtime preparing themselves for the storm they knew was coming. More than a number of these villages had also conveniently disappeared almost overnight leaving few if any survivors.

Collectively if the citizens of the Kingdom of Vale could have wished for one thing they would have had this wretched day skipped over. December 10th, the day one of the bloodiest wars in Remnant's history came to an end. No matter who you were or what side you were on this day was always marked on the calendar. For some this was a day of shame, others honor, and for the rest, well, there were too many to count.

Team JNPR weren't sure how they should have felt about this day for none of them had a truly serious stake in the war fought twenty-one years ago. At most what they knew was because of that war they were no running security in the middle of one of the city's most populated gathering places along with over half of the residents of Beacon Academy, waiting for tragedy to strike, and scared out of their minds.

Jaune's entire mental state could be summed up in a few short words, _How the hell did I end up here? _

On the outside he and his team looked like just another bunch of faces in an ever growing crowd. That was their duty-act natural despite the adrenaline pumping in their veins. To nail home just how hot the situation was Nora was being anything but her hyperactive bubbly safe. Jaune always knew she was fully capable of taking things seriously, taking into account the world around her. There was no mask she could put up this time to belay the fact she felt the weight of this event just as heavily as the rest of them. In her case she couldn't stop twitching; she didn't hear the speeches from government officials and Faunus rights activists, all she was waiting for was the spark. Jaune would be lying if he said he didn't share her anxiety. This may have been the first time he would be happy to see bullets flying all over the place. Somewhere in the back of his head he wondered if the others were feeling the anxiety like his team was.

It was the first time any of them had ever been at one of the famous gatherings at the Aemon Strip. It was something of a requirement for all visitors to come see the thousand year old park stretching across thirty-miles. Everything of the like had been held at Aemon, political speeches, protests, concerts, rallies, and sporting events. In every traveler's guide Aemon Strip was always on the top ten list, be it for the city or the entire kingdom. There were too many reasons to count as for why that was. First of course there was the abundant amount of greenery that grew around the mirror-like reflecting pool referred to simply as 'the Mirror'. Almost every river in the city- for miles outside the city seemed feed into the pool-like lake then out into the ocean. According to ancient records the lake had an almost magical ability to purify itself of whatever contaminant that plagues it. It wasn't until the early 1500s did it become known this was because the lake had a rather large amount of Dust buried beneath the lake bed; a purifying type of Dust that also provided energy for the plant life around the park to continue to grow year round. At the Mirror's south end lay the city's prized House of Arcimboldo, a must see art gallery for any up incoming artist. At the opposite end of the Mirror was a structure the Kingdom of Vale had listed as a natural landmark since its founding.

Whether one stood from twenty miles or forty it made difference, Conley's Circle was impossible to miss. A ring of eight towering marvels of nature and architecture that had stood strong for almost a hundred years. To describe Conley's Torches in a few short words would have been difficult, sure they were overshadowed by many of the city's ever growing skyscrapers but there was something about them that made them more eye-worthy than everything around them. It might have been the twenty meter sized Dust crystals sitting proudly at the top of each torch. Magnificent paintings of the crystals sitting on top of spiraling trees existed in every history book in the world; they were the only accounts of what the Dust crystals looked like when they were still 'natural'. Gone were the millennia year old rock supporting them and in their place were towering steel cradles that constantly blinked and pulsated with ethereal light. Four of the eight torches were much larger than the rest, these "prime torches" formed a perfect cross right on top of the Mirror. From a bird's eye view it was obvious the whole design was intentional; nature was too wild and chaotic to create such an orderly landscape.

A century of Vale's history could be traced back to the speeches given at the foot of the South Prime Torch. If all went according to plan that history would continue.

Jaune was pretty sure he couldn't count high enough to list the number of people that had turned out for the anniversary of the war. He and his team were nothing but dots in an ever growing sea of people; all of them speaking at once creating a gigantic uniformed noise machine. The blond could barely hear his own thoughts in the maelstrom of voices and faces. At his side Pyrrha looked lax on the surface though that belayed the tension building in her gut. She didn't know the exact number but she was sure in the next ten minutes there was going to be an approximate fight-hundred thousand people gathered in Aemon Strip. Not even the entirety of Beacon's residents, including the noncombat related staff, was enough to cover this many people. She'd arrived at that realization a little over two days ago while watching the news with her teammates.

_This is impossible. _The rational side of her mind dotted. _There's too many people and too few of us. If something happens we won't be able to stop it. There'll be a panic, then a stampede, then- _

_Smack! Smack! Smack! _

The Spartan's wide eyes slowly turned to find Nora, standing almost perfectly still save for her lips. There was a bag of candy in her hands.

_H-How? J-Just…how? _She questioned watching the movements of Nora's jaws like there were the most interesting things in the world. It took one look in her teammate's turquoise eyes for Pyrrha to get the hint-this was Nora's way of dealing with the stress. Calming down a little she remembered Buruan handing out bags of candy just before they all were deployed. As crazy as it was Pyrrha desperately wished she'd done so as well. _Odds are Buruan, Ruby, and everyone else have eaten through whatever they brought with them, and to think the ceremony isn't even half way over. _

There was a band playing on the stage; Pyrrha couldn't recall their name or what they were singing. Pulling herself back to reality she was able to remember there were to be four bands playing before the speeches came out and four afterwards. In that time-frame too much could happen.

A sweaty hand clasped hers nearly making Pyrrha jump out of her skin. Jaune's face was shocked at first to see the wild fearful look in his partner's emerald eyes. Needless to say it didn't do much to help his own dwindling confidence. He did his best to give her an encouraging smile to tell her things were going to be alright. Despite the half smile she put up Jaune knew he'd failed.

Pyrrha tore her eyes away from Jaune to take a glance at the sky overhead. Over half a dozen airships quietly hummed above the heads of thousands of people. If the word was given they could empty their entire payloads into the crowd and that would be it. _When did I become this much of a nervous wreck? It's unbecoming of a Nikos! _She chided herself tightening her fist. Unwilling to continue looking her she pushed upward to get a look at the various buildings that overlooked Aemon Strip. "Ruby," she mouthed to herself. _I know what I'm saying is selfish but please, if you spot something don't hesitate._

* * *

Ruby could have thought of a hundred places she'd rather have been then sitting on top a rooftop with her beloved Crescent Rose trained on an ever growing crowd of eight hundred-thousand people. The whole thing felt way too similar to a number of action thrillers she'd seen. It didn't help that the radio in her ear was constantly abuzz with reports from the forty-eight other snipers positioned around Aemon Strip. The comfort they could have brought her wasn't possible given that each of them were miles apart from each other; their collective attention focused on the speech being given by Councilwoman Olenska. She was thankful she was too far away to hear any of what was actually being said, she felt she wouldn't be able to understand half of it.

For the past three hours her only company had been Sky Lark of team CRDL and she didn't mind that. As surprising as it was the redhead and blue-haired teenager had managed to strike up something of a friendship. He was the only person she knew in the Hitchcock Program that she could talk to, even if his past record wasn't exactly favorable. To her surprise the halberd-wielder was much smarter than he let everyone believe, enough to earn Ruby's respect. She also found out when he wasn't with his teammates he was fairly civil with everyone he met.

"You ate all the Buttercups?" he questioned digging into their almost empty candy bag.

"Sorry." She muttered. "I-I just kept reaching into the bag and-"

"It's okay." Sky calmly replied. "I get it, you're nervous, hell all of us are."

All he had to do was look at the way Crescent Rose was trembling in her hands to tell that. "That obvious huh?"

He gave a short laugh at her statement. "You don't talk much about the war in your house do you?"

"…I never thought the war was this…that it impacted this many people." The reaper quietly answered not wanting to sound like an idiot. While Sky could be nice enough he didn't hesitate to criticize when he saw a glaring example of stupidity. "Everyone kept talking about how big a turn out the anniversary was going to be but I wasn't expecting almost the entire city to be here. I know it's…stupid to say that but I…"

"There's nothing wrong with that Ruby." The other boy answered in a hollow tone. For a fraction of a second the two teenagers held each other's gaze. "You remember everything we learned in class, do you think parents want their kids growing up learning that? Do you think they want them to know they were a _part _of that?" Out of the corner of her eye Ruby could have sworn she saw Sky's lips twitch and his own hands begin trembling. "All of us, me, Cardin, Russel, and Dove-all of us lost family during the revolution." He began with a deep breath shocking Ruby. "I lost my grandfather, two aunts, and four cousins. My cousins were…reporters just like the rest of my family. They all went to cover the war from up close…they were barely recognizable after the revolutionaries were through with them." There was a hard edge in his tone that manifested in how he gripped his halberd just a little harder. "Do you know how many of those families down there wish they had something left of their loved ones to bury? Do you know how many of them never found out what happened to their sons and daughters?"

If there was anyone who knew history it was Sky, as Ruby discovered getting closer to the boy. Growing up in a family of reporters and broadcasting barons had given Sky the uncanny ability to absorb history like a sponge. Taking a moment to take in just how massive the crowd was along with Sky's words harsh reality hit her in the face. She remembered how an estimated eighty-percent of Remnant's known population had at least one family member active during the Faunus Rights Revolution; she always considered herself lucky her family fell within the twenty percent that didn't. Would she have thought of things differently if she had a personal stake in the war? Would it have hampered her ability to work with Blake? While they studied the war in class Ruby began to recall earlier pieces of her childhood around the war's anniversary. The whole mess never mattered to her; realizing that her sister, father, nor uncle ever brought the subject up. Maybe her dad and uncle had talked about the war behind closed doors but Ruby was always too young and too tuned out to pay much attention to it.

"You know ever since learning about the war I've felt a little…angry with myself." The redhead began just as a cold wind shuddered through the city. "I didn't know how big the war was or how much of an impact it had on people…including Hunters."

Ordinarily Sky would have snapped up that chance to criticize Ruby's childishness but he didn't. On one hand it was because she was one of the few people outside his team he actually liked and the other was because he could understand her carefree persona being shattered. It was never easy having innocence shattered, Russel knew that better than people thought he did. _It's better she learns this stuff now. Knowing you Ruby," _the media heir mused watching the racists and OSS fanatics push their way to the front as a Faunus spokesman made his way to the podium. _You wouldn't be able to handle racism on the job. _A hollow feeling clapped over his throat as the crowd began booing and shouting at the avian Faunus. _And in this job that can mean the difference between life and death. _

Ruby had done her homework on the crowd currently making the most noise at the anniversary. It turned her stomach these were people she'd been told to lay down her life for if push came to shove. That was extremely hard given the fast they'd kill a handful of her closest friends in a heartbeat just because they either had animal ears or wings. From what she understood the Order of Sapiens Supremacy had existed long before the revolution took place. Apparently it was on the list of structures and institutions that predated the _Grandis Victorious _calendar. She supposed as long racism against Faunus had existed the group had existed in some ancient form. The group had been sizable at best but after the FRR its memberships had practically exploded. Ruby played with Izaak's words from earlier. Watching the mass of hatred through her scope she realized the Viking's words had held a certain amount of truth to them.

Over a hundred thousand voices were screaming their hatred for Faunus right before her eyes. Thirty years ago and the crowd wouldn't have been strong enough to force their way to the front of the gathering. While Faunus may have 'won' the war so had the OSS for in the shadows of humanity's defeat the group had risen to the top of the pyramid.

"_Faunus like to think they scored a victory but the reality is they probably just made things worse for themselves." _

"Would things have been different if humans had won?" she whispered low enough she thought no one would hear her.

Sky had in fact heard her. "They sure as hell would have."

Since she'd begun learning how to read the emotional state of those around her Ruby had become a little bit more reserved than usual. Given her motor mouth she was lively to confess whatever it was she had deduced which could spell disaster for if not herself than someone beside her. This was one of those cases she knew if she said the wrong thing she could wreck her friendship with Sky. But she had to do it. "_Do _you wish humans had won the war Sky?"

Sky's body locked up steadying his halberd. His mouth twitched like he was going to answer but then it all came to a stop. He reached into their bag to grab something else to eat.

Ruby knew that was probably the last they were going to be talking to each other for a while.

* * *

_Oh action for where art thou?_ As cowardly as it sounded Yang needed an escape from this torture she'd been sentenced to along with her comrades. Waiting sucked ass, the bigger the wait the bigger the outcome. As the crowd continued to grow Yang became aware of a rather disheartening factor of the battle to come. There were too many people to evacuate in time for them to cut loose, specifically she couldn't fight to her full ability with so many in the crossfire. That went for almost everyone present. The brawler wasn't too idealistic about this whole thing; _something _somewhere was going to go wrong. Odds were it was going to have something to do with the racist pigs making all the noise they could as a hand full of Faunus representatives were giving their speeches. If she could have she'd have knocked the block off of each and every one of them. If not for her sake then for she'd do it for Blake, Buruan, Chicahua, Ndidi, Sun, and Velvet.

She hated how she had almost no one to talk to despite so many of her friends being close enough to touch. For obvious reasons Blake had locked up for most of the ceremony. Her eyes were glued to the podium with a hooked intensity Yang knew better than to shake. She had a feeling Blake's rarely mentioned parents might have been veterans of the war. Just before they left Beacon she cornered Blake and tried to get a confirmation, the end result was less than favorable. Weiss was an almost worse case than Blake as she and Ruby discovered. Weiss was less than beloved by the academy's Faunus population but that morning you could have sworn she'd suggested skinning each and every Faunus in the school alive for all the animosity she was given. It didn't surprise the boxer in the slightest in how her white haired teammate brushed it all off like the wind. Yang knew on the inside Weiss probably was taking into account just how hated she was by Beacon's Faunus population.

Speaking of which she had to wonder what was happening at Schnee Tower. The way she'd seen it was a stroke of luck they hadn't been assigned to guard the Dust company HQ. Doing so had been likened to spending the night in Forever Falls with no weapons or supplies whatsoever. Then again it wasn't like the Schnee Company _needed _Beacon's students and instructors; they'd gone to the trouble of hiring a hundred or so professional Hunters and Huntresses for protection. According to Weiss no expense had been spared in drawing in one hundred Huntsmen and Huntresses from all across the kingdom to defend just one building. Blake hadn't been happy hearing that, Yang didn't blame her as found the amount rather excessive.

_I guess when you have the money to spend better to be safe than sorry. _She mused burying her hands in her pockets to keep them from freezing. _Of course it just had to be in the upper thirties today, couldn't be warmer. _Yang began searching the crowd for one of her other classmates, someone she could talk to and not risk setting off a powder keg. _I honestly wonder if they'd noticed if I left. _She thought turning to her teammates. To see the two oppositely clad girls standing frozen like statues while fixated on the same thing was a sight Yang doubted she'd ever forget. She made sure not to wonder too far off from her teammates as well as what had been dubbed their sector she searched the crowd. Faunus and humans, all of them pressed so tightly together, this was the only time of the year such a thing was possible. It was also the time all the racists came out of hiding.

Through a literal wall of shuffling bodies she saw Izaak looking back between the current speaker and something in his hands. Immediately she found her legs carrying her towards him without her knowing it. The close she got the more she focused in on the object in his hands, whatever it was she knew it was important to him based on the tender in his eyes.

Before she could reach out or call him he spoke over the crowd, loud enough for Yang to know he was directing his words at her. "Too boring for you?" Whatever the object was in his right hand was out of sight as he shoved it into one of his pockets.

"No," she responded to his question trying to mask the disappointment she felt. _He knew I was coming this whole time. What is it you don't want me to see? _"How's your team holding up in all this?"

The Viking shrugged his shoulders. "You know, just a day that affected each of us in a different way. For Chicahua his family marked the war as yet another triumph for the clan, even if they had to share some of the glory with half a dozen other nameless clans. Olivia usually spends this day looking back on how the war might have gone differently if better weapons and tactics were used."

"Let me guess, Neil usually spends the day sleeping?"

"No actually, he looks up how many were held accountable for the war crimes committed overseas." Izaak chuckled. "Did you know that an estimated four thousand and six hundred and eighty-nine war crimes were committed during the war? And out of that less than five percent of them were ever tried? Even less than that got a guilty verdict?"

Yang waited a minute before responding. She took one look around them before focusing on Izaak who had turned away from her. "You hate the war don't you?"

"If by hate you mean think it was a big waste of time and resources then yeah." The bronze haired teen answered.

"No Izaak, I mean you hate the war itself. Everything you told Doctor Oobleck in class…most of it was just you hiding how you really felt wasn't it?"

For a second one of his hazel eyes turned sideways to examine her. "My dad never liked talking about it."

"He was an army doctor right? He helped cure the Sheena Virus right? I'd say that makes him a war hero, especially since he saved lives instead of taking them." She offered hoping that would bring a smile to his face.

He gave her a half smile to let her know she appreciated her words. As cold as he may have felt inside Yang's statement brought just a little of the warmth back. "Thanks Yang."

"You know the speaker up there now?"

"Yeah I do, he's Councilman Aldrich Andersen." Izaak spoke with a hint of fondness in his voice.

Yang tried to narrow her eyes to get a better view of the Councilman but she was too far away to make out anything other than his figure. "Damn it this sucks. Councilmen, elites, and all the big shots are up front but we, whose job it is to protect them, can barely see them."

"Well that's why we have snipers like your sister." He joked.

There was a spark of joy in Izaak's eyes as he listened to the councilman make his speech promising a brighter future for humans and Faunus although Yang was only half-listening to that. Slowly but surely she watched Izaak's face light up with every word Councilman Andersen spoke. _I've heard him mention the name Andersen before._ It had been a few weeks since the two had been able to seat down and have an honest chat, something she sorely missed. Maybe if they had the chance to talk she'd be able to coax more about his father out him. When she learned his father was a big shot doctor she was promptly stunned, more so when she found out he was a veteran of the war. _What was it that go to you? PTSD? Too many operating rooms? _She could smell the connection between Izaak's unease around hospitals and his father's legacy; it was too strong for her to ignore it. Expect she didn't want to accidentally hurt Izaak or butt into his private life in her search.

Locking her violet eyes on the podium a tiny voice told her to start paying attention. Maybe she'd get a clue listening to whatever was being said.

Sadly she'd picked a lousy time to do that.

The wave rolled through the crowd as a hush before hitting them in full force. Their faces morphed into serious masks as they faced each other. Something was wrong, their sixth senses were screaming at them. A minute later they turned in the direction of the abnormality.

It was impossible to count the number of airships peacefully hovering above the heads of thousands of people. Airships of countless sizes and forms had maintained their positions in the sky, serving as silent sentinels for the unwitting populace. The idea of any one of them going down had been rolled out as simply ludicrous. Sure the White Fang may have had anti-air weapons but employing them would have been impossible with the lock-down in place. No one could get close enough to target them nor could anything of reasonable strength be used to bring them down. If by some fluke that did happen countless radars would pick up the attack, then said attack would have ran straight into the protective energy shields every ship had employed. The supreme might of Atlas's air corps together with Vale's own admirable air forces, nothing short of a Grimm swarm could have challenged such a thing.

Yet plainly before the eyes of hundreds of thousands one of those airships, a rather large one proudly displaying Vale's crest, was tumbling out of the clearing skies with both its engines engulfed in roaring infernos. And more were beginning to follow suit.

* * *

**The beginning of the end…NOT! Oh man, been almost a month since I put a chapter out and I apologize for it. A real life crisis came up and had to be mostly resolved before I could get my focus back. To be honest it also took some time to gather some information needed for this chapter, specifically some place where thousands of people could be assembled to give a historic speech. Speaking of which expect to see some of what was said next chapter since it was cut out this chapter. **

**Etymology and Story Info **

**Aemon Strip- Basically a story version of National Mall in Washington D.C. It took me almost three days of going back and forth before I decided to use it as inspiration. Watching **_**Olympus Has Fallen **_**and **_**White House Down **_**played a part too. **

**Conley- An Irish Gaelic name meaning 'purifying fire' **

**Phulé- Greek word for "tribe"**

**Tou-Greek word for "of"**

**Polemos-Greek word meaning "war"**

**Theoús-Greek word for "gods" or "deities" **

**In closing...RIP Penny, and good luck Ruby, Yang, Ozpin, and company because boy are you guys going to need it! **


	27. Chapter 27: That Time of the Year Pt2

**Once again my respect for Mother Nature has gone up ten folds. That storm got me out of almost two weeks of school, been a while since I've had that many snow days. All the free time gave me time to go over the story board for this story and a few others floating around in my head so thanks Mother Nature! You've been a big help! **

**I do not own anything except the OCs save for one of them.**

* * *

**Chapter 27: Just That Time of the Year Pt.2 **

Izaak wasn't surprised Vale had pulled out all the stops in preparation for the anniversary. Clearly they'd borrowed a page from General Ironwood's book, bring out the entire air fleet in a show of military force. There was a whole list of things people could have felt gazing at the air fleet; for Izaak he felt a strange mix of amazement and slight disappointment. _Is this what it all came to? The war's been over for twenty-one years today and we're still acting like any minute a mass Faunus uprising is going to break the world. _He could definitely understand the need to make people feel safe. From a certain viewpoint having half the Vale air force deployed along with a few squadrons from Atlas did the job in making people feel like nothing could go wrong…until one unfortunate detail. The entire fleet was impractical. _Every ship up there has enough firepower to tear a building into pieces in ten seconds, there's around two hundred of those ships above a concentrated eight-hundred thousand people below them. _Izaak gave a disappointed laugh at the thought. _Our Auras would barely be able to withstand a solid hit from a Longsword. Something happens and none of this people will be able to get out before they start firing up there. That'd make for an awesome news report-hundreds massacred by friendly fire from army gunships. I wonder who'd get the blame for that. _It didn't take much for Izaak to realize someone had talked the Council into agreeing to this. He may have been a seventeen year-old kid but Izaak knew tactical incompetence when he saw it, and that was exactly what he saw when he looked up to the sky. _If something does happen we're going to end up becoming cannon fodder just like the rest of these people. Damn that bites. _

Izaak wondered exactly how many other people had arrived at the same conclusion he did. He knew for a fact Olivia had, she'd looked visibly disgusted when she saw the showy display of force. _It could be this isn't about protecting us so much as it is the Kingdom's way of showing Atlas they've got big guns too. _Though it was usually Neil's thing Izaak always made sure to keep an ear to the ground. That ear had picked up some rather interesting chatter over the past few days.

Originally the number of Atlas ships were supposed to be greater but the general had been stonewalled by members of Vale's own military. The 'dick measuring' that had been spoken off suddenly made a lot more sense counting the numbers and types of ships positioned above Aemon Strip. _So there was some truth to the rumors after all. Vale did want to show their dicks were just as big as Atlas's. _

In addition to Bullheads over a dozen Stalkers, Longswords, and Aurornis gunships patrolled the skies. Stalkers were something of a personal favorite for Izaak. They were somewhat bulky to look at, their cockpits being metallic ovals that slated downwards ending in two thirty millimeter cannons fully capable of ripping a Hunter's Aura apart in a minute. The sharp half diamond shaped wings measured almost four meters each, a collection of missiles and Gatling guns being strapped down to them ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Rarely were Stalkers painted beyond having a simply designation number on the hull so for the most part all of them were the same stainless silver color Atlas seemed to favor.

The presence of the Aurornis weren't exactly pleasing. They were dropships. One of Atlas's top of the line models. Fully capable of dropping payloads from near atmospheric altitudes. Izaak had seen proof of such when Olivia was able to get them into an Atlas base via connections. The drop containers really did look like meteors. As impressive as that it was it was very bad for whoever happened to be standing near the payload's drop side. If the containers were dropped they would flatten at least fifteen people upon landing, who those fifteen were didn't matter in the eyes of the pilots.

Two of Atlas's best airships manned by the kingdom's finest under the command of General James Ironwood. What could possibly go wrong?

_Oh wait, this isn't Ironwood's gig, its Vale's. That's why we're here. _The Viking chuckled.

Vale's Narwhal dropship was a near polar opposite of Atlas's Aurornis. It was an elongated, circular mass of metal supported by four square shaped four instead of two like many of Atlas's. Each thruster had a wing attached to it for aerodynamic purposes. Despite its less than graceful appearance the Narwhal was a proven asset to the Vale army, proving to be one of the best ships in the kingdom's arsenal. In terms of firepower it was on equal footing with the rest of Atlas's ships.

The Narwhal was only one of the countless Vale airships innocently floating above their heads. Despite the high-tech targeting systems they boosted not one of them was capable of hitting a target without killing a handful of civilians. On the other hand that's what the snipers placed around the area were for. Of course Izaak knew the minute someone went down there would be mass panic resulting in total chaos.

And Izaak was more than likely one of the only Huntsmen on the ground who realized this. _Yahtzee. _

Turning to Yang he found his sense of sarcasm instantly die. Yang hadn't come to the same conclusion because she was too concerned about Ruby. On that note he could sympathize with her, he felt the exact same way about Neil. His ability to think under this kind of pressure was a luxury not everyone could afford. That, and the simply reason was he and people like Yang saw things differently.

Almost every word coming out of the mouth of most of the speakers were being aimed at the thousands of Faunus watching this event. With the White Fang becoming an increasing threat they had to do everything in their power to keep recruiting down. If they wanted to do that then they should have started by banning the racist assholes from the anniversary.

There had been four speakers before Councilman Anderson came up to the stand. He was the one Izaak really wanted to listen to.

"Twenty-one years ago…we believed the book was closed on one of the greatest tragedies in Remnant's history." The Councilman began with a heavy breath that boomed over the countless speakers on stage. The aged face of Aldrich Anderson was being projected through six large screen projectors barely three inches thick. Anderson was almost seventy-three years old, he'd been a Councilman since he was forty-one. Even Izaak who had nothing but respect for the man had to admit he was a fossil. His face had all the wrinkles one would suspect of a seventy-year old man, his once vibrant chocolate colored hair had turned a near stone like gray. Amazing it hadn't started falling out leaving the man with a full, albeit discolored head of hair that went perfectly with the well-trimmed beard he'd somehow managed to keep since his younger days. "You may ask yourselves why I call what took place twenty-one years ago a tragedy, I say so because that's what it was. I know saying that may offend those who believe the event was a milestone, I make no such claim. What I believe…is that twenty-one years ago a false end was written to a vital matter.

"Twenty-one years ago countless Faunus fought and bleed for their right to live, a right that every living creature is entitled to. The fact it took a war that costed nearly one million lives can be treated as nothing but a stain on the proud history of humanity."

As soon as he finished saying the words the OSS launched into an uproar, calling Councilman Anderson every name imaginable. Signs were held up and items were tossed in his direction. Still he didn't flinch.

Councilman Anderson's green eyes shined with a sorrowful light as he continued speaking. "What right do we humans have to oppress another just because they are different from us? Because they posse horns? Because they have tails? Because they choose to make their homes in the forests instead of cities? So do countless other people. In case anyone's forgotten that's how half the cities in Remnant were built. Is that a legitimate reason to send our youth, our children off to die? Is that a legitimate reason to end the life of another person? A life that could have been spent contributing to the creation of a peaceful world?" He paused to let those words sink into the audience. It was easy to see Anderson was hoping they would have some effect on the millions watching him at that moment. "As many of you know I voted against the violent oppression of Faunus Rights Movement. I did not smile in triumph when my predictions came true nor did I laugh and tell my opponents I told them so. I wimped like the thousands of mothers and fathers during the revolution. I wimped for the sons and daughters who were buried into the earth's cold embrace instead of basking in the sun light's. To this day I still do, for both humans and Faunus. I wimp for the fact that because of simple fear and prejudice thousands of Faunus were forced to give up their lives to secure such basic rights we take for granted every day."

The images on the projectors changed while the Councilman continued speaking to the captivated audience. What they showed were videos, images, reports of the Faunus War, of the devastation the war brought. Some of the videos were from remastered news feeds two decades old while others appeared to have been shot from the ground by soldiers. Sporadic flashes of blood and gore were hard and true. This was reality. Men dying in the hundreds, either slowly or painfully, human and Faunus alike. Whole forests were bombed out of existence in a matter of seconds. Villages were torn apart by the advancing wall of violence that was human troops going about against guerilla fighters. They hadn't muted the sound for these images and videos either. Boosted by the power of the best sound-tech in the kingdom the chorus of death and mayhem could be heard for miles outside Aemon Strip. One could only imagine what it was like inside a home or apartment far away from the podium.

It was hard to judge what was going through Izaak's mind as he stared at the screens. Likely the only person able to discern the swirling emotions in his eyes would have been a professional psychiatrist. What they likely would have seen was a strange mix of horror, frustration and _fascination _with the images being projected with such intensity. Izaak could clearly recall his father's words pronating to the war, words like abominable, terrifying, disgusting, and heart-breaking. Indeed while Izaak did feel all those things watching man slaughter Faunus he felt something else in his gut. The strange feeling traveled from his gut to his ears; it slithered around his head whispering to him under the blasting noise of the projectors.

_**Kind of makes you wish you were born twenty years earlier doesn't it? **_

It took a bomb blast going off to snap the Viking back to reality. He blinked at the screen once then twice. One minute ago where an all Faunus village used to be there was now nothing but a smoldering crater stretching for miles. _The destruction of El Ceibal. _His mind automatically identified feeling his mouth go dry. _Fifty-thousand and two-hundred Faunus were killed in the blink of an eye via use of the prototype MEMORI warhead. Its development was a top secret endeavor conducted by Takeko Heavy Industries on the request of the FKC. After the warhead's first field performance THI was paid an estimated thirty-billion lien for continued production of the MEMORI. _

"For twenty-one years I've asked myself what was all of this for? I know for a fact there are others out there who have asked that same question." Councilman Anderson continued. He'd been speaking before but Izaak was too zoned out to care. Listening to the first few words immediately told Izaak who the Councilman was speaking to. "What do we tell our children? What cause do we give them to justify this violence?" A pregnant silence fell over the crowd just as Anderson wanted. "I ask all those listening to my voice, in what world is this acceptable? _This _is the response to the cry for freedom? I don't believe this is acceptable. As a nation I believe we shouldn't accept this. We cannot accept this. We owe to the dead to make the world a Remnant a better place. A place where-"

Like the millions of others Izaak's breath caught in his throat when the image on the projectors changed. Ordinary eyes never would have seen what he saw, the symbol of the White Fang. About five seconds later a new face was occupying the screen. Face, though wasn't quite accurate. Thanks to the huge mask it was impossible to tell if the occupant was a male or female. In just one glance Izaak realized the Grimm mask had been carved from a Chimera, maybe one in its early teens based on the size of the horns and ridges on the surface. The carved out abyssal eyes immediately drew the attention of all of Remnant.

Rather it was some kind of sound enhancement or not there was no denying the edge in the speaker's voice, which turned out to be male by the way. "A place where justice and equality reign over prejudice and hatred? A place where all of God's children may live together in harmony? Where a man need not fear losing his life because he's part animal? Peace? Justice? Liberty? Were this things not promised at the end of an arduous struggle twenty-one years ago? These were things that were _denied_!" In the background was a loud banging sound. For a brief moment the eyes of the Grimm mask lit up with a flame like luminous adding to the surreal fear the shaman was invoking. "Lies! All of it! Since recorded history humanity has done nothing but lie and murder to oppress those they see as less than human. Animals! Freaks! Mutts! These are all labels we Faunus were given, no, _branded _with! Twenty-one years ago when we fought to have them removed humanity's response was attempted genocide! On this day humanity has come spreading more lies using words like peace and equality! They use them because they fear what they cannot control. They fear those who they know are their betters, those who denied Faunus the freedom they fought and blend for! Today they stand here attempting to twist history to their liking in order to silence those they thought they'd conquered!" Another loud bang boomed. There was a ten second silence before he spoke again, his voice cold as ice. "Today humanity pay for its crimes. Today Faunus takes back the freedom we were denied twenty-one years ago."

Izaak's instincts directed him to look up to the sky, the one place that had been his constant source of dread all morning. His blood went cold at the countless fireballs consuming the airships. The collective shriek was deafening despite the large distance between the ground and the sky.

_**Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! BOOM! **_

"Well shit," he started staring wide-eyed as one airship after another began to fall from the partially cloudy sky. "I knew something was going to go wrong but not this."

"IZAAK!" Came the blond brawler beside him. Yang wasn't even trying to hide the panic or fear in her voice.

"I know Yang, if I had known it was going to be raining airships I would have called in sick too." The Viking answered without even turning to look at her. The shadow above their heads was getting larger and large by the second. _Oh yeah, this is going to be a long ass day. _

Yang had a feeling Izaak had something up his sleeve as the smoking airship came ever closer to falling on top of them. Around them dozens of people were shoving each other aside as fear engulfed their souls. Though she wouldn't say it Yang was one of them. Sure she could dodge the airship if she ran expect for one problems, the first were the panicking bystanders in her way. She could neither leave them to die nor could she push through them fast enough to get out of the airship's way. That left her with Izaak. Her eyes widened a little at his nonchalant response to her shouting her name. _You have a plan. You have a plan. Please tell me you have a plan Izaak! _She repeated feeling her own heart pounding in her ears.

Just as the Y of team RWBY closed her eyes in preparation for the impact the whistling in her ears came to a sudden halt. To her amazement the Longsword that had been tumbling out of the skies above them was frozen in midair. It was barely ten feet above their heads. Upon closer examination she saw the distortions in the air around the Longsword, clear signs its gravitational field was being manipulated.

Letting out a tense breath of relief she snapped at the bronze haired teenager. "Cut it a little close there ya know that? Couldn't you have…" Yang knew something was wrong based on the expression on Izaak's face. There wasn't any humor in his eyes when he faced her. "How bad?"

"You wanted action Yang," he started with one eye staring her down. "I hope you two have a happy evening because I'm not sure everyone is going to."

His statement brought reality into focus for Yang. She could no longer hear herself think or even the early winter wind that was once calmly fanning her hair. Now all she heard was screaming, explosions, and chaos. A sharp groan caught her attention.

In the short span of time she and Izaak had been talking a second airship had fallen only for Izaak to stop it as well. His right hand was raised while his left reached for Storrdetta. The laser guided rocket axe expanded into its full form with a loud cling as its blades hit the concrete. His fingers curled before he made a sweeping motion with his hand sending the two airships to the side.

Izaak heard the cocking of guns through the explosive crash of the two airships. His free hand shot to Storrdetta and his legs carried him in the direction the sound came from. Looking up he saw a pair of eyes widening in startled fear. Everything he needed to know he was told in those fourteen seconds.

_SWOOSH! _

Yang froze at the disturbing sound coming from behind her. It didn't take much for her to put two and two together. With Ember Celica activated at the ready she turned around to see Izaak standing over two bisected bodies, Storrdetta dripping red with the life blood of the two Faunus.

There wasn't any time for sharp or snappy comments.

_**CLICK! **_

_Ruby, Blake, Weiss, please stay alive until I'm able to get there! _Were the blonde's last thoughts before her whole world became a swirling mixture of gunfire and screaming.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Sky screeched shaking from head to head. "What the hell are we supposed to do now!? We weren't trained for this shit!"

The blue haired lancer continued yelling into his ear piece for orders while Ruby stared slack jawed at the war unfolding before her eyes. First the airships began falling from the sky like meteors, they were the first wave. Then, in the mad panic brought on by the fall came the gunshots. Like Sky she'd jumped when she heard the first shot. Following that lone burst of sound came a chorus, bullets freeing themselves from the muzzles of concealed guns. The screaming intensified as all over Aemon Strip people began pushing and shoving from gunmen they couldn't see. Sweeping Crescent Rose over the crowd Ruby got a good luck at the terror infecting the audience. Parents clenched children while others blindly pushed and shoved desperate to save themselves. Through her scope Ruby saw too many to count get trampled under the fear-driven stampede the airships had kicked off. She lost track of any possible targets she might have been keeping track of because now ten people were taking up her field of vision every second.

_**BOOM! BOOM! **_

Both teenagers looked up to see new columns of smoke rising in the distance, and these weren't from airships crashes. The two looked between each other than back to the scene of chaos before them. Neither of them could cease the fear taking control of their bodies at the speed of sound.

A gobbled mess of orders came through their headsets though neither of them were able to make out what was being said.

_These can't be happening. This can't be happening. _Some small voice in the back of Ruby's mind kept screaming. She'd seen this before; however, that time it had only been a recording. Just a few days ago while attending her Hitchcock classes she recalled Professor Sokolski showing her a series of recorded public shootings. It slightly unnerved her how calmly the professor went over the immediate after math of a public shooting, the chaos, the fall out, and the fear. Ruby was a little hesitant on creating such a thing just to take out one target. _T-This isn't like the videos. _She fumbled. _I-It can't…how could…_The fifteen year-old could feel an unknown chill taking hold of her heart. The chill intensified upon catching sight of a blue fall on them. Ruby's eyes widened considerable. In her heart she knew what was about to happen, her eyes made out the airship not a second later. "SKY!" She didn't give a second thought to grabbing Sky's hand and dragging him forward. Ordinarily she doubted she would have had the strength to pull the seventeen year-old along but with the adrenaline in her veins it was very possible.

At the last minute Sky's mind seemed to register the Longsword preparing to blast them into oblivion. A part of him felt ashamed he'd been too terror stricken to notice the airship before Ruby. His legs moved on their own instead on instinct. He greeted his teeth in preparation for what he knew was coming. _We're on top of eleven story building with a Longsword firing at us! Shit man, this is going to hurt like hell!_ Coming to that realization Sky withdrew a canister of wind Dust from one of his back pockets. Their rifles wouldn't be enough to lessen the fall, and Ruby probably had no idea leaving him the job of making sure they don't break their legs on impact.

Around them stone and glass exploded showering the two of them with debris. Their auras protected them from the fire but they could still feel the heat and force brush against their skin.

"Sky!" The young reaper shouted letting go of Sky's hand so she could get a grip on Crescent Rose.

"I know Ruby! Just start shooting once you see the ground!" the older boy replied.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Whoosh! _

The two young snipers felt the shock travel up their legs in impact. It didn't hurt very much but it was enough to disorient them. Sky recovered quicker than Ruby; he threw one arm around her while pushing her to the ground to keep the fall debris from crushing her small body.

The shower barely lasted for three minutes, to the two of them it felt like an eternity. When it believed it was over Sky turned his eye to stare into the wide eyes of Ruby Rose. Privately he had to admit to himself she was rather cute with those silvery orbs and red strands hanging between them. "Y-You okay? Anything b-broken?"

His voice caught her off guard for a moment. "Y-Ye-Yeah Sky, t-thank you."

Before he could reply his ears picked up the humming of engines. Returning the favor from earlier he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside just as two bright blue lights cut shined through the smoke. The front of the building exploded in another shower of metal and fire. Together their feet began pounding against the pavement while the Longsword continued blasting away at the building. Neither Ruby nor Sky could see what was happening, what they did was that if they stopped moving they were dead meat. Their weapons lacked the firepower needed to take down such the airship without getting dangerously close to the engines.

_SLLIIISSHHH! Boom! _

Without warning the airship that had been dead set on destroying them disappeared in a cloud of exploding flames and metal. The shockwave threw Ruby and Sky across the ground like soccer balls with no way to stop. They tasted the thick dirt and stone in the air as their faces repeatedly rolled across the earth before stopping.

"Oh well I'm probably going to remember that come senior year." Sky moaned trying to get the taste out of his mouth. "Battle of Aemon Strip starts and the first thing I do is make out with the ground while a Longsword blasts my ass into pieces. Totally an awesome story to tell to the freshmen."

"Sky…" came Ruby's voice. "We have to go."

"Yeah Ruby, I pretty much got that much." The teen sneered grabbing his lance. It wasn't until he looked up did the full scope of Ruby's words hit him. Before having ships crashing out of the sky was bad enough, what he was currently seeing was much worse. A handful of the gunships weren't falling, they were unloading their payload on the panic-stricken crowd. Missiles, lasers, and bullets were raining fire with no clear target in mind from what he could tell. _Hijacked. _Sky realized with a pale face. _The damn White Fang found some way to hijack our airships. _That wasn't the worst of it. Narrowing his eyes Sky saw a collection of Aurornis and Narwhals were ejecting their drop pods. It didn't take a Sherlock deduction to realize why. "I'll follow your lead." He told Ruby who had already taken off, Crescent Rose unfolded. _Please God, if you're up there, let my team make it through today without losing anyone. Hell, just keep most of us alive so we don't get added to some war memorial._

* * *

All things considered Jaune would have said he was doing pretty well for himself. Sure he'd had a panic attack like everyone else when the airships started falling from the skies but he'd recovered from that when people started shooting at him. Nora and Pyrrha had sprung into action without a second thought. Once Jaune was able to get his bearings he saw men and women with animal masks pointing guns at them. That triggered something inside of him. Personally he believed it was his budding combat instinct. It had to have been because he and Ren joined their partners as soon as they saw the Grimm masks in the crowd.

He never saw the eyes of the first White Fang grunt he killed. One minute he saw them firing their weapon indiscriminately into the crowd and the next he was screaming at the bloody stump where his right hand used to be. Jaune didn't let his screams go on for long as he swung Crocea Mors directly into the man's throat. He didn't stick around to see the body hit the ground. His field of vision became nothing but an ever shifting picture show of bodies and bright flashes. And screaming, there was tons of that. Crocea Mors rose and fell in his hands in wild frantic motions Jaune had little control over; just like in the forests outside of Ryswell his mind went on autopilot.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Clink! _

Swirling around Jaune saw body drop behind him leaving him in clear view of a White Fang gunmen. Reading the sneer on his face he raised his shield and ran forward. He swung his shield to his left knocking the gun away then thrusted his sword through the grunt's abdomen. To his left he could hear someone scream something, a name, followed by a hate filled scream. _Don't think about the fact these guys might have families. Don't think they might have moms and dads, brothers and sisters. Don't think about the fact you're killing another- _He saw the owner of the voice coming at him with an axe cackling with red energy. Crocea Mors was still impaled in the grunt; Jaune's sword arm moved the body along with the blade before he even knew what he was doing. The axe tore into the left shoulder of the grunt's body horrifying its owner. Jaune didn't pay attention to the name that was shouted; he slid the sword out, and twirled around the axe wielder while slashing Crocea Mors at his ribcage. Jaune moved ahead with his shield raised, he didn't want to look back to see if his attacker had died instantly or not.

_**THUMP!**_

"HEADS UP! PALADIN AT FOUR O'CLOCK!"

The young Arc felt his heart stop in his chest. _Paladin? As in Atlas Paladin? _A hailstorm of concrete went up approximately twenty yards from Jaune's position. His hopes had been dashed again. The mech's weapons instantly began firing the moment it touched down slaughter everyone in its line of sight. He heard a rocket zoom through the air before making impact. He was too close to the explosion and ended up being knocked down with everyone else. Jaune's world was flipped upside with only one thought in his mind, run as far away as he could. It wasn't a matter of chivalry but of survival.

_Bang! Bang! SLIICCCHHHH! _

Instinctively the blond flattened himself against the ground as much as he could. Lasers and bullets flew over his head into whoever was standing before him. He heard the sharp death rattles and gasps that proceeded the mech's firing spree. At the first chance he got Jaune turned his head around. Standing tall through the smoke and blood stood the Atlasian Paladin, its gray form now spray-painted in the White Fang's colors.

A laser sight almost immediately fell on him.

_Shit! _

"Jaune get down!"

Just as the seventeen year-old was preparing to move he dropped himself back down, above him three pink grenades and a stream of green colored bullets pelted the Paladin. His blue eyes saw Ren and Nora moving in on him, both of them covered in ash, dust, debris, and a fair amount of blood. Nora's hammer was simmered red from bashing into God knows how many people in less than ten minutes.

Ren skillful broke off from Nora who merely stayed the course allowing her Aura to sock all the damage. The laser sight of the Paladin fell directly on her chest before launching a charged bolt of energy. Smirking Nora swung Magnhild, knocking the projectile to the side. Just as the mech prepared to fire another shot Ren appeared at its side. Storm Flower found itself deeply impaled into the metal arm disrupting the flow of energy building within the weapon. The mech wildly failed its arm in order to shake Ren off but the young warrior jumped from the arm to the shoulder in order to repeat the process. Ren dropped from the back into a crouch position where he slashed at the back legs nearly bringing the Paladin to its mechanical knees. All while this was going on Nora had continued her brave charge towards the enemy with Magnhild ready to strike. She didn't aim for the weapons or legs in a vain attempt to disable the weapon, she went straight for the cockpit. There was a shower of sparks and fire before the Paladin fell on its back, its pilot no doubt dead inside.

Jaune had been quietly counting to himself how long it took his teammates to take down the armored mech. It had taken them somewhere around two hundred seconds. _A combination of weapons and skills. _Jaune realized while getting to his feet. _Two things I don't have. _Instantaneously the path to his teammates was filled with enemies, all of them looking to take a pieces of him.

_Boom! _

And just as fast Nora blasted her way towards him with Ren closely following.

"Where's Pyrrha?!" The knight shouted over the fighting. "I lost sight of her!"

"They're trying to separate us!" Ren yelled back parrying a grunt's blade. "I don't know if we've been betrayed or not, but I think they're going after the stronger students!"

"How the hell could they do that!?"

"I don't know but don't worry about her Jaune!" The dual-wielding teenager hollered. "For now focus on staying alive!" Ren knew just how true his words were without Nora giving him some snappy reply. As of this moment there was no plan, no strategy short of keep from getting killed. Above their heads the air fleet had turned on itself, Atlas firing on Atlas, Vale on Vale, and Vale on Atlas. _Don't focus on what's going on above, focus on staying alive here on the ground. _

Being an agile fighter Ren had it easier than his teammate. Having combat skills miles above him also helped. His feet moved swiftly like wind carrying him from one adversary to another. All the grunts cursed him every time he took down one of their numbers. Most of the men and women he was fighting had been mixed in with the crowd, sporting little in the way of armor or protection besides whatever their Aura could throw up. Ren barely had to keep Storm Flower's triggers squeezed, or strike more than once. In his two hands the twin pistols became miniature scythes, slashing and carving into the flesh of the mask-wearing terrorists. _I wonder how long it's going to take me to wash the blood off. _His own voice mused as he slit the throat of an axe wielding grunt. The man's comrades quickly circled him with all their weapons trained on him. _They actually think this is going to stop me. _When they opened fire Ren jumped, his legs becoming more springs than anything. Springs with the force of jack hammers behind them mind you.

_Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! _

He took no pleasure in breaking the bones of every attacker, he really didn't see what there was to be proud of. Teeth and blood spattered across Ren's face. Storm Flower's emerald blades now resembled the fangs of some wild beast fresh from the hunt, stained such a dark red it was sickening. His focused eyes caught a top of blond hair far to his right. Shooting his way back to his friend Ren was taken back to see Crocea Mors was in the same shape as Storm Flower.

Jaune's fighting style was still far from perfect but at the moment it was enough to keep him alive in the blitz of violence. He raised his shield when needed then counter attacked with the fervor of a cornered rat. The Arc slammed himself into whoever took aim at him, either sword tip first or shield bashing them. Ren dashed forward upon seeing Jaune's figure slouch just a little.

A two handed broadsword was heading for Jaune's neck and he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. With precision aim Ren riddled the arms holding the sword with bullets. The sword's wielder, a woman, fumbled back crying in pain at her now useless arms. Ren ran right up to her then ran his blade along her stomach leaving a trail of red liquid at the blade's tip. _You're using up too much energy on this. _The gunmen thought catching sight of Jaune. Somehow he seemed to read his thoughts as he immediately got back on his feet and continued attacking.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! _

The two teenagers felt the searing heat of the missiles before the blast of air threw them aside like rag dolls. They both hit the ground head first leaving them with stars in their vision and blood in their mouths. Their ears picked up the demonic howl of Gatling guns firing nonstop; their hearts screamed at their bodies to get up and move. Jaune and Ren did so even though neither knew where they were going.

Behind them the ground broke apart in coordination with bodies being torn apart in seconds. Another missile flew out.

Once they got their vision back the J and R of team JNPR saw the red tipped projectile heading towards them. Their eyes locked with each other.

Jaune didn't think in that moment, he just acted. Crocea Mors's shield flew from the knight to the gunmen in an instant. Ren easily caught the shield though his mind was a whirlwind of shocked emotions. His mouth opened in a horrified scream that never got to leave his mouth.

"_Jaune!"_

* * *

The blitz came instantaneous once the anniversary was interrupted. No sound, no warning, the next thing Weiss and Blake knew was they were being pressed from all sides by psychopaths in white masks hell bent on cutting them down. Weiss realized something rather quickly they joined back to back to fight off the White Fang: all of their attackers were wielding melee weapons. Swords, axes, staves, hammers, and combat knives, all of them with the intent of either cutting something off or leaving them broken humps on the ground.

It wasn't hard to tell this was personal, hell, this whole affair was personal for them and Weiss. Myrtenaster stood strong against the heavy steel weapons that came Weiss's way despite its somewhat frail appearance. What got to Weiss was the force behind the weapons swung at her; each strike traveled up from her hand up to their shoulder leaving her in slight pain. Hatred was fueling their attacks and unless Weiss was doing everything in her power to stand strong against it. She'd already lost more than a handful strands of hair because she wasn't fast enough to avoid whatever weapon her attacker was wielding.

Weiss wondered if she'd been singled out before the battle even started. It certainly wasn't out of the question. _Maybe I should have just worn a hoodie or something. At least then they wouldn't have been able to find me so easily. _She remarked parrying an axe swing. Through the dark eye holes of her attacker she saw hate. Half a second later and that hate died along with the life in them courtesy of Myrtenaster driving itself through their chest then out their left side rib cage. The inscribed lettering on the rapier glowed red with ethereal flame wrapping themselves around the steel sword. In a flash of red and silver a handful of limbs go flying. The display of ruthlessness shocked the collected grunts long enough for Weiss to steel her heart for what she knew was going to follow. _None of you have the guts to face me in the open! Instead you hide behind masks! _She slashed forward feeling s hot fire rush through her veins. Weiss didn't fall back as Blake was doing in never ending feints, she went on the full frontal attack. Loud gunshots continued behind her, reassuring Weiss she wasn't heedlessly charging in without any kind of cover.

It was a shock to the grunts to see the Schnee heiress coming at them with such ruthless fire in her eyes. This didn't look like the spoiled brat they'd come to hate over the long years but something else, something dangerous.

"Kill her!"

One of them shouted leading the others in a mass attack on Weiss. Many of their weapons lit up with colorful coatings of energy. The descended on the white haired girl with the hungry glint of wolves in their hidden eyes.

A purple tinged Glyph appeared underneath Weiss's feet just as her attackers bared down on her. Stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground generated a barely visible gravitational field around her that halted the attacks. Behind the gravity barrier Weiss could feel her hands trembling with anger. She tried thinking of Blake, Velvet, Buruan, Ndidi, and Chicahua but something kept clouding up their images. Instead of their kind faces she saw a severed head, a bloody bag hanging from the ceiling, her parents faces twisted in horror, and she felt something cold pressed against her throat. Weiss bit her lip in a futile attempt to keep the rage within her form exploding. To her credit she was able to keep it up for ten seconds. _Yang would be proud of me. _Were her last thoughts before she floored her Aura into the Glyph.

_CRRIINNCCHH! _

The gravitational barrier exploded outwards tearing the perimeter around Weiss apart. The grunts screamed in terror as they were flung threw the air, their bones breaking under the force of the counter attack. If that wasn't enough each of them hit the ground with enough force to shatter whatever wasn't already broken. Some of them gave a final cry before they went entirely still.

It was a temporary reprieve that Weiss took to rein in her emotions. As she surveyed her handiwork. For a brief moment Weiss felt genuine horror at what she'd just done, no matter how brief it was. What pity she might have had for the dead and broken vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. Once more her light-blue eyes darkened with the fires of heat.

Cautiously Blake strode up to her fair skinned teammate with a look of concern on her face. "Weiss?" she started placing a hand on her shoulder. Instantly the heiress snapped her head back giving Blake a good look at the emotions running in her eyes. As painful as it was she could understand the hate within her eyes. "You're not going to go do something stupid are?"

Internally Weiss was pulled back by the level of calmness in Blake's voice, especially after seeing her kill so many of her former comrades without a second thought. Peering into her amber eyes she realized she was scared, scared for her. Her tight grip on Myrtenaster eased up and her eyes fell to the ground. "I-I'm sorry…I just…"

_BOOM! _

It felt like a blast of desert wind had rolled over the area stunning civilians and combatants alike. Weiss and Blake tensed feeling something else mixed in with the heat, killing intent. While Blake could almost taste the bloodlust on her tongue Weiss felt like she was drowning in it. A cold sweat broke out over her forehead, and it wasn't from the heat wave. In her heart she knew something was coming. As soon as she held her rapier up Blake did the same with Gambol Shroud.

Up ahead of them five figures walked out of one of the searing infernos that broken out over Aemon Strip. The closer they got the more intense the heat became until Weiss and Blake felt like they were cooking in an oven despite the late fall air. On instinct they each took a step back in order to brace for whatever was coming their way.

"Aah, seems like someone's having a bad day. Don't worry Schnee, today's like that for everyone." A deeply masculine voice mocked. Looking up the girls were shocked to see the mask wearing, chainsaw wielding White Fang lieutenant Weiss had fought at Mountain Glenn. He was flaked on both sides by his comrades, each of them wielding a power tool inspired weapon. Chainsaw swords, drill spears, and of course chainsaw axes. The lieutenant carried his own chainsaw strapped to his back. "You know a lot of people thought they'd achieved something today twenty-one years ago. A few of us told us not to get our hopes up, that we hadn't really won." The cold laugh the Faunus gave did nothing to ease the two students nor the handful of Huntsmen gathering behind them. "Turns out those guys were right, thanks to people like you…the victory we fought for was stolen from us." He continued leveling his gaze in Weiss's direction. Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a syringe, a red and orange colored liquid loaded within the barrel. Screeching out his neck so the needle had a directly line into his neck he called to Weiss one more time, "With we're going to steal back everything you bastards robbed us of." He thumbed down on the plunger until there wasn't anything left.

The transformation they witnessed both horrified and fascinated on lookers. For a minute the lieutenant crouched over like he'd just been sucker punched, and then came the laughter. Like the exhaust from a rocket the crimson flames shot up from his back then spread to the rest of his body consuming his laughing form in a maelstrom of fire. Throwing his head back in laughter he reached for his chainsaw, slamming it into the ground sending embers across the ground. The flames raced from his body to the chainsaw, transforming it into a fiery parody of its original form. Every inch of the lieutenant's body was obscured by the sudden inferno leaving nothing but s feint outline of his hulking form present. The mask seemed to come to life on contact with the flames, searing embers and sparks slipped out of the eye holes further adding to the gruesome image.

Less than a second following their commanding officer the other grunts did the exact same thus ending in similar transformation. Their weapons too became engulfed in coats of white hot flames that grew brighter once they revved their weapons up.

No longer were Weiss, Blake, and their fellow students facing down five White Fang fighters but five demons who seemed to have walked straight out of the pits of hell itself.

Normally Weiss and Blake were two of the more unshakable members of team RWBY, discounting Yang who never showed an ounce of fear in the face of danger. What they were facing only barely reminded them of their blond haired teammate except Yang's Semblance was different, her flames were different. The boxer's were bright, wild, and almost golden like in their radiance once they started burning. This wasn't, the coating of fire was literally sticking to the bodies of the Faunus, like it had become a second layer of second more than some type of aura. Worse was the way they animated their Grimm masks, seemingly bringing life back into the dead faces they wore. Lastly even from a distance they could feel the hateful burn of the flames. It felt like they weren't burning oxygen but actual hate and malice. All these things were what made Weiss and Blake begin to shiver in silent fear.

Cocking his head to the side the lieutenant spoke, "Don't worry, we promise we'll scatter your ashes over your city's remains. Provided there are any left!" he cackled lunging forward.

Weiss was terrified she didn't realize her mind had silently turned to Jaune. He came back from his mission in Ryswell babbling about some kind of burning Grimm he'd encountered. Back down she'd laughed it off as his imagination running wild. Now she could almost hear his voice, as well as that of his teammates, laughing at her.

_I told you so._

* * *

In retrospect throwing his shield may not have been the smartest idea Jaune had ever had, though he hoped it wasn't his dumbest either. Crocea Mors's shield half should have been enough to keep Ren safe from the blast. Thanks to his substantial Aura reserves he'd managed to survive the blast as well with little damage. That left Jaune with a brand new problem, he was now shieldless in the middle of a bottle neck brawl between Vale's forces and the White Fang with defenseless civilians caught in the middle. Yeah, definitely a great time to be armored to an antique sword he only had a basic idea how to use.

Within the first five minutes of getting to his feet Jaune learned something new about himself-he an even worse fighter without his lightweight shield by his side. The White Fang picked up on that and quickly went after him when they had the chance. His left arm had received at least ten cuts and bruises because his body didn't register the loss of his shield when they got too close. Again he was saved by his Aura but he knew that would only last for so long. In simplest terms he was off balance; the only way for him to survive was to go on the all-out offensive, something he'd never done before.

He didn't know how long it had been since the first airships had started falling, but what he did know was he had to keep moving if he expected to survive. His sword was moving, and it was killing. Blocks, parries, and thrusts was what he was reduced. Not surprisingly as he weaved in and out of battles Jaune found he was much quicker without the lightweight of his shield. He guessed that was the tradeoff he got in exchange for the defensive power his shield afforded him. As his teachers had often spoken of two handed slashes did carry more power than one handed ones did. His cuts were almost twice as deep as before since he could put more power behind them. He could stand blade to blade with other grunts and eventually overpower them. Rather or not he could strike the finishing blow completely depended on the countless battles unfolding around him. Everywhere he looked there was either a ferocious fight to the death or a dying combatant screaming for mercy.

There was no escaping the fact he was dead center of a real life warzone.

Desperately he searched for his teammates, his friends, or any other familiar faces in order to stave off the panic eating away at the back of his mind. As he slashed his way through anyone in his path he had to keep biting back a nagging voice in his head. It told him to look at the ground, the place he was soon going to be going.

_SLASH! SLASH! CLING! CLING! _

The young knight came to blows with a power sword wielded by a six-foot four grunt wearing the mask of an Ursa. _I am not going to die here! I won't let that happen! _He pushed against the grunt with all his force briefly forcing the man to step back. Seizing his chance Jaune swung Crocea Mors at his neck fully prepared for the spray of blood he knew was to come was his sword finished its travel course.

Except instead of blood Jaune felt a sweeping kick to the face send him face first into the ground. Next he felt his ribcage explode into pain as a hard boot sent him rolling across the cracked earth. Groaning Jaune looked up to his attacker raising his sword in a downward stabbing position. His instinct to survive hijacked his body. Crocea Mors separated the man's leg from his foot at the ankle before it delivered a swift slash across the leg. Just as the man was preparing to fall down Jaune slashed him, starting at the bottom right all the way up to his left shoulder. Spitting the blood building in his mouth out he threw himself at the next grunt in sight, she never saw the attack coming. Perhaps in retaliation for that sneak attack one of her compatriots caught him off guard with a far off shotgun blast. Jaune coughed up blood on impact with the ground again. The adrenaline racing in him told him to get up and move but he couldn't do the rough hands holding both his arms down.

_COCK! _

Jaune's heart leaped into his throat at the cracking of the shotgun. _NO! _

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Four bodies dropped dead around Jaune leaving him stunned. The strength he felt filling his body came to a temporary halt in order to allow his mind a minute to calm down. A figure came into view offering his hand to him. His blue eyes scanned the youthful face falling on the red bow and silver eyes that cackled with restrained malice. "B-Buruan?"

The teenage Faunus didn't wait for Jaune to full come to, instead he yanked him back to his feet. "You don't do so well without your shield do ya?" he remarked before turning back to the fight. "If you need a minute take your time, I've got this covered!"

Jaune had only seen Buruan's weapon in use three times and each one left him feeling a little more jealous of the candy-lover's exotic weapon. The Golden Wolf as he called it, possessed very little gold coloring though that didn't make it any less magnificent. Jaune always thought the term gold part came from the fact that in Buruan's hands the sword-rifle hybrid was a truly deadly weapon. Given the fact that Buruan and Ruby had come up through Signal together it wasn't surprising that their weapons shared a similar design. Golden Wolf folded in on itself much like Crescent Rose did, the single edged blade folding underneath the latter half to reveal the roaring gun barrel. The handle could easily change angles to accommodate to the weapon's gun form and sword form thanks to the collection of gears and mechanisms within the elongated octagon shaped hilt. Unlike Crescent Rose which was a combination of red and black the golden wolf was a combination of red and white with traces of gold along the edges of the sword and handle. The most prominent golden design was at the base of the blade and gun barrel which was inscribed with a lunging golden wolf, thus the name.

The Golden Wolf was just as loud as its sniper-rifle cousin despite being of the assault rifle family. The force its bullets carried may have been less than standard but the sheer rate of fire was enough to kill almost anything the weapon was pointed at. Many of the surrounding White Fang grunts found this out the hard way as Buruan wasn't content to just stand still and fire. The wolf Faunus ran and spun in all directions while keeping his finger squeezed on the trigger. Once he was in close enough Buruan flipped the switch and out came the rest of the blade, now five feet of refined killing power he put to lethal use. Buruan didn't hesitate in his attacks, on the contrary he came at the enemy with a ferocity Jaune had never seen him exhibit.

_SLISH! SLASH! SLISH! THUMP! _

Two heads rolled to the side of Jaune's feet. In one look he knew who had been the one to kill the two grunts. Something resembling relief came over his body as the leader of team CNBR and Buruan's partner came into view.

Like Jaune Chun Tao had dressed for the weather with a windbreaker that had quickly become smeared with blood and tears. Her long reddish-pink hair tinged hair was still tied in the back length pony tail it had always been in. Beneath the reddish-pink bangs her clear brown eyes were focused on the task at hand. Once they fell on Jaune they softened considerable. Chun Tao continued running towards Jaune paying little attention to the handful of attackers coming at her from both sides. In each hand her hook swords rose and fell in swift flashes of red light.

_SSSLLLLLIIIISSSHHH! _

_Oh man if only I had a pair of those. _The knight mused watching the headless bodies fall to the ground as Chun Tao continued along. "Let me guess, you lost your team too?"

"As much as I hate to say it yeah I did." The swordswomen admitted sizing up Jaune. "What happened to your shield?"

"Long story." He replied rubbing his left arm.

_**BOOM! **_

Nearly jumping at the animalistic howl Buruan gave off Jaune suddenly found himself wondering exactly what had set his classmate off. Usually the only things that could arise such ire from him were Cardin and the countless hard line racists of Beacon. "What the hell's wrong with him? I've never seen him this mad before."

His fellow leader shrugged twirling her hook swords. "In case you couldn't tell Jaune Buruan's not the biggest fan of the White Fang. At this moment I'm not either considering the damage they've cause." A far off explosion deepened the frown on Chun Tao's face. Her lips moved in silent prayer that ended almost as quickly as it began. "I know you're worried about your team but for the moment we have to stay together with whoever we can find."

Jaune didn't really see any reason to complain as the two leaders found themselves assailed by new enemies. Back to back the knight and guardian fought, their swords rising and falling in an endless dance. Jaune wanted to keep his mind focused on the fight for his survival but with every enemy he fended off he felt his concern for his teammates grow. He hated the chaos the anniversary had become consumed in and the fact that God knows how many people had died in such short span of time. In that span of time he'd seen more people die than he thought possible, be they human or Faunus, civilian or enemy.

Above all he hated the smell of blood; it had grown so thick now Jaune felt like he could choke on it. It didn't help that he himself was becoming covered in it with every minute that passed. Crocea Mors's blade had become stained red all the way down to the hilt. Red…the color brought two important people to mind.

_CLING! BOOM! _

"INCOMING PALADIN!"

Jaune prayed in that moment that he'd make it through this catastrophe in one piece, more than that he prayed his friends did so as well. His feet began to carry him in the direction of the thunderous stomps that had just announced the presence of yet another Paladin. _Pyrrha, Ruby, both of you please be okay! _

Crocea Mors was gripped with both firm hands of its latest owner. Aura coursed from him into the blade causing the metal to glow a feint golden color. Its owner never took notice of this-all he cared about was the towering mass of steel and weaponry laying waste to everything in sight. He didn't care about torrents of lasers and rockets leaving the mech's weapon pods. What he did care about was ending the bloodshed around him.

Ending it before someone he knew ended up among the dead.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_


	28. Chapter 28: That Time of the Year Pt3

**That Volume Three finale…shit, I never thought Rooster Tooth would take the show in that dark of a direction. I'm glad that they did and the buildup was pretty nice in my opinion. That being said it wasn't nice for the near month long depression I've been dealing with. Firstly my hat goes off to all the Arkos shippers out there, I'm truly sorry it had to be your ship that took the incoming torpedo, the same to the Blake/Adam shippers out there. Now I'm back to where I started with Chapter One, writing this humble story to pass the time until the next volume comes out. **

**Jaune-Will I be able to kill Cinder in this story? **

**Yang-I better be able to keep my arm! **

**Pyrrha-Please just tell me if I'm going to live or not, and if I'm going to die at least leave me a body behind. **

**Adam-Do I-*gets thrown out of the studio* **

**All interesting questions you'll just have to keep reading in order to find out. Onto the action! **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 28: Just That Time of the Year Pt. 3 **

**Thancred Military Base, Outskirts of Vale City **

**75 minutes since the Battle of Aemon Strip began… **

It was obvious to every man and woman within the command center that as soon as the battle was over heads were going to roll. How many and who they were was going to be determined by who acted in these precious moments. Colonel Kevin Chambers was one man who was hell bent on making sure he wasn't one of them. He'd come too far to have his career ended on account of a surprise attack by a bunch of animals. He'd sooner eat a bullet than let that happen. That was the motivation he had for directing nearly every aspect of the kingdom's counter attack. The strain it took was visible as evident by the countless beads of sweat running down his forehead and the growing intensity of his voice. Rational thought became harder with every report of violence breaking through the barricade set up around Aemon Strip.

Everything within eleven miles of Aemon Strip had been put on full on lockdown as per the order from the top brass. Given the already sizable military buildup prior to the attack that wasn't too difficult. The problem was maintaining the panic quickly infecting the city. An attack in the heart of Vale City? Practically every business and home and gone into lock down with the lingering fear this was the end of the kingdom's capital. If something wasn't done then that would surely be the case.

Orders came flying out of his mouth at breakneck speed, their intensity conveying exactly what Chambers had to say to any man who dared to question him. Every few seconds dozens of eyes would drift to him. Chambers's psoture seemed to tightened whenever he felt their intensity grow. _I'll be damned if I let this halfcocked attack by a bunch of damned animals break me! You bastards should be lucky I'm not there personally supervising each and every one of your deaths myself!_ The copper haired man mentally growled watching buildings topple before his eyes. "Order all weapons free on any airship that acts out of line!" he barked much to the shock of onlookers, including his own. "Don't any of you look at me like that. Look at this, look at it! Through one way or another the enemy has managed to commandeer our airships. We have two options: do nothing on account of our sentimentality or do our jobs! Your choice ladies and gentlemen!" The thick silence he was aiming for came all too quickly. At least Chambers believed in his own words when he said them. "Obviously they're still transmitting identity codes so don't even try searching for them. Order all ships to call in every minute! Those that haven't been shut down but aren't responding are to be fired upon and treated as enemy vessels! That includes Atlas aircraft!"

The whispers reached his ears immediately; Chambers suppressed his own back talk with a quiet snort. One of the officers had his side pulled him aside to which Chambers shouted a few angry words of his own before returning to his post. _Am I the only man who sees what must be done so we can come out of this with a shred of dignity? _"May I remind all of you that this little affair is being broadcast to the entirety of Remnant? That our military, an army that has stood strong for centuries is at risk of being shown up by a pack of animals? An army of freaks and mutts? Is this what you want your children to be told years from now?" he shouted to the command center.

Suddenly an alarm sounded nearly blurring out the cacophony of voices competing against each other. This alarm held a distinctive chime to separate itself from the others due to the circumstances of its activation. All around the massive room various faces went ashen gray as the alarm grew in volume. The younger half of the command center seemed frozen in their seats until the voices of the superior officers broke through their collective trace. Unlike their younger counterparts the older half of the room, those who had over twenty years of experience to their names knew the sound well and didn't show their panic.

"How many?" A lone voice spoke up from the balcony.

"Current estimation somewhere between one hundred and thirty-three and one hundred and eighty." A voice answered. "At current more Grimm are pouring in from outside the city's wall. Estimated time of arrival for a complete horde is seven minutes."

The elders didn't panic, as a matter of fact some of them looked somewhat relieved. For the less experienced soldiers it was a sight that filled them with a mix of awe and a little tower. What had they seen that made this approaching mass of Grimm seem like a passing rainstorm?

"Deploy the entire Eighth and Ninth Air Fleet to intercept all points of Grimm incursion. Send the word out to Atlas for any additional air support they can afford to send. Sound the alarm in sectors near the wall to begin mass evacuation into the shelters underground. Wall defenses are to be put on full alert as of now."

With sober eyes Chambers watched the monitors and holographic displays shift from the intense urban battle to the tranquil surroundings outside the city's walls. An ever growing mass of darkness was quickly spreading across the sky, the collective voices of the Grimm forming into a massive death howl that shook him to his bones. _Did you animals plan it like this? Take another flammable situation and throw in another match just to make sure the fire was nice and cooking. _He counted the types of Grimm among the flock: Nevermores, Wyverns, Griffins, Oniyanma, Abeille, and surprisingly Nosferatu. Seeing their aerial brethren on the move would serve as a beacon for the land dwelling Grimm. In about half an hour Vale City was likely to have a full on Grimm wave bashing against its western wall. His flickered to one of the few screens still showing the battle of Aemon Strip. _Unless we put a muzzle on those freaks the Grimm aren't going to stop coming. We need to bring this situation under control, now! _"Do we have a visual on the Council?" Chambers suddenly shouted stealing back the spotlight. "Someone answer me damn it! Do we have eyes on the Council? Councilman Anderson? Councilwoman Olenska?" Based on the shock rolling through the room he'd guessed correctly-in the whirlwind of events the well-being of the kingdom's leaders had slipped almost everyone's minds.

What the monitors brought up were images of total urban chaos that broke the hearts of every man and woman inside the command center. Huntsmen and soldiers were locked in bloody combat with Faunus while above them airships began blasting each other out of the sky causing a rain of fire and metal to cascade downward. Trying to decipher who was winning was useless as no clear distinction between Vale and the White Fang could be made. The graphic display looked like something out of a history book-two armies clashing so intensely all forms of rank and order were broken in favor of an all-out melee. Maybe a year or two after this mess some artist would paint the scene Chambers and Vale's commanding officers were being treated to. Chambers wouldn't need some masterful painted image to remind him of what he was seeing. It was going to be carved into his brain just like it was with millions of other people watching this battle.

"S-Sir! We've located Councilman Anderson!"

"Contact any nearby forces, they're to escort him out of the battle! Get him a Bullhead, a Longsword, anything!" Chambers commanded with a snarl. It was pure luck they'd hopefully managed to find the Council members before the White Fang, hell, they were probably the real target of the assault. While he heatedly stared at the big screen he ran over every possible card he could play. _Once those freaks get a whiff of what we're doing than those animals are going to come at us with everything they've got. No matter how unskilled they are they've got hate on their side, and our men are probably too winded to stop them. _Quickly the answer to the debacle came to Chambers. Once more a vile sneer painted his face and his fists clenched even tighter. "Someone locate team IONC." Heads turned in his direction instantly. "First year Beacon team, those transfer brats from Haven Academy. Someone find them!"

"Y-Y-Yes sir!"

"Chambers!" one of the senior officers snarled pulling him aside. "What the hell are you doing?"

"My job Wilkes." The forty-four year old shot back twisting his arm free. Four colored dots appeared on the screen. For a second Chambers was pulled back at how close the four teenagers were, even amongst the insanity of battle they remained within arm's length of each other. By some stroke of fate it so happened Izaak Egilson was pretty close to Councilman Anderson. "Patch me through to Egilson." He ordered already descending from the balcony done to one of the various monitors. Upon grabbing the communicator he was blasted by sounds of gunfire, screaming, and explosions. "Egilson?"

The response only came after two minutes of silence. It sounded unusually cheery for a person in the midst of a life-or-death battle for survival. "Colonel Chambers? Well this is a pleasant surprise! I'm assuming the shit's hit the fan and we're the cleanup team? I don't know how to tell you this sir but we're not miracle workers. Plus we're a little tied up at the moment in case you haven't noticed. If you need a-"

"Quiet!" The colonel roared.

"Please Colonel Chambers, not so loud. The situation down here hasn't been good to my hearing." He responded.

Chambers wished with all his might he could ring the seventeen year-old's neck but alas, he still needed the boy. "Councilman Anderson is six and a half clicks from your position. By the authority of the Vale Army I hereby order you to proceed to his position and safeguard him until he can be airlifted to safety."

Dead silence was what he was met with much to his approval. _Ah, so there is a way to shut the mutt up. _

"…Understood sir. Proceeding to coordinates now." Izaak's near emotionless voice answered before the line went dead.

Needless to say Chambers was quite pleased with himself. As those before him had done he'd taken the untamable hounds of the Egilson clan and made them his attack dogs. If the infamous Problem Team was half as good as the reports said they were then Chambers was confident he'd just saved the life of Vale's oldest and most treasured Council member. _All the better if those brats get turned into dog food protecting him. Heh, for once in their miserable lives they'll have made themselves useful. _Arrogantly he spun around ready to return to the balcony until a set of cold green eyes froze him in place. _How long has he been there! _Whatever thoughts or plans he had were quickly swept away as his mind worked to come up with an explanation for his actions. Or at least something presentable to one of the highest ranking generals of the Vale Army.

With a cut voice the dark skinned older man in his late fifties spoke, "Colonel Chambers, was that Izaak Egilson you just contacted?"

"Y-Yes General Cedar." Chambers quickly answered. In one sentence he'd been shown up in front of the Thancred staff. "L-Leader of the Huntsmen team, team IONC."

"I'm well aware of him and his team." General Cedar calmly stated becoming the center of attention for the entire room. "Bring me a display of all nearby Huntsmen teams near Councilman Anderson, Councilwoman Olenska, and Councilman Versailles." In a minute he'd looked over the list and came to a conclusion. "Team RWBY is to assist team IONC with Councilman Anderson's evacuation. Teams JNPR and CNRB are to safeguard Councilwoman Olenska as well. Once all four teams have done that they are to regroup and join in the defense of the Torch." There was a pause as Cedar's green eyes fell on Chambers causing him to flinch. "Colonel Chambers you are to head to the Wall and coordinate its defenses with your Forty-Fourth Regiment."

His words were the keys that broke the forty-four year old out of his fear-induced prison. "Y-Yes general."

The General of the Third Army didn't say much as Chambers exited the command center despite the chatter his departure created. His attention solely lay on the clash eating away at the heart of Vale City. "Someone get me General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin. Now."

* * *

Weiss always shared something of an interesting relationship with fire. When she was a little girl she learned pretty quickly that fire could burn you if you got too close to it. On top of that little experience learning how to use Dust from the time she was eight had taught her to respect the destructive power fire possessed. She couldn't count the number of trees and targeting dummies she'd roosted either on accident or on purpose. _Fire_, she once said, _is a marvelous force but only in the hands of one capable of controlling it. _Though her skill with fire wasn't comparable to her skill with ice Weiss always believed she had nothing to fear. At the current moment that belief had been painfully shattered courtesy of the flame encased terrorist trying to kill her. And coming pretty damn close to doing so.

It wasn't just the fact that getting close to them was difficult, whatever it was they had injected into their bodies had also increased their physical attributes as well. Their weapons rose and fell rendering the air as they either missed their target or painfully tore into them. Eight senior Huntsmen and Huntresses lay dead around Blake and Weiss and more of their own classmates were falling by the minute. On contact their weapons up to the point they felt as if they needed to let go of them least they burn their hands off. That moment of pain and hesitation had cost more than a handful of the defenders their lives.

It was a terrifying sound, to hear flesh being torn apart while at the same time being burned away. Blake had come too close to that fate. Her two opponents, a double ended chainsaw staff wielder and a female chainsword wielder, weren't giving her many chances to counter attack. The male with the staff, Bear Face as she'd dubbed him, was much quicker than his large body build had her believe. His partner, Lizard Face, was the more aggressive of the two. Blake parried her powerful swings only to find her partner had moved in behind her. Her nimble legs allowed her to either jump or roll out of the way of his overhead slashes or side step those aimed at her hips. As soon as she was out of his range Lizard face was dashing forward with her chainsaw sword posed to cleave into Blake's skull. In a panic she brought up Gambol Shroud's steel-thick ribbon to catch the flaming weapon.

All at once the heat raced through the black cloth into Blake's hands nearly making her shout in pain. She had to do something before her hands burned off. Swiftly she wrapped the cloth around the chainsaw sword, spun around so her back was facing her adversary, and threw her. Knowing the danger approaching from her rear Blake spun with cleaver and pistol in hand. Her attempt to parry Bear Face's attack ended with her right hand feeling like she'd smashed it against a brick wall. Bear Face spun his chainsaw staff behind his back then attacked with an overhead swing. Gambol Shroud transformed into katana form to meet the blade. Despite its somewhat frail appearance the blade held up against the superheated, for the moment.

Blake looked into the flaming orbs behind the animated Grimm mask with silent horror. What had her comrades gotten themselves mixed up in? Where had they found this strength? A sharp hiss reminded her of Lizard, who had gotten back to her feet. Just as she lunged forward swinging her chainsaw sword in a horizontal motion Bear Face broke off blasting a stream of fire at Blake from his mouth. Her Semblance came alive instantaneously leaving a shadow composed double in her place. The scattered flames rained against Blake's Aura shielded skin eating away at it just a little more. Coming back up from her roll she stayed in a crouched position while the two White Fang members glared her down. A look pasted between the two of them before they threw their heads back. Blake cursed and ran to the right.

Instead of unleashing their fire blasts together the two aimed in opposite directions, Bear Face to the Right and Lizard Face to the left. The ninja wasn't aware until she'd already deployed her shadow in order to fake them out. She ran headfirst into Lizard Face's orange and red stream knocking her off her feet. Through her pain filled mind Blake saw Lizard Face come at her, running her chainsaw sword along the ground with a wild war cry. Getting to her feet she focused her Aura into her cleaver to meet the attack.

_**CLING! **_

Undoubtedly Blake took more of the impact than Lizard Face. Her left arm was screaming in pain and she could smell the smoke coming from her hand. Lizard Face on the other hand looked annoyed her attack had been parried. Bear Face came in behind her, crouched low with his weapon at the ready.

_I have to time this right or I'm dead. _The ninja stated transforming Gambol Shroud into its kusarigama form then letting it drop. Her eyes and Bear Face's met in for a fraction of an instant. Recognition flashed between them. _I'm sorry for this. _She mentally whispered seeing the flash of the chainsaw staff. Gambol Shroud flew and twisted itself around one end of staff, the end that was going in the opposite direction. Blake was lifted off her feet effortless and then came back down behind Bear Face, Gambol Shroud still wrapped around the other end of the staff. Stomping her foot into the ground for support she pulled on the weapon with all her strength. The staff flew from Bear Face's hands leaving the Faunus disarmed and Blake clear to strike at his rear. Just as Blake rushed in he spun around, his blazing hand already moving at her abdomen in a clawing motion.

The emblazed hand easily burned through the duplicate while the real ninja rolled to the right side of the Faunus. Gambol Shroud's muzzle about an inch from the man's rib cage with Blake about to pull the trigger. Just as she was about to the gruff male voice cut her off. "I'm sorry I have to do this to you Blake."

The feline girl's cat like eyes grew wide for an instant. The next thing she knew her skin was burning and her chest was hurting.

Letting loose a bestial roar Bear Face released an explosive cloud of fire and heat that threw Blake back. While she was still flying Lizard Face ran forward to deliver a burning kick to her chest that sent her further sprawling across the ground. Once she stopped she could taste the blood in her mouth. Her lungs were starting to hurt from the thick smoke building around the area before it started to sting her eyes. She would have spent maybe another ten seconds crippled by the pain but her feline senses alerted her to the danger lurking above.

Bear Face and Lizard Face had their weapons aimed downward as they descended on Blake's position. Cursing out loud the ninja scrambled to get away from the impact zone.

_BOOM! _

Her instincts told her the danger wasn't over and they were right. A flurry of fiery slashes came out of the smoke from the impact crater. Gripping her katana and cleaver Blake spun around deflecting each attack. Lizard Face came out of the smoke again, this time propelled by the flames erupting from her feet. There wasn't any time to get out of the way so Blake brought both blades together while pumping them full of Aura. The purple outlined blades angrily collided with the roaring flame encased teeth of the chainsaw sword. Blake fell back two steps before she was able to push Lizard Face back leaving the two locked together.

"You're lucky Adam isn't here to see you Blake." She sneered through her flaming mask. "If he was he'd be just ashamed of you as we are."

As her arms began to groan in pain and her entire body practically sweat itself out Blake had one lingering thought, _At least I don't have to worry about freezing up on seeing him again. _

It was insulting how the Lieutenant had told his men to leave Weiss alone and that he'd save some for them. That meant he was planning on bringing her in alive. Her pride forced her to question him about his words.

"Simple princess," he chuckled pointing the chainsaw at her. "With this power I can kill you any time I want. Granted all the others are going to get is an armless, half scared mess but you'll still be recognizable."

Her pride beat out her fear causing her to blindly rush in. Or was it the other way around? A Glyph had been forming beneath her while the Lieutenant had been talking. In a flash she was beneath him with Myrtenaster going straight for him his throat. He simply stepped out of the way then slammed his leg into Weiss's abdomen. The air flew from the heiress's lungs, it felt like getting hit with a sledge hammer. Luckily she wasn't too out of it to avoid the flaming chainsaw that flew at her. The flurry of one handed, wild swings was all he needed to keep Weiss on the defensive. It was clear he wasn't seriously trying and that drove Weiss's temper through the roof.

When the downward swing came she set the Glyph that would trap him in ice. There was a brief white flash followed by a burst of steam rising from the ground. Behind his mask the Lieutenant smirked.

"Thought those little Glyphs of yours would save you huh? Hate to tell you this princess but we've got a little way around your family's magic tricks." He boomed noted the distraught look on Weiss's face. "Don't worry your pretty little hand about it though. Even with them you never stood a chance of beating us." Sliding one foot behind the other he the chainsaw out with the tip aimed at Weiss's chest. The flames on his feet and elbow began to flicker.

"What?" _A Stinger!? _It was a powerful Stinger, one of the strongest Weiss had ever seen. Watching the Lieutenant zoom past her left Weiss with a sense of fear she refused to admit was real. She saw the air itself bend around the man's chainsaw moments before she felt it dragging her in close. _You've got to be kidding me! He's able to use that thing to create a vacuum to suck people in even if he misses! _Already knowing where things were going to end Weiss powered up Myrtenaster and braced herself.

The Lieutenant swung his chainsaw with enough ease to suggest it was simply a naturally part of his body. The flaming weapon threw Weiss back though she remained on her feet. Laughing out loud the Lieutenant continuously swung his flaming weapon in wide arcs the Schnee heiress had to struggle to keep up with. He had her outmatched in power and that was all that mattered by this point. Myrtenaster toke each blow with the glow surrounding it dying a little after each hit. Weiss didn't have time to put up Glyphs of any sort as the Lieutenant refused to give her any. From the mad gleam in his eyes he was enjoying the feel of having her on the defensive.

"I can almost taste it!" He shouted bringing his weapon down.

Twirling out of the way Weiss powered up Myrtenaster again before attempting a thrust at head. "Taste what!?" She yelled.

With the back of his hand the deflected the attack, and then he brought his chainsaw up with both hands on the handle. "Your fear!" Was all he said before the flame cloaked weapon came down in a murderous arc.

_CCCCRRRIIIINNNNCCCCHHH! _

A solid line split the ground apart kicking up fire and concrete into the air. Weiss lay in a crouching position six feet from the line in silent awe at the power displayed by the Faunus. Still, she had to take him down before he killed her or anyone else. A flock of crystal birds appeared behind her. Stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground they flew off at the Lieutenant reaching him in the blink of an eye.

The savage glint in the Lieutenant's eyes was followed by a dark chuckle that sent chills up Weiss's spine. "I already told you princess, that's not going to work on me."

_GLLIITCCHH! _

In one sweep he lifted the chainsaw from the ground, spun a perfect three hundred and sixty degree rotation that creating a whirlwind of flames, and cleaved the crystal birds in half. Onlookers saw the spin that destroyed Weiss's crystal birds but couldn't see the one that cleaved into her stomach. They heard it instead, a heart stopping sound that chilled their hearts.

For Blake who was still contending with Bear Face and Lizard Face the sound was horrifying. "Weiss!"

The feline ninja saw Weiss stagger back, a red gash spreading across her abdomen and a look of shock on her face. The Lieutenant reared his right arm back then delivered a flame powered uppercut that lifted Weiss twelve feet into the air. The Lieutenant followed her via jets of flame extending form his legs.

"Just close your eyes and wait for the flash princess, knowing how fragile you are you'll probably pass out from the pain." The Faunus joked holding his chainsaw back at his left side.

Through the pain Weiss managed to find the strength to speak. "Go to hell."

A diagonal jet of fire erupted between the two followed by the sound of glass breaking. All eyes fell on the huddled figure barreling towards the ground with a trail of smoke and blood following it.

Blake watched her teammate impact the ground with a thud. "Weiss!"

"Don't take your eyes off the prey Blake!" Lizard Face snarled. Knocking Gambol Shroud to the side she smashed her blazing head directly into Blake's. Grabbing the girl by the throat she scuffed, "If you're willing to work with a Schnee then you can die beside her!" Blake was thrown the entire twenty yards separating her and Blake by Lizard Face.

From up close Blake could see just how much of a pummeling the Lieutenant had given Weiss in the span of six minutes. A puddle of blood had started forming beneath her thanks to the gash on her stomach. Her right side had a rather nasty burn Blake knew was going to need serious medical attention least it become infected or worse. Her right side had half a dozen fairly large second degree burns that clearly caused her pain. Though she was still moving it was obvious she was in great pain, especially when she tried to move her right side.

"I-I'm…going…to kill that bastard." The Schnee heiress growled using Myrtenaster to support herself along with Blake.

Blake took a look around their part of the battlefield, or rather what was left of it. Charred corpses were all that remained of the dozens of fighters they'd been with, and those that weren't dead were just barely managing to hold out against the White Fang. In simplest terms they'd lost.

"You can do that later but for now we have to regroup with Ruby and Yang!" Blake declared hoisting the heiress onto her shoulder. "We can't win this without-"

_RRRRRRRRR! _

The ninja's heart stopped at the murderous roar of the Lieutenant's chainsaw, at how close it sounded. Too late did she realize he was above them; he was about to bring his tool of murder down on top of Blake's head. From their right and left came blasts of fire from the other flame empowered Faunus cutting off their points of escape.

Groaning in pain Weiss pushed herself off her dark clade teammate. "Cover your head and pray this Glyph holds up!" She yelled stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground causing a sizable Glyph to appear beneath their feet.

Blake wrapped herself around Weiss fully expecting the barrier Glyph to fail. When it did all she could do was hope she was faster than their attackers.

A yellow blur moved before the girls' eyes, what followed was a teeth rattling noise that could only be described as metal grinding against metal. Blake felt her heart flutter with hope as the identity of the figure holding off the Lieutenant fully registered in her head.

"Hands off my teammates!" The Y of team RWBY shouted standing strong while the flaming chainsaw vengefully grinded against Ember Celica.

The Lieutenant seemed more taken back by the fact the shotgun gauntlets were holding up against his weapon than Yang's sudden arrival. _What the hell!? _He growled bearing down on Yang yet only being forced back a step. _This thing's torn into the hides of Boarbatusks and Qilins so how come it can't cut through this bitch's gauntlets! _He raised his chainsaw then brought it back down only for Yang to push back at the exact moment of impact.

With her opponent off balance Yang took the chance to drive her fist into his stomach in a left jab. Her weapon's payload went off knocking him back five feet. Her hand burned a little from the fire cloak surrounding him but the pain wasn't anything new to Yang, she was used to extreme heat as it was the very nature of her powers. As for her opponent he was going to be a problem. If it wasn't for the accursed fire aura surrounding his body he either would have been knocked out or nursing a nice sized hole in his gut. _Swinging that overgrown gardening tool doesn't seem to take much a strain on him, I can see why. _She concluded noting the man's thick muscles. She'd taken direct hits from guys with bigger muscles but she wasn't too keen on seeing if whatever the Faunus had done to himself had increased his strength as well.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! _

A gale like gust of wave rolled over the battlefield temporarily killing the flames of the Faunus. Their moment of shock was used by Izaak, Neil, and team SSSN to attack. Sun and Neptune dropped kicked Bear Face and Lizard Face from behind simultaneously before forming a perimeter around Weiss and Blake.

"Jeez Blake we leave you alone for one minute and look what…" The wise crack coming out of the staff wielder's mouth died once he got a good look at the condition the two were in.

"As you can see we've had a rough day so far." The ninja joked hoping to take some of the stress off his shoulders. "How's your day been?"

"Oh you know, had a few human supremacists call me everything in the book before the sky started falling down on top of us but hey, I've been through worse." Sun answered examining the nasty bruise on her forehead. Briefly his eyes flickered over to Neptune who was tending to Weiss with frantic eyes. "Stay still, I've never tried this on you before and you're probably going to feel a little off-balanced once I'm finished." The leader of team SSSN stated placing his hand on her injured forehead then closing his eyes. His body became outlined in golden light that flowed from his hand into Blake via her forehead.

At first the feeling of Sun's Aura invading her body nearly made her jump out of her skin. Then she began to silently enjoy it. She could feel the once throbbing pain began to ease back like the waves on a beach leaving her with a sense of bliss. In passing she recalled an earlier conversation they shared when Sun boasted of his Aura skills. At the time she'd laughed it off but now she made a mental note to apologize once the battle was over. Momentarily drawing her eyes away from Sun she saw Neptune performing a similar procedure on Weiss, then her amber eyes fell on her partner.

As it turned out when two flame powered brawlers went at it the fight was a bone-rattling stalemate. Ember Celica held up against the chainsaw, much to the Lieutenant's disdain, and its owner was just quick enough to avoid the overhead swings that would have decapitated any lesser fighter. The problem on Yang's end was while her beloved weapons could take her opponent's hits they were incapable of dealing any damage to him.

Just after ducking a horizontal swing Yang drove her fist directly into the Lieutenant's gut, the force being enough to push him back an inch before the inbuilt shotgun fired. There was a quick muffled explosion. "Oh come!" Yang cursed throwing another fist into the Lieutenant's gut only to get the same result.

The Faunus seemed amused by the girl's futile efforts to the point he willingly took the two more jabs before grabbing Yang's wrist. "Well what do ya know? You really can't fight fire with fire." With a shout he brought his chainsaw wielding arm down.

Acting quickly Yang threw out her right hand in a cross jab that knocked the flaming weapon away. Twisting her hand free she sprang back with a left upper cut that temporarily lifted the Lieutenant off the ground. With her arm free she fell back to her still downed teammates with a huff. "Weiss give me a Glyph. Something that'll boost my strength, speed, anything to help me knock that smug bastard off his feet!"

Before the heiress could respond a firm hand clapped down on her shoulder pushing her back a little. "Go help Izaak." Neil coldly stated walking forward with Beagalltach in hand. "You use fire, he uses fire, you're brute strength, he's brute strength, we don't have time for that." He added before the brawler could backtalk him. "Just let me have this one."

Seeing Yang about to go off Neptune decided now was the time to speak up. "Yang, he's right." At least when she turned on him he didn't flinch. "Guy controls weather, so he knows a thing about putting out fires." He concluded before reaching into his pocket to procure ha roll of bandages he began wrapping around Weiss's left side.

_THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! _

Neil had been encased in the same frightening aura he seemed to wear into every battle by the time he clashed blades with the Lieutenant.

"Didn't know the Schnee had a bodyguard on her, can't say it's a particularly good one." He sneered pressing down on the seventeen year-old knight.

The scar-faced boy's expression remained cold and emotionless. It was as if they were the polar opposite of the Faunus's hate-filled flaming orbs. He stood strong against the overwhelming power the Lieutenant bearded against him without budging an inch. The more intensely he glared at the Lieutenant the colder the air around them seemed to become. His gray-blue eyes held a pale glow around the edges that seemed to flash when he finally pushed back.

The Lieutenant couldn't help but yell in pain when the sudden blast of cold air extinguished his flames in the blink of an eye. His whole body seemed to go into shock as layers of frost began to develop around his exposed skin. The invigorating rush of power that should have melted the ice never came as if it too had been frozen in its tracks.

Neil's eyes flashed with a dangerous light when he stroke the Faunus across the chest. Blood spewed from the wound but not enough to tell him the wound was major. He stroke again with Beagalltach launching the man into the air then following him. Crossing both blades in front of him in a downward positon he focused cold air around them causing a light blue shaped layer of wind to envelop both swords. Neil brought both weapons in an upward X shape sending the Lieutenant further into the sky. He landed in a crouched position in front of his teammates with his cold gaze still on the Lieutenant. Raising Moralltach and Beagalltach like he was conducting an orchestra he manipulated the cold air to gather above the lieutenant. As both swords came down so did the mass of wind knocking the Lieutenant back into the ground, more frost covering his somewhat blacken body.

"Go for the head." The knight emotionless stated.

"I owe you one." Yang simply replied before launching herself at the downed White Fang member.

While the blond began to whale away at the Lieutenant Neil felt his muscles relax a little even though he should have remained on full alert. Turning around he saw Sun and Neptune had finished healing the W and B of team RWBY. Both girls were still visibly injured but were still very much able to fight. Especially Weiss who seemed to be giving Neil a sharp glare.

"Show off." She snorted stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground causing a rather large Glyph to appear beneath their feet. "Get another wind blast ready, one big enough to spread out for at least ten yards. That is if you can manage it."

Light blue eyes searched the _bo _staff wielder, ninja, and closest geek for answers, all he got were shrugs from each of them. _Oh what did I do to piss her off now? Help her team out a little? Give Yang the opening? _

_Boom! _

Yang came rolling back into their ranks with blood trickling from the right side of her forehead and a look of utter fury on her face. Directly across from her the Lieutenant stood, encased once more in the veil of searing flames. His now cracked Grimm mask was snarling with flames coming out in short huffs. Just as the blond was about to lunge forward her partner grabbed her and pulled her back into the little circle they'd made around Weiss.

"Wait a second." She told her reloading Gambol Shroud.

Confused Yang took stock of their situation. They had been surrounded by not just the flame empowered terrorist but rows upon rows of normal White Fang grunts. Some of them hissed and growled at them while others licked their lips. As for them Weiss's Glyph had to encompass the entirety of their little group. Team SSSN, her teammates, Izaak, and Neil all stood in a tight nit circle with their weapons all mostly at the ready. She noticed had Weiss was keeping her attention solely on the Glyph below them; Yang recognized the Glyph to be one of wind. Next was Sage who was holding his sword in front of him while he concentrated the wind around his blade. Neil did the same with Izaak silently counting down beside him. _Oh this is going to be so good. _She thought smashing her fists together with a mad grin on her face.

Izaak took a quick look around their little circle at all the snarling faces. By his count they were surrounded by somewhere between twenty and thirty-two terrorists. "You guys should probably stand back. I don't know much about the White Fang's medical insurance but I'm pretty sure it doesn't cover broken bones and severed limbs." He quipped shaking his head.

"Kill all of them but save the Schnee for last!" One of the shouted. All at once the Faunus charged forth.

"Neil!"

"Sage!"

"Weiss!"

The knight, heiress, and swordsman acted in perfect union. Sage's broadsword opened up into an emerald green fan which he swung in a wide arc. Weiss's Glyph practically rose from the ground then exploded outward as an omnidirectional blast of wind. The near invisible tornado Neil had created suddenly became visibly as his eyes flashed gray and his swords swung out. The three attacks had merged together seconds after they were unleashed into an ever expanding wall of gale force winds that tore chunks out of the concrete as it traveled outward. A sharp cry that sounded like wood being sliced could be heard by those inside the whirlwind's center. Each of them knew it was sound of the air itself being cut through.

_SSSSLLLLLIIIIISSSHHH! _

"ATTACK!" Izaak and Sun yelled surging forward once they saw the cyclone begin to ease up.

Their comrades didn't need to be given the signal.

Each of the nine teenagers felt a certain thrill run through them as they collided into the downed ranks of the enemy. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of battle finally being released or in Izaak and Sun's cases pride that their plan had worked. Whatever it was it carried into their weapons which flashed, slashed, and slammed into the stunned Faunus that had surrounded them a moment ago. Team SSSN went after the momentarily depowered brutes that had been moments away from killing Weiss and Blake almost immediately.

Sage sent a great number of grunts flying by alternating between his sword and fan before getting to Bear Face. The older man was still off balance when the green haired teenager cut into his left side rib cage then again when he slashed at his shoulder. A name reached his ears though he didn't care to give it any thought beyond its immediate meaning. Spinning around he blocked the vertical swing of Lizard face by holding out his sword. The Faunus woman had a second to hiss at him before the sword glowed green and she was blasted back by a sudden burst of wind.

Unlike his heavier hitting partner Scarlet moved with more grace and style. He followed close behind Scarlet firing off his flintlock while keeping his cutlass in reserve. Red patches of blood sprang up whatever the weapon was pointed as its owner keeping moving through the crowd. To the Faunus the boy was nothing but a murder, especially given how when a handful stood in front of him the cutlass deeply carved into their flesh. Or ran itself through it. Scarlet pushed the slight guilt he felt as executing enemies who couldn't defend themselves down since he knew it would only disrupt the steady rhythm he had. A hand went flying before his eyes with a trail of blood flying it. There was a scream followed by the sound of his cutlass entering flesh once again. The youth heard the clicks of ammo clips being sled into guns and acted in the heat of the moment. The body of the White Fang grunt jerked with every bullet that slammed, the biggest coming from when a shotgun shell tore into the chest. It was then that Scarlet abandoned his meat shield to see a row of appalled grunts glaring holes in him.

"You mother-"

_SSSSHHHHRRIINNKKK! _

The arching bolt of electricity jumped from one grunt to another leaving them charred black corpses. The sickening smell of charred meat began to become more prominent amongst the battle courtesy of the steely eyed Neptune who brandished his weapon with unabashed skill. The glowing edge of his glaive had become stained bright red leaving a trail of blood as well as electricity in its wake. To Neptune it was almost painfully cutting down one grunt after another given what little skill they had. _This isn't right. _He thought easily parrying a power sword before literally disarming its wielder. _They've been planning this for months. What we're fighting now is too damn small for the White Fang to have spent so much time preparing. On top of that I don't smell anything in the air besides blood and people haven't started screaming about their skin burning or something. _What the neon blue haired teenager was denying thinking was there hadn't been a visible cloud of toxic gas slowly spreading through the area. At least none they had seen. They'd been confided to this little slab of Aemon Strip for nearly twenty minutes and had no idea what was happening with the rest of their comrades.

One of the flame empowered Faunus came into his line of vision swinging a flaming axe. He was the first real challenge he'd faced forcing him to put his mounting thoughts on the backburner. His glaive and his axe met in a collision of blue lightning and red flames. Dropping his goggles over his eyes he ran his weapon along the ground building up an electric charge. In opposition the Faunus held up his weapon and concentrated the flame coat he was wearing into the weapon causing it to grow in size.

With gritted teeth the two came to blows creating an earth shattering explosion of fire and lighting and blinded onlookers.

Sun was one of those onlookers and his first instinct was to go to his teammate to back him up. Of course he couldn't do that since one half of his mind seemed focused on sticking near Blake to make sure she stayed alive. It was beyond stupid for him to think she needed his protection when she had Yang and Weiss watching her back, but her wellbeing had been absurdly high on his list of properties once the battle had started.

_CLING! _

Back kicking the grunt attempt to back stab him then Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang into the ground to create a shockwave he cursed. Like hundreds of others he'd dreaded this day, knowing in the bottom of his heart it wasn't going to be pretty. What he was now experiencing was a little more than what he'd been planning for.

_RING! RING! RING! _

"What the hell?" he whispered under his breath awe-struck. "Who the hell's calling us at a time like this?" he yelled leaping to the side to avoid a shotgun blast. "Guys I think you should ask them you're…" Reading expressions in the heat of battle was something Sun found he had a natural talent for. In the short window of time he had to read Izaak, Neil, Weiss, Blake, and Yang's faces he knew something was wrong. Izaak's face had grown into a downcast mask with wide eyes. With a shiver he watched the Viking parry then cut down an attacking grunt while keeping his Scroll pressed against the side of his ear. The others had managed to pull out their Scrolls examine the sudden message they'd just gotten. Whatever it was it probably wasn't good. "Please tell me a bomb hasn't gone off somewhere. Or random people have suddenly started clawing at each other like rapid animals." The monkey Faunus pleaded.

"What kind of bullshit is this?" Yang roared jumping back into the fight.

"They can't be serious! They want us to find a Councilmember in _this_!?" Weiss cried like she'd just been offended.

Blake's eyes met his in a quick exchange that told him all he needed to know about the call. _Orders from the top brass huh? Even while we're in the middle of a warzone they're still giving us orders. _"Get going guys." He said getting into a fighting position as he saw a collection of airships heading their way. "I'm pretty sure one of them is your ride and trust me, that's way better than walking where you're going."

Izaak and Neil looked at him first, a silent exchange going on between the three of them. With quick nods of their heads they began running in the direction of the airship. Yang looked back at them somewhat appalled that they would run off without a word until Sage shouted something to her. With a huff she followed after them, Weiss did the same after doing the same leaving Blake alone with him.

"Your seriously expect me to just leave you here with that?" she asked pointing at the approaching mass of flames cutting its way towards them.

"Geez you really need to learn to take it easy sometimes." He sighed before quickly pecking her on the cheek. "Get going. You've got a job to do, one that's definitely more important than the slug fest we've got going on here." Sun laughed. "One that we are overly qualified to handle."

_Boom! Boom! _

"You know you can be pretty infuriating sometimes right?" the ninja remarked with a groan.

"Ah but Blake that's part of my charm. It's why everyone, including you love me." Sun fired back feeling the wave of heat begin to heat his skin.

Blake returned his earlier gesture with a kiss on his left cheek. "Don't die until we get back." And with that she was off through the blood and mayhem.

"How cute, the traitor's got himself a master." Came the malicious voice of the Lieutenant. There was a decent sized crack on the left side of his mask no doubt courtesy of Yang's fists. "Thanks to you punks our prey got away. You're going to have to pay for that."

"Heh," sun laughed twirling Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang. "I'd like to see you try it tough guy. I mean on offense but I've faced worse than a bunch of Human Torch knock offs."

Ten seconds in and Sun had a feeling he wouldn't mind a sudden rainstorm passing over the city. Or snow since winter was just around the corner. He'd had quite enough of fire for the day.

* * *

"Hey Jaune!"

"What Buruan!?"

"We found your partner! And you might want to get a move on because it looks like for once she actually needs you!"

That was honestly the last thing Jaune needed to hear. First was the message they got on their Scrolls to escort Councilwoman Olenska out of the area then there came the hailstorm of gunfire they got from the airships. Ironically it was thanks to those airships he'd gained a new found apprication of Chun Tao, and her Semblance.

They were standing directly in the firing line of a Stalker attack helicopter. Jaune felt his heart drop at the sight of the attack helicopter's machine guns start to hum up before firing. His legs told him to move even though fear had tied them down with stone blocks. As it turned out the fear was unneeded.

With a wave of her hand Chun Tao manifested countless shards of peach colored glass that formed into a three meter long shield. The armor piercing bullets bounced off without leaving one crack on the glassy shield much to Jaune's amazement. Chun Tao pulled her hand back then thrusted it forward sending the shield collided into the Stalker. The helicopter fell to the ground with its cockpit a flatten stump.

Glass Heart, as the partners had called it, was certainly a Semblance Jaune wouldn't have minded having for himself. Watching the guardian's Semblance at work once more left Jaune feeling downcast about himself. If he had a Semblance would it have been of any help at the moment? Given the situation the odds of it manifesting itself were pretty high given the ever present risk of his life ending. And the strange thing was that didn't frighten him as much as he thought he did.

_It's probably because I'm too worried about the others to worry about myself. _He wasn't about to admit it was because he had two properly trained warriors watching his back at the moment. At first Jaune didn't notice it but when he caught sight of their eyes he could see the concern in them. Even when Buruan lost himself in a bloody battle with a White Fang grunt his silver eyes would turn back to that same dimmed light Jaune had come to recognize as worry. No matter who they were or what their personal beliefs were he knew every student of Beacon was feeling the same way he was.

"GAH!"

Hearing Pyrrha scream in pain kicked Jaune's legs into overdrive. Climbing over the wreckage of a downed Longsword gave him a front row view the four on one battle Pyrrha was engaged in. Seeing Pyrrha Nikos struggle to hold her own was not the kind of thing the students of Beacon needed for their morale. Unfortunately that' exactly what they found. At least her opponents weren't White Fang. From what the three could glean the Spartan was locked in battle with three well trained mercenaries.

Pyrrha blocked a right hook with her shield then was forced to jump in order to avoid a sweep kick from her left side. During the precious few seconds she was in the air one of the mercenaries came at her with nothing but his bare fists. To the three's shock Pyrrha was sent hurling across the ground from the impact of his fist against her shield. As expected the Spartan rebounded into a crouch position, her rifle unloading bullet after bullet. She got off maybe eight shots before she realized the last of the four was standing behind her with a power sword in the position to take her head off. Her face went from deathly white to frantic as Milo sled into sword form to meet the energy powered blade. The other three took advantage of the struggle to conjure up fireballs.

"Pyrrha behind you!" The blond shouted already scrambling towards her with Buruan already having a lead on him.

On tip the downed airship Chun Tao summoned her shards of glass and sent them after each of the four mercenaries. Just as their attacks were launched the shards formed into mirrors that deflected the fireballs back at them. To guardian's shock each them dodged the incoming fireball with speed she'd only seen from Huntsmen and the like.

"Shit like this couldn't get any worse." She muttered taking out her hook swords.

Buruan immediately knew something was off when his opponent managed to avoid Golden Wolf's forward slash. He withdraw a combat knife from his back then lunged at Buruan with the clear intent to kill. Swinging up his sword to parry it he snarled at the cold red goggles that covered the man's eyes. _No doubt about, these guys are professionals. If they are more of these guys than we're in serious trouble. _He noted rubbing the wolf fang necklace around his neck. "So what's your stake in these? Are you guys just hired guns?"

Rather than answering him the mercenary pulled out a second knife of identical build to the first one. He pressed a button on each causing the blades to cackle with orange energy.

Neither said a word as they lunged at each, their blades going straight for the other's throat.

The flower of dread that had been blooming inside of Jaune since the day started was now a full grown garden in his chest. He knew from the start something was going to go bad; for things to go this far south was what he was hoping wouldn't happen. As he went blade to fist with the last of the three mercenaries with Pyrrha still fighting the sword wielder in the background Jaune got a look at the emblem on the man's combat vest. He knew in a heartbeat the battle was about to get three times worse.

"_PESTILENCE, a private military company that's been in operation for little more than nine years." _Olivia had told him a week ago. _"Little to no information about them is known despite their extensive record of employment. Besides the standard make up of ex-soldiers and Huntsmen their ranks are a total unknown. According to what records are available they seem to have ties to black market arms dealing, especially the kind that was banned under international law. Synthetic plagues and mutant beasts, other than word of mouth very few evidence supports these claims yet they're all widely acknowledged as being true. Still, in spite of all these things which come off as nothing more than rumors they are ranked amongst the highest of all the eighty-seven known operating PMCs in Remnant." _

* * *

**And that does it for this one. Now keeping the V3 finale in mind I'm going to get this out of the way immediately, the Grimm dragon won't be showing up during this battle. Before it was revealed I'd already planned on introducing a dragon type Grimm and still plan on doing so but it won't be until much later on when the cast has gotten much stronger than they are now. Until then I have plenty of ideas for "boss" Grimm to throw at the cast. **


	29. Chapter 29: That Time of the Year Pt4

**Before we start I'd like to apologize to everyone for my long hiatus, a real life problem came up and had to be mostly taken care of. **

** I do not own anything except the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 29: Just That Time of the Year Pt.4 **

All too soon did the four teenagers realize how big a difference there was between fighting untrained thugs and criminals and professional killers. For one they all it took was one slip up and they instantly went for the kill. Jaune and Buruan had almost lost their heads due to holes in their own defenses because of that one. Speaking of defenses breaking through theirs was next to impossible. It was apparent that the soldiers were faster and stronger than they were. Jaune could feel the impact of their weapons against his shield making his left arm feel like it was constantly being smacked with a baseball bat, the same went for Pyrrha.

The Spartan had to admit whoever had trained this man had taught them well,; his sword had left more marks on Akoúo than she could cut. Untold strands of hair had been separated from her head from dodging slashes that had come too close to her skull. She parried and counter attacked only for her attacks to be deflected. Milo never once met the armored form of the soldier, instead it continuously smashed against the energy encased longsword of the mercenary.

_CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! _

Pyrrha didn't want to think about the possibility of Akoúo shattering, but the various pieces of the shield being chipped off weren't helping. If she had to guess her opponent seemed to be going for the complete destruction of her shield based on how intensely he struck at it whenever given the chance. _Maybe if I give him the chance,_ she thought momentarily dropping her defenses. She swung out with a Milo in its spear form, a wild sloppy move that left too many openings to ignore. The energy sword blazed with blue plasma before moving towards her exposed side. _Now! _The blade stopped dead in its tracks surprising the soldier while Pyrrha switched back to her sword. She had just begun to move the blade forward when she felt the hard fist slam into her gut. She couldn't fathom what had happened until she spotted the power sword lying on the ground and its owner coming at her with both fists pulled back. Realizing what had happened Pyrrha brought her shield up with both hands. She couldn't see much beyond the wave of fire that came afterwards.

Directly behind her partner was getting a crash course in hand to hand combat, in the worst way possible. For as long as Jaune could remember his basic training had thought him one simple thing: raise shield, you avoid injury. The bare fisted mercenary had proven that wasn't always the case in less than ten minutes. After the first three punches Jaune could tell he'd started adding his Aura to the mix. In one punch Jaune felt his arm almost shatter. The feeling was unlike anything he'd ever felt, the sudden force made his arm feel like it was breaking apart. It was at that moment that the mercenary struck his right side with a round house kick. After that Jaune could have sworn his jaw came off from the impact of the kick that lifted him a foot into the air. His stinging blue eyes saw the black boot heading straight for his chest. He was too slow to do anything to stop it. The light armor he wore almost shattered from the kick, Jaune could feel himself rolling through the debris until he was left looking up at the sky through his hazy vision. To the side he heard the pounding footsteps of his adversary getting closer, and once again he couldn't do anything to stop it.

The mercenary attempted to come down with an Aura empowered fist that would have likely smashed Jaune's chest if a light blue beam of energy didn't knock him out of the air.

That split second was all Buruan could do to make sure Jaune stayed alive, he had his own problems to worry about. Wielding Golden Wolf had never been much a problem, like Ruby he'd learned to how to handle such an oversized weapon despite his small frame with ease. Now against an enemy who happened to be an expert knife fighter the transforming broadsword was now more of hindrance than an asset. His silver eyes traced the glow orange blades keenly. The strikes came in swift and fast, too fast for Buruan to use Golden Wolf to counter. Buruan prided himself on being nimble enough to avoid most attacks, now that same proud was the only reason he wasn't missing an eye or had a gaping wound in his chest. Following a flurry of quick swipes aimed at his head Buruan swung once with his unfolded sword then again in its complete form. To his ire the mercenary brought both knives up to counter in perfect coordination with his swings.

Buruan's canine ears picked up the sound of Jaune' opponent closing in behind him. _Shit! So now that they know Jaune can't fight for squat they're free to tag-team me! _Like the rest of the rest of Ruby's inner circle Buruan bearded Jaune no ill will over his lackluster combat ability. As a Faunus he could sympathize with the blonde's need to prove himself; that being said there was a time and place for whatever progress he had made to be put to use. Cursing his rotten luck Buruan shock off the knife wielder and spun with Golden Wolf already in the process of transforming. The same light blue beam of energy came shooting out of the barrel only this time the soldier knew what to expect. Nimbly he side stepped out of the way and continued his charge.

_SLISH! _

Whatever Aura Buruan had put into protecting his back hadn't been enough, blood sipped through his lips as he fell to one knew. The bare fisted soldier sent him flying through the hair with a spinning round house he knew had been practiced and perfected. He skidded across the ground and came up groaning on his stomach.

"I hope like hell this guys are just taking this job and moving on afterwards. I don't want to imagine dealing with them again." He moaned watching them advance on him. Placing one hand flat against the earth he shot them the nastiest glare he could manage. "Screw you."

The soldiers felt the tremor beneath their feet but they were too slow to react to what came after it. Right in front of their eyes the concrete and rock surged forward, forming into the faces of wolves. They angrily tore into their throats spilling blood all over the place, the rest of their bodies formed from the debris seconds after their bodies hit the ground.

A familiar hand came into view as he was getting up. Whipping the blood from his lips Buruan took it. "Ruby didn't say anything about these guys when she talked about Mountain Glenn did she?"

"I wish." Jaune muttered staring at the corpses. "I don't suppose your Semblance can do that to the other two?"

"Give me an opening and it sure as hell can." He stated staring intensely at the Arc. At first Jaune's face fell but it quickly harden. Buruan guessed that was something he liked about Jaune that made their friendship possible-he may have been weak but when the time came for it he more than definitely manned up. "Move!" He suddenly screamed kicking Jaune away.

The spear that came between them glowed red before it detonated showering the area in red and orange flames.

"Buruan! Jaune!" Chun Tao called out watching the two boys disappear in the ensuing smoke. "Damn it!" she cursed blocking the halberd. "Who are you people?" She yelled into the masked soldier's face. "You guys are too skilled to be simple hired muscle, too trained to be run of the mill mercs either." When she didn't received a reply the girl with peach colored streaks in her hair chuckled. "That's okay, you don't have to talk, I'll be more than happy to beat the answers out of you!" Hooking the polearm Chun Tao spun to the side twirling the weapon out of the soldier's grip. Her left blade went in close but not close enough to reach the soldier's throat.

The soldier's hand sparked with electricity before surging forward. Chun Tao twirled both her hooks words together, a flash of shifting steel and ribbons came a three pronged Chinese trident she quickly swung to deflect the attack. The other hand glowed with bright yellow sparks before flying off in Chun Tao's direction. Stomping her foot into the ground she swung her trident to meet the attack.

_CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! _

He caught the grin on Chun Tao's face just as she summoned her Semblance. The glass shards embedded in the mercenary's hands multiplied tearing them a part. In the brief moment he was stunned from pain Chun Tao hooked one sword into the arm then twisted it to the side, sliding her body with it. To her amazement the soldier attempted to strike her with his new ruined fist; she retaliated by slashing his throat. Deducing their point of origin she swung the corpse around; a handful of bullets blew through it and grazed her body.

_THUNK! Boom! _

The C of team CNBR was about to jump back when the grenade impacted the body. Her Aura stopped any damage from the bone fragments but the shock blew her off her feet as well as spattered blood all over her chest. The first time she opened her eyes she spotted the incoming object, and promptly rolled to the side dodging the battle axe that would have ripped her chest wide open. In moments Pyrrha skidded to a stop next to her, blood running down her forehead from a gash she's guessing separated the (teria) from her head.

"Pyrrha, I know you generally like to believe in martial prowess over Semblances but I think now might be a good time to-"

_BOOM! _

Though she wouldn't like to admit it the sight of a bloody and bruised Jaune lying at her feet probably did more than any words she could have spoken. Buruan was less injured but that didn't mean he didn't look like crap either. Around the four of them more mercenaries gathered, some armed and others looking like they were intent on using just their fists. On instinct Chun Tao summoned three glass mirrors and waited for the attack to come.

The redhead moved up putting an arm in front of Chun Tao. "Protect Jaune and Buruan." Sheathing her sword and shield she pushed both her arms out releasing an invisible wave through the area. Around them pieces of wreckage and weaponry rose with a black outline covering it. The soldiers took one look at the eye popping phenomena then at Pyrrha, in a second they all charged in without uttering a single word.

Bringing her hands in then spreading them out Pyrrha sent the wave of metal outward. The force it was propelled with was more than to crush every bone in their attackers' bodies without the heat killing them. The more that came in the more Pyrrha twisted and waved her arms, sweat collecting on her brow with every minute that passed.

Jaune felt the jolt run up his spine long before he heard the airship's weapons loading. Twisting his head around Jaune saw the Bullhead moving into position. "Guys! Twelve o'clock!"

Buruan had grabbed Jaune and was already moving while Chun Tao and Pyrrha shifted their attention to the airship. Neither warrior girls were fast enough to erect any kind of barrier before the Bullhead opened fire on them. Chun Tao was able to erect a weak glass barrier moments before the shells impacted, blowing the four teenagers across the field. All four were groaning in pain as the nameless soldiers began to gather around them. Pyrrha coughed as her vision came back to her.

Her labored breath came to a total halt as she stared into the black barrel of the PSI Tempus pointed at her head.

_SLISH! _

Suddenly a bright red blade was protruding from the soldier's chest. The Spartan blinked once and it was gone, already moving to its next target. Her emerald eyes darted all over the place following the winding trails of red and orange. Then came the smell, Pyrrha doubted she'd ever be able to forget what burning flesh and leather smelled like.

_SLISH! SLASH! BOOM1 SLISH! SLLLLIIIIISSSHHH! _

Fear wasn't an emotion Pyrrha was used to; all her life she'd been trained to face it down like it was just another enemy. This time it was an enemy she was helpless before. From the scattered looks of her classmates they were the same.

The thing was the person who they were afraid of was the exact same one that had just saved their lives: Professor Bennett.

There was something ominous in the way she wielded her twin swords, her jet black hair was a sharp contrast against the rolling waves of fire she left in her wake. Her speed, her grace, unlike their movements there were no openings in her attacks and no hesitation in her killing strokes. She didn't even have to physically strike the soldiers to kill them, just get in close enough. She fell back in front of them with at least ten of the soldiers amassing in front of her. As before they said nothing in their silent advance towards.

"When I give the word I want all four of you to get up and get on the incoming APC. You've been given a priority five order and will carry it out immediately." She stated in an almost nonchalant voice. It was amazing how at ease she seemed despite the half dozen hired killers amassing in front of her.

"B-But Professor! We can't just leave you here!" Jaune protested.

"Ah Jaune," she cooed smiling at the blond. "It's quite sweet how worried you are but really," she scrapped her swords together. The four saw a handful of sparks jump from the two swords into the air. Jumping a few feet they transformed into a roaring inferno that completely engulfed the area Anuli had just been fighting in. In its place was now a giant fireball, the silent mercenaries nothing but kindling. "But I'm more than capable of handling things here." She finished with a smile, half her face painted bright by the inferno she'd just created.

In a stunned silence the four scrambled onto the APC that landed just a few feet from them. To their surprise the other halves of their teams were waiting for them.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Rad questioned. "All of you look like you just saw a ghost."

"No Rad," Buruan answered digging into his pocket for any leftovers he might have had. "But we did just see Professor Bennett make us look like preschoolers. You don't happen to have any gum on you, would you Rad?"

Jaune could tell Ren wasn't too pleased with him when he handed him Crocea Mors's shield half back. "While I appreciate the gesture next time Jaune please keep this with you. Believe me when I saw you're able to get more use out of it than I am."

"Just wanted to make sure you had some protection." The blond chuckled. "Besides Nora of course."

Despite the constant rattling of the vehicle the teenagers found themselves laughing together. First it was Jaune and Ren, then Nora, followed by the whole of team CNBR, and lastly Pyrrha. In the drivers' seats the two men looked between each other then back at the students. In their own way they could understand the somewhat infectious laughter spreading amongst them. It was the only protect they had against the havoc reigning outside the metal walls of the APC, the havoc they would soon have to sort through.

"This is your stop kids!" One of them shouted releasing the door. "Word of advice, keep your heads down if you want to keep them!"

"No shit pal." Ndidi huffed being the first one way. She and Nora took point since their weapons, grenade launchers, provided the firepower needed to clear the way. Neither shook from the oncoming White Fang nor infected that rushed them on their way to the Councilwoman. As usual Nora's face was a mask of joy and Ndidi's was twisted in annoyance at the never ending scores of enemies.

They were the first ones to lay eyes on the fifty-seven year old brunette know as Councilwoman Iwona Olenska. It was quite easy to confuse the councilwoman for someone younger since she looked to be in her late forties rather than her late fifties. The white in her hair was visible though nowhere near the amount one would expect from for some one of her age. The wrinkles on her face only became pronounced when she was annoyed, which at that moment she was.

By the way she was glaring at the eight teenagers that might have been an understatement. "It's about damn time!" she roared, her dark green eyes flashing angrily. "Any longer and I would have had to walk myself out of here!"

Nudging her partner the dark skinned frog Faunus whispered, "Why does it feel like that's what we should have let her do?"

"It would have saved us some broken bones." The red headed mage answered back.

_Boom! Boom! Boom! THUNK! _

Miraculously they could see the columns of colored gas rising high above the sky despite the dense blanket of smoke rapidly taking over. One by one the blood of every person in the group ran could as they followed the missiles point of origin. They were coming from the airships that had opened fire on the others, ones that had no doubt been hijacked. Mere seconds after the gas clouds formed came the blood curdling howls of men and women. Shortly after came surprised screaming then rapid bursts of gunfire that ended with the sound of flesh tearing.

Buruan cursed his canine enhanced hearing as he was able to form a much clearer picture than the others could. Reloading Golden Wolf he shot a look in the direction of Councilwoman Olenska's four remaining guards. "Put something around her face to keep her from inhaling the smoke. No matter what happens don't let any of those…infected so much as scratch her."

"If it comes to it amputate a limb if you have to." Chun Tao added tightening her grip on her hook swords.

For a moment Jaune's eyes wondered from the ground to the sky. He couldn't count the number of airships hovering above their heads, nor the number of cargo containers descending upon them. He felt his teeth nearly rattle out of his jaws when they made impact kicking up chunks of debris and rock. The lights on the containers flashed green before bursting open. Paladins were only one of the four types of mechs that thundered out. "I-I-I don't think this was part of the plan." He stuttered taking note of the various arms attached to each mech: Gatling guns, plasma cannons, rocket launchers, and mech-sized machine guns and shotguns.

There wasn't any kind of alarm or warning when all the attacks came, they just did. The infected employed the same mob tactics they did the first night they were encountered. Some of them were soldiers, some were civilians, and even a few White Fang were among them. No matter who they were all of them had the same blood shot eyes that revealed murderous rage that had swallowed them whole. Seeing that killed the hesitation of the students and soldiers defending the councilwoman. Before where as Pyrrha might have been hesitant to fire on innocent people she wasn't now, the same went for Ren. Her rifle and his machine guns flashed nonstop with bullets exiting their chambers one after another. The same went for Buruan and Ndidi, the two Faunus's faces had twisted in hated snarls as they got their first up close look at the infected that their classmates had whispered off. Needless to say the whole of team CNBR was just as disgusted as the others were upon facing such deprived creatures besides Grimm.

Rad was next to Jaune though unlike his knight counterpart he was able to fight with the others. In his right hand was a spell book, one bound in red leather and silver metal that seemed to emit its own aura of power. That was the weapon of Radcliff "Rad" Artoir, the Mystic Album spell book. Red and yellow light radiated from the pages Rad had opened; without even looking he masterfully read the words of the tome producing fireballs and lightning strikes. "Fira! Thundara!" he repeatedly shouted creating explosions and lightning strikes in the crowd advancing hordes. "Ndidi! Give us some breathing room!"

Temporarily withdrawing her grenade launcher Ndidi slammed her webbed fingers into the cracked earth. There was a sudden tremor that quickly circled around the group. From the cracks dark green liquid gushed out forming into thick rivers that cut the group off from the rest of the attackers. Gaseous bubbles welled up from the liquid. The mechs and infected caught down in the greenish mud struggled and pulled but very few could escape the swampish trap Ndidi had created.

"Nora, Rad, if you two would please." She said keeping her hands flat against the ground.

Four shots left Magnhild while Rad pointed his spell book at the sudden swampy waters. His lips spoke words so quiet none of the others could hear but could see the effects. Fireballs manifested and were launched in perfect synch with Nora's shots.

_BOOM! BOOM! _

Towering walls of fire erupted all along the swampy cracks Ndidi had created. Bodies went up in bright flames and mechs struggled to pull out as the intense heat began to eat through their energy shielding then their hauls. Some of the mechs flat out exploded since the mud had hit just the right spot as it was ignited. In mere moments teams JNPR and CNBR were standing in the middle of a maze of searing fire.

Hm, I'm impressed." Councilwoman Olenska noted with a smirk. "I was a little concern when they sent freshmen to protect me but now I see you are all at least somewhat capable."

"Somewhat?" The N of team CNBR croaked twisting her head to face her superior. "Can you give us some credit? We probably just bought you at least three minutes' worth of-"

"Ndidi!" Both Ren and Chun Tao shouted surging forward.

_SLISH! BANG! _

The amphibian girl gave a short cry when she saw the still burning bodies of the infected jump through the flame wall her comrades had created. Their injuries were beyond horrific yet their eyes still held that same murderous fire that drove them into the flames, and apparently continued to do so long after their bodies were ruined beyond repair.

"Aim for the head!" The Spartan of team JNPR shouted decapitating burning infected then kicking it away. "No matter how much you injury they'll keep coming unless you blow their legs off or score a direct kill shoot! Jaune, stay back and protect the councilwoman in case any of them get past us!"

"Or you know, the armed mechs towering above us decide to go straight for the jugular." Buruan added seeing an Atlas Paladin trudge through the flames.

Jaune saw the laser sight moving towards their protectee, his body moved on its own. The minute he'd been given his shield back Jaune felt a sense of comfort come over him that had persisted even as they find themselves besieged. He had told it to anyone but he'd come to treasure Crocea Mors's shield half a tad bit more than the sword half. If he had to count his shield had saved his life more than the sword had. Hell, it was what saved him and the councilwoman when he dived in front of the incoming plasma bolt that would have torn through her bodyguards and her if he hadn't moved. He was pushed through some of the flames but he didn't care. The Arc picked himself up ad jumped back in front where the Paladin had begun laying down gunfire.

_If my arm doesn't fall off then it'll be a miracle if I ever use it again! _Jaune thought as various projectiles slammed against his shield leaving bullet and scorch marks. "Go!" he shouted to the councilwoman and her guards. "Get her out of here while we hold things off here!" He could hear thunder like footsteps moving closer to him with each second. For a moment his blue eyes met the dark green of Councilwoman Olenska. Jaune didn't doubt his opinion of the councilwoman had not improved much given her sharp criticisms of him and his friends, but in that instant he believed her opinion of them had lightened. He saw the gratitude in her eyes before her bodyguards ushered her further away. _At least I managed to do one good thing today. _Were the last thoughts Jaune had before he felt the Paladin's fist slam into his shield.

_CRACK! _

"JAUNE!"

The teenagers cried watching the blond teen sail over the flames then hit the ground with a groan. Though he was still alive from the way the Paladin was taking aim on him that wasn't going to be the case much longer.

With a furious roar Pyrrha took control of the Paladin. The sweat on her brow seemed to multiply through the strain of lifting such a heavy object. Her teeth clenched she swung the mech around like a wrecking ball without a chain, bodies cracked and shattered from the impact just as Pyrrha wanted them to. By the time she launched the mech into another its metallic haul was dented and painted red from blood stains.

_BOOM! _

The redheaded warrior fell to a single knee to catch her breath for a moment. Unfortunately that moment was all another mech, a E3-Painkiller, needed to zero in on her. Her shield rose to protect her from the oversized bullets heading straight for her.

_DING! DING! DING! DING! _

A four meter long wide ruby colored mirror with a metallic gleam hovered in front of Pyrrha. Emerald eyes spotted Rad off to left. His mouth mouthed one word Pyrrha immediately recognized. Still in her crouching position she switched Milo over to rifle form, reloaded, and began firing. The moment her bullets passed through the red mirror they gained a glowing red coating that not only boosted their speed but power as well. The Painkiller stumbled from the empowered bullets now leaving sizable holes its' armor. A second mirror appeared further enhancing the power of the shoots.

_**BANG! BANG! **_

The last bullet completely blew through the center of the mech's center, and more than likely the pilot's entire chest.

_CLING! CLING! CLING! _

"Hey guys!" Buruan called over the battle field noise. "Call me crazy but I think we're actually going to win this one!" In a similar manner to Ndidi he slammed his hands into the ground. Unlike Ndidi from the cracks came stone wolves that bit and clawed at the Painkiller. First they tore the weapons out then they began clawing at the cockpit. Transforming Golden Wolf into sword form he ran up and performed a downward slash he was sure penetrated the cockpit. Based on the sizable amount of blood running down the blade's edge he had. "Yeah, I think we-"

"GAH!"

"Nora!"

The wolf Faunus snapped his head to the far right to see Nora skidding across the ground with Ren soon doing the same. Men dressed in familiar combat armor and fatigues were advancing on them, one wielding a hammer and the other wielding a two handed battle axe. Buruan ran as fast as his legs could carry while summoning two stone wolves to hold off the soldiers. Both canines pounced on the attackers only to be broken apart in one swing each.

Buruan made it in time to protect Ren while Ndidi did the same for Nora. Her grenade launcher, _Akwukwo_, had made the somewhat noisy transition into its mace form just in time to meet the glowing blade of the war axe. Buruan struggled to hold off the energized hammer the soldier was swinging with controlled strength and precise targeting. Every time their weapons struck Buruan felt the kinetic energy travel up his broadsword into his arms making them groan in pain. Eventually that groan became a shriek when Golden Wolf met the energy cased metal in a direct clash.

Ndidi saw her teammate skid off to the side following the explosion of blue sparks that came from their weapons clashing. She barely had time to turn her eyes back on her opponent when a powerful left hook blindsided her. The next thing she knew she was being grabbed by her green streaked hair and thrown to the side,

"You know that wasn't a nice thing to do to a lady pal!" Nora yelled surging forward with Magnhild unfolding. She sent the axe wielder flying through the air back into the sea of now dying flames. She quickly turned to face Ren only to find her partner had used the time Buruan gave him to recover. His would-be-killer was now lying on the ground with a collection of point blank gunshot wounds in his stomach. What cheer she was about to give was cut off by the collective howl over yonder. Her turquoise eyes counted too many of the infected lumbering through the flame wall. They took one look at Nora and the others before charging them like an angry horde of cattle. "On your feet guys! We've got another Zerg rush coming our way!" she shouted rearing her hammer back.

Jaune didn't feel like his arm was broken, fractured yes, but thankfully it wasn't broken. Neither was the shield though it now had a considerable number of dents on it. Pushing himself up Jaune saw the mercenaries had tracked them down and were now doing their utmost to kill them. Chun Tao and Rad were struggling to hold out against a trio of armed soldiers attempting to separate them from the rest of the group. Right across from them Pyrrha was doing her best to hold off four of them all by herself. Along with their skill and numbers advantage Jaune knew even she wouldn't last long. He was moving as fast as his winded body could carry him but it wasn't enough.

One of them was able to get a hold of the Spartan's right arm when she attempted to parry a sword strike, then another grabbed hold of her shield. The last one grabbed Pyrrha by the leg, both of his own having been shot through courtesy of Pyrrha's sharp shooting.

Both teenagers' mouths widened when they saw all three calmly pull the pin off of one of their grenades.

Jaune could picture what the end result would look like. They'd be lucky if they could even identity Pyrrha' remains when the battle was over. He wouldn't be able to even standing looking at them. Not without feeling that sense of failure. "NO!" His voice seemed to carry further than he'd thought it would. He caught Pyrrha's fear stricken eyes. For some unknown reason her mouth formed a perfect o-shape upon seeing him.

_**Boom!**_

Save for the infected all the combatants paused in fighting to see what was left of Beacon's star Spartan. Ren and Nora had to fight the urge to look away, too scared to see the butchered remains of their teammate. It wasn't until Ndidi yelled, "She's fine!" did they turn to look.

The Spartan's chest was rapidly rising and falling with a look of pure shock on her face. Hardly a scratch was on her thanks to the shimmering golden barrier around her. Clearly the barrier was not hers nor did it belong to any of the others based on their looks of shock. One by one the students and soldiers turned their attention to the blond knight staring in awe at what he just did.

As the surprise wore off Jaune became aware of all eyes on him, _all _of them. "Uh…did…did I do that?"

In retrospect he probably should have kept his mouth shut for the next to speak was one of the soldiers. It was the first time any of them had spoken, and he spoke only two words that broke the tenuous atmosphere like a hammer to glass. Just as his free hand tightened into a fist his entire body was overtaken by fire in a process Jaune was all too familiar with. With his attention focused solely on the blond there was no mistaking who he was talking about when he gave the order to his men.

"Kill him first."

* * *

She doubted she'd ever say it but in all honesty if Ruby was ever surrounded by White Fang terrorists she would have wanted team CRDL by her side. In the ten minutes she'd joined up with team CRDL they had taken out more enemies then she had since the battle started. At some point she'd actually stopped to stare in shock at the team of former bullies.

All four of them were channeling whatever hatred or disdain they held for Faunus into their battle against the White Fang. And they were winning.

It said something when Sky, who for as long as anyone had known him as the most docile of the team, was ruthlessly cleaving through flesh and armor like it was nothing. The true nature of his halberd's odd shape was made clear to Ruby in the scores of enemies he'd left possibility crippled for life. The blade's V-shape was designed to cut into bone then tear it apart the moment the halberd was pulled, as Ruby learned watching Sky do battle. He aimed for the shoulder blades and throats of his enemies, that or the legs to leave them broken on the ground. The bloody gashes the wounds left were enough to make even the toughest of the attackers pause to groan or yell in pain. In that moment Sky developed a habit of going for the throat. Ruby wouldn't ever forget the sight of Sky swinging his halberd at half strength so it never fully went through the neck; what it did do was take chunk a chunk out of it so the heads were left barely hanging on by a thread or two.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Chunks of bone and brain matter flew from either the heads or chests when Sky moved in close enough. He didn't flinch when he was splattered by the flesh and blood of his enemies. As Ruby danced in and out of battle she saw the quiet fire in Sky's eyes. She remembered what he had told her about how he'd lost members of his family during the Faunus. Shifting her silver eyes to his teammates the reaper came to the conclusion that was the case for all of team CRDL.

Dove and Sky were unusually aggressive in their attacks. Dove was running, slashing, and gunning at every Faunus in his sight. For added measure even after he'd impaled an enemy on his sword he fired its gun portion, practically blowing their chests wide open due to the close range impact. He attacked with reckless abandon not caring if he was wounded himself in battle, and Dove took quite a few gunshots and brunt force blows to the chest and abdomen. One blow sent him barreling through a piece of metallic wreckage.

"Dove!" Ruby called ready to go attend to the dirty blond until she was stopped by Sky. "Sky?"

"Don't Ruby." He coldly told her. "Most days yeah, but not today. Not today." He added with a grim frown.

True to his words Dove came leaping out of the rumble, his gunsword blazing red with fire. Shouting in anger he came up slashing and hacking at everything that moved.

Like him Russel was also constantly moving, constantly slashing at the Faunus terrorist that were the true root of his Faunus hatred. She'd honestly lost track of how many people he'd killed or maimed. Those daggers he wielded weren't just for show, they were true assassin blades. He went through Dust crystals fast but made the most out of each of them. One minute his blades were blazing with fire the next they were timing with frostbite. A multitude of wounds and corpses were left in Russel's wake fueling the White Fang's desire to kill him even more. The problem was Russel was using the one thing he excelled at to avoid all the attacks and injuries that would have killed him-his speed. In a way his style of fighting reminded Ruby very much of Blake given that it was built around speed and precision over brute force like their respective partner's.

Speaking of which Ruby made a mental note never to piss Cardin off to the level he was at now.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Since the day they'd met Ruby had never felt even the slightest bit intimidated by Cardin Winchester. The way she saw it there was nothing about him to be scared of. Now her entire perception of the mace wielding knight had changed.

On that day Ruby Rose, like many other spectators, could admit they were terrified of Cardin when he was fully enraged.

His mace was constantly releasing a stream of flame like energy from the red crystal at is base. His hands were painted black and red and his face anger personified. One didn't need to get close to feel the monster sized waves of killing intent rolling off the Winchester, so massive it was enough to match the collective among the White Fang were sending him.

It didn't matter if Cardin's mace hit anybody or not, the resulting explosion it produced almost always resulted in at least two casualties. As for those times it did meet Faunus flesh…neither Ruby nor any of the other combatants would ever forget the image of a human like body exploding in a shower of charred bone fragments, organs, and clothing.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Cardin never stopped his hate filled screaming as he continued blasting and smashing his way through the enemy ranks. Nothing could stop his war charge because of the near constant aura of explosive energy around him, the only thing he seemed to mind were the weaponry of the mechs. Cardin side stepped a set of rockets fired from a Paladin; his fiery violet eyes narrowed in on the mech before he kicked himself off. The little explosion he'd set off had him on the Paladin's head in seconds, scaring the pilot shitless.

"Get him off! Get him off!" The pilot shouted firing in every directing while Cardin climbed to the top.

"You might want to step back." Russel advised grabbing Ruby by the shoulder.

Ruby already knew what Cardin was going to do. As a naturally kind and caring person she couldn't help but feel pity for the Paladin pilot when Cardin raised his mace.

_**BOOM! **_

"This isn't a good time of the year for him is it?" she quietly asked watching the resulting explosion send the grunts scattering about the battlefield.

"Oh Ruby, if only you knew." Russel answered with a depressed expression on his face.

When Cardin landed back on the ground and turned to her Ruby visibly flinched. Besides Blake they'd never personally had any issue with each other, but after seeing the Winchester's rage fueled rampage Ruby was more than a little hesitant on interacting with him. Plus he was still radiating enough heat to make Ruby feel like she was cooking in a furnace.

"Your ride's here Rose." He stated grabbing her by the collar.

"Wh-What? Hey! Cardin wait! I-AHHH!" Was all Ruby could say before Cardin effortless hurled her twenty feet into the air like she was a softball.

An orange blur came out of nowhere and the next thing Ruby knew she was tucked in Chicahua's arms flying over the battlefield.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh Boss?" Dove chirped reloading his weapon.

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for that nice guy shit Dove?" the Winchester sneered. "I-"

Whatever Cardin was about to say was cut off by the winged mass that tackled him across the ground. The boys had blinked once before realizing that had just happened to their leader. Their collective blood ran cold when they heard the unmistakable roar of not one but two chainsaw engines. "Cardin!"

On instinct Cardin lashed out, just nearly keeping the second chainsaw from tearing into his face while his mace held off the other one. Once his eyes focused on the Nevermore mask staring at him and registering the killing intent his mind caught up to what had happened. "Get the hell off me you filthy freak!"

_Boom! _

Cardin never liked using his Semblance through anything but his hands or feet. Doing do made it much harder to control the blast level, in moments such as this doing it by sheer instinct resulted in Cardin himself taking some damage from his own attempt to escape. He ended up rolling over on his side while his attacker stalked towards him. Through the ringing he could hear the twin chain axes roaring to life as well his labored breathing. The knight didn't move until he could hear his breath grow in intensity. With an angry war cry mirroring his own he swung both chain axes down on Cardin. That was when he counter attacked. Springing up he struck out with his mace deflecting both axes. Removing one hand from the handle he delivered a bone shattering right hook. The eyes behind the mask widened on realization Cardin's fist was glowing red.

_Boom! _

Pieces of the Grimm mask scattered around the still body of the Faunus. Despite the lack of motion Cardin didn't take his eyes off the man for he could still sense the man's Aura. From his back a pair of condor like wings burst out through holes cut out in his uniform. With a growl he rose giving Cardin a good look at his face. Thanks to his "Landmine Fist" as his teammates called it he now had a nasty burn wound on his light brown face. The wound seemed to be centered on his forehead painting his almost jet black colored hair various shades of red. Blood trailed all done his face, his own sclera had been stained red making the exact color of his eyes hard to determine.

Despite the severity of the injury he didn't seem bothered by it. He wiped the blood from his eyes and got into a battle stance. Cardin mirrored him.

In the instant their eyes met Cardin and the Faunus knew whatever had been started between them wasn't going to end until one of them was dead by the other's hand.

"RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Yang had a feeling Ruby had had something of a rough day based on the fact she couldn't stop shaking when Chicahua set her down. "Bumpy trip?" she asked grabbing her sister to steady her.

"Y-Yeah, y-you could say that." She answered. "How's your day been so fa…" her words failed her once she took in Weiss and Blake's condition. Seeing their healed scars and wounds sharp blows against Ruby's pride as a leader. "At least it looks like Izaak's having fun."

Even though they were the middle of a warzone, infected, White Fang, and soldiers battering the defensive line they'd set up on all sides, Izaak was chatting up a storm with Councilman Anderson. He didn't look depressed in the slightest unlike the grim faces of his teammates and those around him. Ruby wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, she'd seen grown men and women incinerated, blown apart, and dismembered in the span of one hour, and that wasn't even counting her own classmates. To see someone smiling like Izaak so bashfully in this kind of situation was…

"He's crazy." Weiss stated having seemingly read her thoughts.

For several tense seconds Ruby watched Izaak and the elderly councilman exchange words, to her surprise he didn't seem at all bothered by the whole thing.

Olivia had watched the exchange and had apparently grown tired of it. Calmly walking over she took one half of Bishamon out and proceeded to whack Izaak on the head. "Fangasm later, when our lives aren't in immediate danger."

For a minute Izaak was silent, then when he looked up he had that same stupid grin on his face. "Sorry about that. I got a little caught up in…you know."

_BOOM! _

"So how's about this: Ruby you guys protect Anderson and we'll hold the line behind you. Any one disagrees?" The Viking offered. His smile fell once he saw the widening of Chicahua's eyes, by then it was already too late.

"Yeah, I have one problem with the plan." Came a male voice from somewhere within their ranks. "It's the part where Andersen lives that I have an issue with."

_SLISH! SLASH! SLISH! SLISH! _

Blake and Neil were standing too close to the four bodyguards surrounding Anderson when White Fang swordsman struck. Half of their bodies including their faces were painted red from the severed necks and arms that spewed blood. The hot and warm liquid in such amounts was alien to Blake but for Neil it acted as a stimulant.

In an instant Moralltach and Beagalltach were crossed in front of him as he stood in front of Andersen.

A flash of silver zoomed towards him, he readied himself to meet the blow, only the blow never came.

_**CLING! **_

All eyes were on the Y of team RWBY and mysterious swordsman whose blade she'd stopped dead in its tracks.

Now that he was in the open the four had a good luck at him, and to their surprise he looked to be no older than them. At best he was maybe two years older than everyone save for Ruby with enough visible muscle to tell them they stressed working out. His White Fang uniform had been modified to his personal taste: no sleeves, a left silver shoulder guard and matching arm guards. His emblem, a lion's face with a mane made of sword tips encircling it, blazed in bright gold on his waist coat. The rims of his hoodie were colored jet black in contrast to the gold scrollwork on his cloak. His face was covered by a well carved Neman mask that all but confirmed exactly what kind of Faunus he was.

Since Yang was the one currently holding off the sword she was able to get a good look at the weapon. A two handed broadsword with arcane runes carved into the blade itself. The guard was a rather simple golden bar that had a handful of dents and nicks in it.

Through the holes in his mask Yang spotted a set of deep blue eyes intensely staring her down. With a shout she forced Lion Face off, her way of telling him she wasn't going to move easily. His swordsmanship wasn't half bad, in fact it was probably one of the best Yang had ever seen.

_BING! CLING! CLANG! CLANG! CLING! BING! CLING! _

She want to erupt, to go off and pound this sword-wielding prick into a pancake but her common sense kept her temper in check. Her instincts told her is she did go off it would prove fatal, and she couldn't afford to fall on this God forsaken battleground. Around her team IONC and her own were desperately attempting to blast a way through the chaos for Councilman Anderson to get through. They could handle the White Fang and infected that were handing their way, the White Fang swordsman in front of her was different story.

_CLING! _

"You got a name sword boy?" Yang questioned parrying a slash aimed at her neck then going for a left cross.

The swordsman dodged the blow with something of a half grin and half sneer. "Lyov Kravets."

Out of the corner of her violet eyes the boxer saw a shadow swiftly move through the approaching Faunus and infected. "Yang Xiao-Long, nice knowing ya." She grinned.

The brawler's grin fell when it was mirrored on Lyov's face. Just as he and Yang broke off Blake made her move, Gambol Shroud in one hand and cleaver the other. Lyov's sword suddenly flew from his hands then heavily smashed against Blake. At the last second she was able to bring up her weapon just in time but that didn't stop the surprise from overtaking her, and Yang's faces.

"WHAT!?"

From his position behind Neil and Weiss Andersen's eyes widened considerable. _That's…! _"Break his concentration! The sword responds to mental commands but it's harmless if you're able to break his focus!"

"Good luck with that" Lyov chuckled before driving his fist directly into Yang's cheek. "Sorry Goldie locks but I've got bigger things to deal with then-"

Yang recovered from the blow instantly and fired back with a right jab that almost caught her opponent in the face. Her next jabs came at top speed yet for all her ferocity she couldn't land a hit. Blake couldn't advance to aid her partner either as she was forced into a deadly dance with the self-swinging sword. She'd fought swordsmen before but this was entirely knew. Muscle twitches, arms, finger motions, the look in their eyes, all the things she was trained to read to predict where the attack was going to come from were useless to her at the moment. Oh and that wasn't forgetting the infected that made it past Izaak's team and the others to take a piece at her.

_SLASH!_

Yang wanted to run to Blake when she saw the sword slice down her shoulder spraying blood over the place when she turned to face an approaching infected. Her single moment of hesitation resulted in a powerful left jab nailing her in the stomach. Seeing his chance Lyov spun past her then struck her with a blow from his left elbow. He was able to make two steps past her before Yang fired off a shot from Ember Celica. It nailed him right in the back causing him to face her once again.

_**SSSSLLLLLAAASSSHHH! **_

An explosion of violet colored light drew their attention to the side. Geysers of blood erupted around Blake as dozens of headless bodies flopped to the ground and Lyov's rune engraved sword spun through the air. Gambol Shroud flew towards Lyov only to be knocked back with a backhand swing he knew had to be a diversion. He looked down to see a white Glyph rotating at top speed. Lyov jumped away in the direction of his sword while Yang rejoined her teammates and Anderson.

The Faunus swordsman stood fifteen feet away from them in an eleven meter safe zone established by team IONC, a few other teams, and the last hold outs from Anderson's original bodyguards.

Ruby looked at the outer wall of enemies fighting to get in and Lyov tightly gripping his sword. It was possible those around her could sense her increasing levels of panic through the trembling in her scythe. _If we can get him out of here and to that overturned APC about ten meters to the right we can get him out of here. We've only got maybe three minutes tops before what little airspace we've got is lost._ The silver eyed reaper deduced listening to the sound of airships blasting each other out of the sky. _Izaak and the other can buy us another two minutes but we can't do anything with this guy hounding us all the way there. Not without one of us…No! I won't let that happen to any of them! _"Freezer Burn." She whispered low enough for her teammates to her. "Blake you're with me in protecting Councilman Andersen. Please sir," she spoke directly at him. "No matter what don't leave either of our sides."

"Believe me Miss Rose, I don't plan on it." The seventy year-old man replied with a nervous chuckle.

Ruby fired four shots from Crescent Rose to give Weiss time to set up her Glyph and Yang to reload Ember Celica. As she expected Lyov easily deflected them while advancing towards the five of them. The Glyph was ready long just as he stepped into Freezer Burn's area of effect.

Yang's fist was just about to make contact with the Glyph when she was hit by the soundwave.

"_**RRRROOOOAAARR!" **_

_**CRACK! **_

Instead of steam what rose from the ground were pieces of white glass. Yang didn't register what had happened until she saw the shards breaking apart right before her eyes.

"W-Wh-WHAT THE HELL!?" Was team RWBY's collective response as they watched Weiss's Glyph break into pieces. The Schnee heiress felt like the ground had suddenly been pulled from under her feet at the destruction of her Glyph.

Sneering at the shattered ground Yang charged Lyov keeping her head low. "Get him out of here!" she yelled engaging Lyov in gauntlet to sword combat.

"You protect Andersen with Ruby and I'll back Yang up!" Blake yelled following her partner.

The red and white clad members of team RWBY were still stunned by Lyov's destruction of Weiss's Glyph they barely heard their teammates. Lyov saw this and acted accordingly. He saw Ruby attempt to get a beat on his sword just as he released to occupy Blake.

"Skewer the rose." He commanded parrying Yang's punches.

His sword flew threw the air like a javelin with its target stunned into silence.

"Ruby!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake cried in alarm.

"Ep!" The reaper squealed transforming Crescent Rose then swinging it in a wild arc. _**CLING! **_The vibration that came from deflecting the sword practically liquefied her legs. She stumbled back only to be caught by Anderson. "A self-swinging sword! That is soooooo cool! But totally unfair!"

Getting a breather from Yang and Blake Lyov retook his sword with an aggravated expression on his face. "Hey you're the ones ganging up on me so you don't get to complain." One of the runes on the sword lit up, from it bright flames spread out and soon completely engulfed the sword. "Your time's up Andersen! You've got thirty seconds to make your peace before I send you off to hell!"

Despite the flaming sword and death glare pointed at him the oldest member of the Vale Council was unflinchingly calm. His mellow blue eyes blinked once then he shook his head like he'd just been a victim of mistaken identity. "No, no young man. I don't believe that is the case."

"What?"

At the last second Lyov realized what the old man was talking about; cursing he ducked his head just in time to avoid having it sliced in half by Olivia's tonfa blade. He was somewhat shaken by the cold look in the onna-bugeisha's eyes, so much so he nearly lost his head to the incoming saw-tooth sword coming from his left.

_**CLING! **_

Chicahua forced Lyov's sword down to the ground. Wearing a shit eating grin he leaned in close enough to whisper to Lyov, "It's not an easy thing ya know, holding those four off."

The lion Faunus snorted at his remark. "Could have fooled me."

Rather than be insulted Chicahua's grin deepened. With the explosions going on around them, lighting their faces all shades of red, orange, and yellow, combined with his tribal paint the Eagle's Knight's face looked positively demonic. "Then allow me to have a go. You'll find me to be much more of a challenge."

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

**That's not exactly where I wanted to end this chapter but hey, I'd say I chose a pretty good stopping point. All three teams facing rather dire predicaments and enemies more than a step above their current skill levels. Is anyone on the edge of their seats yet? The "Battle of Aemon Strip" is probably going to last for another two or maybe three chapters with that Grimm horde mentioned last chapter coming in and totally throwing things out of sync next chapter. With any luck now that my personal life is quitting down I'll be able to get back to updating more regularly. **

**Until next time stay safe readers! **


	30. Chapter 30: That Time of the Year Pt5

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 30: Just That Time of the Year Pt.5 **

Lyov knew whatever luck or element of surprise he had on his side vanished the moment he clashed blades with Chicahua. He'd heard stories of the Texecco's warriors, blood thirsty maniacs at best, and he'd longed wonder how his skills would match up against one. While he was grateful for the chance to fight one, a member of the royal family, the timing couldn't have been worse. And in light of recent events he couldn't have picked a worse opponent.

Chicahua was his equal in everything from speed to precision. His orange eyes were following his sword one minute and the next they were on Lyov. Their attacks met each other with equal force resulting in both being canceled out. _**CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! **_Their blades went every time they met each other; the sound was music to their owners' ears. Lyov jumped back attempting to put some distance between him and a stationary Chicahua. A rune on Lyov's sword sparked to life, the sword was soon engulfed in a coating of crackling yellow lightning. The lion Faunus regarded his half avian opponent coldly before dashing forward with both hands on the handle. Chicahua flipped Sprekelia into a reverse grip while holding Xolotl out to meet the attack. His face was an impassive mask that didn't crack even when dozens of explosions and stray missiles went off around him.

Lyov was expecting Chicahua's face to change when he saw him go for a spinning slash only to realize he wasn't holding his sword. Just as his empty fists swung forward he saw the growing smirk on the Eagle Knight's face.

_**CLING! SSSSHHHHRRRIIINNNGGGG! **_

His blue eyes widening Lyov shouted, "What the hell!?" at the sight of his sword being entrapped by Chicahua's whip sword. The two handed broadsword hung above the Eagle Knight's head with Sprekelia wrapped tightly around it, halting its telekinetic movements.

Once more locking eyes Chicahua flashed him a familiar grin. "Kladenets, the Self-Swinging Great Sword, I guess that's one good thing that's happened to me today." With a flick of his wrist he swung the sword to the side then shoved Lyov off. Sprekelia came close enough to hungrily bite at Lyov's Aura shielded clothing. While Lyov could feel the pieces of his Aura shield come off Chicahua saw them and took them the sign to continue attacking. Wearing a maniac grin he swung Xolotl in a horizontal slash that appeared to be nothing but a silvery blur. His orange eyes saw the pieces of Lyov's gauntlets come flying off when he raised his arms to defend. "Sneaky I'll give you that much." He chuckled spinning clockwise with Sprekelia outstretched. His saw-tooth sword met the flying arming sword in a momentary clash that sent it spinning back into Lyov's hands.

_**CLING! **_

The two boys regarded each other while their faces were illuminated by the clashing lights of Sprekelia and Kladenets. Chicahua's was one of steely calm while Lyov's was one of growing annoyance. "How the hell can you be so calm on a day like today?" he questioned attempting to overpower him only to be pushed back. "You of all people know what today means for people like us. Wouldn't your ancestors be ashamed?"

Lyov wasn't surprised when Chicahua broke out in quiet laughter even as Lyov attempted to kill him. His orange eyes regarded him with that strange light the swordsman was growing increasingly sure was madness. "Do I look that stupid to you? Of course I know what today is, not a day goes by in my life where I can forget what happened twenty-one years ago. The thing is Lyov, I can't change that." He leaned in close with the closest thing to a sneer Lyov had seen on his face. "All of this, isn't going to change what happened. I respect you as a warrior but contrary to your belief, you aren't helping our kind's situation!" Roaring he forced Lyov's sword down before ramming his head directly into Lyov's shattering his Grimm mask. "Because of what you idiots have done today every Faunus is going to be treated like a wanted criminal!" Stabbing Sprekelia in the ground he gave Lyov a right jab to the stomach that knocked the air out of his lungs. "Because you idiots a day that was already shitty enough got even worse! For everyone!" He continued with a spinning back kick to the chest. "There were no winners of that war, and there won't be as long as you think stunts like this are the way to equality!"

The Eagle Knight saw something had been lit inside the White Fang swordsman, something dangerous. Azure eyes burned with a fury that was mirrored in the lightning storm that surrounded Kladenets. The incoming slash was parried and Chicahua was forced onto the defensive as Lyov began a series of anger-filled slashes that he didn't dare attempt to stop. "Then what choice do we have!? Have you not seen the way they treat us! What they'd do to us!" Dropping Kladenets he strike at Chicahua with a series of back to back punches. While he used Sprekelia to hold off the sword Xolotl was forced to take the brunt of his punches. Each blow against the saw shield sent a small shock wave that further numbed Chicahua's arm, and that was exactly what Lyov wanted. "You don't know what it feels!" The blond swordsman shouted driving his fist directly into Chicahua's cheek.

"You're wrong there," he retorted springing forward with Kladenets hot on his tail. "I do know what that pain feels like, but it doesn't justify what you're trying to do here!"

_**BANG! CLING! **_

Both Faunus shifted their focus from each other to the R and W of team RWBY little more than seventeen yards from their current location. Orange and azure eyes zeroed in on Crescent Rose's smoking barrel then at the forming Glyph around it.

Lyov scowled as he watched the reaper take aim at him through her scope. "You people never learn." He seethed his eyes hidden by his hood. His feline ears heard the sharp intakes of breath moments before Ruby squeezed the trigger. Snapping his head up to look Ruby and Weiss in the eye he released the roar he'd let build in his chest. "**Rrrrroooooaaaaarrrr!" **

On contact with the sound wave Weiss's Glyph shattered into hundreds of pieces that blew past the stunned reaper and heiress. "I-I-Impossible…"came Weiss's broken voice.

Seeing the Schnee heiress's proud mask fall brought a devilish smile to Lyov's face. "What's wrong Schnee? Cat got your-"

"Fool!"

_**SLASH! **_

_I've…really…got to stop doing that. _The lion Faunus seethed as blood began to trail down his back to form a small puddle on the ground. Biting his cheek to steam the pain he spun around, Kladenets in hand. He ended up facing a less than pleased looking Chicahua.

"Never turn your back on an opponent, especially in a warzone!" he yelled bringing Sprekelia down only to have Lyov block it with his gauntlet. Still keeping his eyes on Lyov he shouted to Ruby and Weiss, "Get Andersen out of here! Quit letting flies in and do it!" he thundered still attempting to out muscle Lyov.

Ruby was the first to snap out of her stunned daze, grabbing Weiss she dragged her partner away from the dueling Faunus back to their charge. The sound of their sword fighting was quickly lost to the surrounding hailstorm of gunfire and shouting they waded back into.

_**SSSSLLLLLIIIISSSSHHHH! **_

Even before they could reach him Ruby and Weiss saw the councilman was well-protected; he had an axe-wielding Viking with the ability to control gravity practically walking him step by step through the battlefield. Wide gashes in the earth had been with dozens of torn and broken limbs littering the sides. Their creator walked at a steady pace with Councilman Andersen, his hazel eyes remaining narrowed at every moving figure that got too close for comfort. The infected came at Izaak in droves, dozens of them stacked upon each other.

_**SSSLLLLIIIISSSHHH! **_

Storrdetta didn't just rip the attack hordes apart, to be accurate it pulverized them like a hammer just as much as it cut them. With the added effect of gravity Storrdetta had changed into a bludgeoning weapon as well as a slashing one. Infected didn't notice the violet aura surrounding the weapon nor did they care, even when they were slaughtered in mass by it. Their was entirely focused on its wielder, and that was how Izaak wanted when Ruby and Weiss came into the inner circle he'd created. The Viking and reaper keep the triggers on their weapons squeezed while a still shaken Weiss and Olivia hustled Andersen along out of the way.

"This has been quite a day huh?" Izaak quipped reloading Storrdetta as he saw a new wave of infected coming at them from thirty yards away. Not all of them were civilians, he recognized some of their classmates and the uniforms of the Vale army on their bloody bodies. Though he broke his heart it didn't stop him from blowing them to pieces when he took aim and fired.

Ruby's response never came as a part of her was still reeling from shock much like her teammate. The redhead could feel her own fingers trembling every time she fired Crescent Rose, the weapon's kick actually making her teeth rattle. She couldn't help but look into the faces of their attackers. _**BANG! BANG! **__This is real. _Ruby realized watching one of her bullets plow through a skull then into the shambling bodies past it. She knew the boy who she'd just killed via head-shot, he used to sit next to Blake in chemistry and explosives. _**BANG! **_Through her scope she saw their faces explode in showers of blood and bone only to be swallowed up by the infected pushing past them. To see it was unlike anything Ruby had ever seen, it terrified her as evident by her shaking. _**CLICK! **_Too fast did she reach for another magazine only to drop it. "No!"

_**BOOM! **_

Pausing just as she was about to touch the ammo clip she watching a fireball engulf the area in front of her bathing her face in orange and yellow light. Her pulse calmed down enough for her to realize there was one other person beside her, a guy who was handling the situation a hell of a lot better than she was. Izaak's face was sympathetic yet at the same time it seemed…unmoved. Ruby couldn't tell what was going on behind Izaak's hazel colored eyes; his face gave way no sign of sorrow or disapproval. Internally it left Ruby feeling extremely disturbed.

Izaak's eyes moved from Ruby's face to her still trembling hands. She could tell something went through Izaak's mind, but whatever it was he didn't say it. He turned away from back to the enemy horde with a serious expression on his face. His aura, a constantly pulsating coating of green and bronze colored circles, materialized before her before it flowed into Storrdetta's pointed barrel. Silver eyes widened as the streams of gravity were concentrated into the tip of the rocket launcher; in seconds they had formed into a perfectly spherical black hole as big as a basketball.

If any of the infected were in their right mind they would have halted in their tracks and turned the other way, but they didn't. Despite the menacing black hole being aimed at them they continued their animalistic charge in their direction. What few allies Ruby and Izaak had left jumped away, terrified of Izaak's miniature black hole just as much as they were of the infected heading towards them. Ruby wasn't among them as she was glued to her spot beside Izaak. Her own cape was being pulled towards the black mass, it was only by the strength of her metal pins that it stayed rooted to her shoulders.

_I knew he had a good hold over his Semblance but to think he could do this! _Ruby marveled feeling the air literally leaving her lungs. She hadn't noticed Izaak had started speaking to her.

For what was probably the first time the two leaders shared a true eye-to-eye moment, and it was in the middle of a warzone. Izaak's eyes were focused solely on Ruby like she was the only thing in the world. "If you're squeamish with gore cover your eyes, you're not going to like what happens next."

He'd spoken so plainly that the reaper hadn't fully grasped what he was saying until he fired his black hole straight into the attacking horde. The air that had been sucking away from her was suddenly blasted across her face momentarily blinding her. With her sight gone for the moment all she could do was listen, listen to the sound of a concentrated mass of gravity bulldoze its way through a crowd of citizens, students, soldiers, and Huntsmen.

Ruby blinked once at the sound of countless bodies and limbs being sucked into the black hole, the unforgettable tearing sound that stretched onward for eternity in her mind. _**SSSSSHHHHEEEEEERRRRRRRR!**_, it went making her heart nearly jump out of her chest. When she peaked ahead she swathe black and violet black hole soaring across the ground, literally sucking up everything within a ten yard radius. The best way Ruby could describe what the black hole did to the infected was akin to watching a person tear paper apart bare handed, it even had the sound to go with it. Blood, bones, organs, and all were visible for a single second as bodies were ripped apart before they disappeared into the infinite darkness of the black hole.

Izaak's black hole was prepared and fired in two minutes, and in that two minutes the dozens upon dozens of infected that had been moments from overwhelming Ruby and Izaak had a major hole blown in their line. Another second later and a second hole had been blown through their line. A multitude of gunfire and missiles came down not too soon after it continuing the slaughter Izaak had begun. The already torn bodies were either entirely incinerated or cut up into bloody chunks that littered the ground like rain drops.

The fifteen year old reaper had fell to her knees before she even knew what had happened. She was faintly aware of Izaak staring at her with a sideways glance she didn't care too much about. Her mind was in a fog-like daze not even the ringing of her Scroll could reach. The only thing she had on her mind was the smell, that thick metallic smell that filled her nostrils to the point she could taste it on her tongue.

The Viking regarded the reaper with a mild frown on his dust covered face. _I wonder if seeing that stuff's going to give her nightmares. _The familiar smell of blood was so prevalent Izaak could taste it, he had a feeling he'd be skipping steak or pork if it was served at the academy. Taking a quick glance around him he realized he might not be the only one making that choice. Seeing they had a moment to catch their breath he reached for his Scroll which had been ringing for the past minute or so. "Hello? Um, excuse me? B-But I mean isn't there another team that can-no, no we're on it. Just tell him to sit still until we get there." It Izaak a fair amount of willpower to keep from hurling his Scroll into the wreckage. As he trotted over to Ruby he was faintly aware his eye was twitching-an annoying habit he'd developed in his early teen years. By the time he was standing over Ruby the reaper could tell they had just been given some possibly suicidal new order. When she opened her mouth to ask him what it was she only got a word reply from him, "Yahtzee."

* * *

Odds were this was going to be the last day Sun would go semi-shirtless until spring came or they got back to Mistral. His willingness to go shirtless had gotten him more than a handful of glances from countless females while the males simply rolled their eyes at him. At the moment Sun wasn't kicking himself for not wearing proper clothing in early fall weather, he was kicking himself for wading into a warzone without any sort of protection. Sun liked to say his Aura control was better than most, and that was him being modest. If it wasn't for that proud control he would have had his guts spilled out on the ground.

After another failed swing the Lieutenant roared at him, "You stupid monkey! Quit jumping around or is running away all you know how to do!" He came at him again, practically sliding across the ground with his chainsaw in the perfect position of a thrusting attack.

Putting one foot in front of the other the sweat covered leader of team SSSN stood firm with Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang in nunchunk form, held underneath his arms. His breathing was steady and controlled despite the flaming tool of murder heading for him. Sun had a plan, a risky plan he was hoping would end the fight in one shot. The distance between him and the Lieutenant had narrowed to a mere four feet when his feet swiftly slid across the ground and his transforming bo-staff reassembled into its proper former. Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang made four complete rotations in Sun's hands then it smacked against the roaring teeth of the chainsaw. The resounding crack was like thunder. Spinning to the Lieutenant's right Sun broke Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang back into shotgun form and pointed one of them at the Lieutenant's exposed rib side.

_**BANG! **_

Bright blue bolts of electricity exploded with the smoke and Aura shards temporarily obscuring Sun's vision. His Faunus vision could smell the blood from the wound but it wasn't enough; somehow the Lieutenant's flame coating had taken more of the blast than he'd predicted. The older man's pain filled scream was followed by the roaring of the flames around him and his chainsaw. Just as his feet began to move back the chainsaw came back at him, now propelled the Lieutenant's adrenaline and his anger.

_**SSSCCCRREEECCCHH! **_

Sun bit his cheek to keep from screaming in pain as blood sprayed from the open wound on his chest. While Sun had taken serious wounds before, few of them had been burn wounds, especially from flames that seemed to be burning with the heat of hell. "I should have aimed higher." The blond realized watching the Lieutenant turn around to face him. His attack hadn't been completely useless, judging by the jet of flames leaking out of the man's right side Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang had done some serious damage. The Lieutenant switched his chainsaw from his right hand to his left with his hateful glare burning holes in Sun's head.

"One for one," he stated focusing the flames into his chainsaw much to Sun's silent shock. "Guess first one to tip the score wins!" The chainsaw became a jet booster the Lieutenant gleeful used to rocket towards Sun. In a flash he brought his weapon down on him, Sun cursed in frustration and agony as he was almost forced to a single knee. "I'm not done with you monkey boy!" he thundered into Sun's face. To the blond's shock the Lieutenant balled his right hand into a fist, and with a grunt of effort slammed it directly into his gut.

Sun felt the air leave his lungs as he skidded across the broken ground. It wasn't just the force but the flame coating of the gut shot that had knocked him off his feet. It felt like Yang had just sucker punched him at what might have been half power. The Lieutenant came into his field of vision fast causing him spring up to one knee, Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang in hand. The nunchunk parried the attempt downward swing giving Sun time to roll back while the Lieutenant wound up for another swing.

A stream of bright blue lightning raced across the ground and impacted the Lieutenant just as he was coming into striking distance. The blast knocked him off his feet and across the ground into a mound of burning debris.

The monkey-Faunus's grey eyes met those of his blue haired teammate. The encounter was only a second long as the rest of Sun's team had their own fights to contend with.

Neptune wasn't too seriously wounded but his body had several burns that were starting to slow him down bit by bit. His glaive moved up, down, and sideways to deflect the plethora of attacks coming at him. He was constantly stepping backwards trying to put some distance between him and the four grunts pressing him while his main target, Bull Face, hanged back. As Neptune did his best to parry the swords and axes coming at him Bull Face was gathering flames around himself. The sharp horns of his Grimm mask expanded until they were almost as tall as he was. Neptune knew what was coming when the four grunts brought their weapons down on the shaft of his weapon. He heard the kick off that cracked the ground followed by the trail of flames propelling him towards Neptune.

If he didn't time it perfectly Neptune knew he was going to end up a charred carcass, another body to be added to the hundreds, thousands that had already died today. Gritting his teeth he vowed he wasn't going to let that happen. Channeling his Aura into his war glaive caused the blade to glow an even brighter shade of blue then before, wild arcs of electricity jumped out frightening the grunts pressing him.

Throwing the four off of him he side stepped to the left exactly as Bull Face kept past him, his speed and power turning him into a living rocket. One with E-brakes as not four feet after he'd pasted him Bull Face spun on his heel and lunged at Neptune with a right hook aimed straight for his rib cage. Lightning blazing around his glaive turned trident Neptune brought the weapon down creating small explosion of blue and red. Bull Face howled behind his mask, in that moment Neptune withdrew his trident then thrusted it forward. The lightning blue tips went straight through his Aura digging into his flesh. He didn't stop at the howl of pain, he pushed his trident deeper causing more wild bolts of electricity to shoot out in all directions.

"Y-You filthy-gah!" Bull Face managed through the outpour of blood from his mouth. Both his flaming hands were on the trident's shaft but to no avail could he pull it out. "I'm going to-"

Neptune pushed again, forcing Bull Face to the ground with his trident still impaled in his stomach. With a roar of fury he turned the voltage up creating a localized lightning storm right there on the Faunus's body. When the lightning at last faded the flames died down as well; breathing hard Neptune let his shoulders ease back on the realization it was over. Pulling his trident free he stared at the charred corpse that used to be a person. There was a gaping hole in his stomach with charred edges from which smoke constantly rose and sizzled. Staring down at it Neptune could see the half-vaporized organs nestled quietly in the depths of the hole he'd created.

Stepping back for a minute Neptune felt like he was going to vomit right then and there. Pushing down the vile he whipped his trident to the side flicking blood onto the broken concrete. He still had a fight to finish and hopefully teammates to save.

Sage and Scarlet were pushing Bear Face and Lizard Face back from what he could see. Sage's sheer strength was beginning to wear on Bear Face, whose flame coating was beginning to fizzle out as every second passed. The same could be said for Lizard Face who was attacking Scarlet with all the fury of an angry bear. Unfortunately for her Scarlet was out maneuver her at every move-his cutlass easily sliding her chainsaw sword to the side where he then took the time to either knee her in the gut or the face. In a rage Lizard Face swung her weapon blindly all around her. As Scarlet fell back Sage broke off from Bear Face to come at her. Swinging his great sword with both hands gave him the force needed to knock her off balance when he parried her right side swing. Leaping over Sage's shoulder Scarlet met Bear Face's double ended staff in a clash of sparks and embers. Dropping to one knee he fired his flintlock directly into his enemy's leg.

Snarling through his mask Bear Face swung his double ended staff along the ground, his intent seeming to be to create a defensive wall of fire. Scarlet rolled away then sprang off his heel. His cutlass cutting through the flame encased flesh of the Faunus. Just as the man fell to his knee the redheaded teenager jammed his flintlock into his backside then pulled the trigger. The flames surrounding Bear Face died out, and a blooming flower of ice erupted from his back knocking him to the ground.

Sage saw his adversary had been distracted by her partner's fall, he took advantage of it without hesitation. Expanding his great sword into a fan he first extinguished her flames as well as knocked her back then he called to his partner. "Scarlet! Fastball special!" In a flash his partner was seated on the flat of his fan.

"Ready!"

Lizard Face was on her feet but by then Scarlet was practically in her face. Her flaming eyes saw the cold determination in his green orbs moments before she saw a flash of red-lined silver. Pain erupted from her left shoulder whilst blood sprayed from the wound. Hundreds of embers leapt out of the wound like water spilled from a bag causing her even greater pain.

"Kill you," she seethed keeping one hand pressed over the wound. "I'm going to kill both of you little shits! I'll do it even if it's the last thing I do!" A river of white hot fire erupted from the shoulder wound shocking Sage and Scarlet. The flame coating that had been moments away from dying was now burning hotter than ever; the chainsaw sword in her hand roared to life with the same fire now fueling its owner. "You're first pretty boy!" Lizard Face screeched lunging at Scarlet.

There was no way in hell Scarlet was going to be able to fight off Lizard Face in her current state which was why Sage sprinted to get between her and him. Blasting himself off the ground he came up in front of him and raised his sword just in time to halt her attack. Immediately the increase in power became obvious as he could feel himself sliding back from the force of her attack. His arms hissed in pain from the impact of her second swing.

"Sage! Scarlet! Heads up!"

Three sets of eyes swerved to the right to saw a door-sized chunk of rock heading straight for them. Lizard Face had just enough time to shout in surprise before she was blasted off her feet by the oversized chunk of empowered rock.

Dropping his sword Sage grinned the approaching V and Y of team CVFY. "Took you guys long enough to get here. I was beginning to worry you'd gotten lost."

Velvet smirked at his feeble attempt at humor. "Nice to see you too Sage. Where's Sun and Neptune?"

Scarlet was the one to answer her, now sitting on his rear end with sweat cascading down his forehead. "Dealing with Leatherface's more psychotic twin brother. Neptune is probably on his way to help him."

"Coco and Fox are heading their way too. That's good because they're probably going to need it." Yasuhashi mused planting his sword into the ground. The towering youth wasn't looking at them but at the smoke covered sky, his expression grim.

Scarlet felt a familiar chill run up his spine before the Wyvern's roar assaulted his ears. "Shit."

"It's not like they could just stay away from a slaughter fueled by twenty years of racial hatred." Sage clarified as a three foot black stinger implanted itself in the ground mere inches from him. "This is why I hate this time of the year." He huffed getting to his feet. The first of the Nevermores came at him with its beak wide open.

_**SLASH! **_

"More vermin." The Lieutenant growled watching Coco and Fox take their place beside Sun.

"This guy giving you a tough time?" Coco questioned lazily swinging her handbag from side to side.

"If you think he's a push over you're more than welcome to take my place." Sun grinned while keeping his palm over his chest. The wound had almost finished closing but he was still in pain. "At least I managed to get him down to one arm."

"I hope you've got some energy saved for later because after him we've got another problem." Coco stated loading up her mini-gun.

"Oh trust me, I can handle more batshit terrorists and psychos." Was the blond's all too-quick reply.

"That's not what I mean Sun." Coco answered with an edge in her voice.

At first he was puzzled by what they meant until he heard the chorus of demonic buzzing and howls. "Oh for the love of…" came his curse as the clouds parted to reveal dozens of jet black shapes.

The number of Abeille were simply too many for Sun to count. Their black and red shapes moved in an angry mass rained down death on whatever was below them. Their glass-like red eyes stared down at the slaughter-feast happening below them, to them it must have looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Theirs stingers continuously fell across the battlefield, striking combatants of every faction with deathly accuracy.

Alongside the Abeille were dozens of Oniyanma, exactly what Sun wanted to see at the moment. Unlike their bee brethren the Oniyanma moved in zigzag lines at the speed of bullets. Their wings, barely visibly to the naked eye, were releasing hundreds of crescent shaped projectiles that cleaved through everything in their path like well sharpened knives. As opposed to the stingers of the Abeille the Oniyanma's infamous "Air Cutters" were leaving mutilated chunks in their wake instead of whole corpses.

"Everyone hit the ground!" Came a loud voice.

Almost everyone, White Fang or not complied. _Almost _everyone.

"You think I'm scared of a few bugs? Hah! Typical human scum! All bark and no bite!" The Lieutenant exclaimed as he ran at the three.

"Are you insane?" Coco shouted while Sun erected a Dust barrier around them.

The Lieutenant's chainsaw shattered the barrier forcing the three to scatter. Coco was about to take aim at him when she heard the whistling of stingers in her left ear. Cursing she rolled away just as five three foot long stingers impaled the ground. Shooting the other two boys a glare she took aim at the sky and squeezed the trigger.

Fox didn't wait for Sun's signal, he went straight for the Lieutenant, eyes narrowed into white slits. His spin attack was easily parried by the Faunus but he followed it up with an empowered uppercut that almost connected. As he fell back Sun leaped forward, striking their enemy in the center of the chest. The Lieutenant powered out the attack and swung downward, releasing a line of concentrated flames towards the boys. Both boys rolled to the side then sprinted towards him.

_**CCCLLLINNNGGG! **_

Immediately after their pincer attack failed Sun and Fox fell back, content to bide their time until the circle of flames fell. The Lieutenant came out of the cloud of fire before it had fully dissipated, his target being Sun.

"Sun, head down!"

With a grin the monkey Faunus dropped to his knees as the stream of azure lightning sailed over him. Snorting the Lieutenant swatted it aside and continued his charge. Running up alongside his partner Neptune swung his war glaive exactly as Sun swung Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang.

_**CLING! **_

For twenty-four seconds the Lieutenant was off guard, totally defenseless. Fox and the resident Oniyanma took advantage of it, both sides firing off dozens of compressed air blades that impacted him at almost the exact same minute.

With the Faunus seemingly dead in their eyes the Grimm turned their attention to the boys. Black and red blurs came in their direction. Sun jumped in front of Neptune breaking up Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang into nunchunk form.

"I hate this things!" The closest geek screamed firing his arc gun in every direction.

"Like you're the only one who does! You think I have it easy!" Fired back Sun. To the naked eye it seemed as if the blond had suddenly grown an extra set of arms for they were moving up, down, left, and right at speeds only a trained warrior could have achieved. The red and gold weapons neutralized the Air Cutters resulting in countless explosions of air. _First I have people spit in my face, throw trash at me, then the sky started following, the White Fang nearly turn me into chopped monkey, and now I have Grimm on my ass. Yeah, this is why I love this time of the year! _Sun could feel those few Air Cutters he couldn't deflect cutting into his body. _Come on damn it hold together! _He increased his pace causing the pain in his chest to erupt once again. "Gah!" The leader of team SSSN cried as he fell to his knee, his blood running down the gaping gash on the side of his right leg.

"Sun!" Neptune cried.

_**RRROOOAAARR! **_

Neptune could feel his heart drop when he saw the Wyvern plow through the Abeille and Oniyanma. Its soulless eyes took one look at the injured Sun and opened its jaws. Seeing the fire building up in its throat Neptune readied his arc gun, fully aware it was probably going to be his last shot.

_**BBLLIIIISSSHHH! **_

Duel eyes widened as a focused stream of plasma tore through the Wyvern's neck, extinguishing the flames as well as the life of the Grimm. Its already dissolving body fell to the ground leaving behind nothing but a mask and bone fragments. Flabbergasted Sun and Neptune turned their eyes to the origin of the blast. They could hear loud, boisterous laughter rising over the sound of of stingers and Air Cutters piercing the air.

"Now this shit is what I call a party! Way better than that sewer gig we had to work last time, eh Monkey Boy? Goggles?"

"N-N-No way…" Sun whimpered feeling the air leave his already tired lungs. His whole body had gone numb but it was nothing compared to Neptune who was ashen like a ghost.

The silenced geek felt like the entire world had just been pulled out from under him. Desperately he tried telling himself he was hallucinating, that his brain had finally snapped from all the pressure. Sadly his ears weren't exactly intent on doing that. "Th-That's not…there's no way in hell that's possible!" he screamed at the top of his lungs."

Flashing them the same wide grin as before Hoyt hosted his zewihander on his shoulders. He regarded them with a leering smile as another Wyvern fell to the ground behind him. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

* * *

After the first jab to the gut Jaune honestly felt like staying on the ground for the rest of the evening. Before he could get up one of the mercenaries smacked him back to the ground, and then he could feel himself being slammed through solid metal. He was sure at least five of his bones were broken, maybe one or two of his ribs. His vision returned just in time to see him standing directly across from him. He held out his flaming hand, crimson light began building up for a few seconds before shooting towards Jaune in the form of a focused stream of fire.

Cursing his rotten luck he held his shield up only rather than blocking the attack it pushed Jaune back against an overturned APC. His left hand was screaming in pure agony he was forced to prolong for if he didn't he'd be a pile of ashes. "THIS SHIT HURTS!" The Arc yelled felling as if his arm was going to come off. In the haze of pain he could hear his teammates attempting to reach him but they were too far away to help him. _This is really it, _Jaune thought grimly. His legs were beginning to buckle and his shield was rapidly turning red. _This really is the place that I'm going to die in. And just like my ancestors it's going to be by fire! No girlfriend! No epic stories to tell! Nothing! _He'd dropped his sword to use his right hand to reinforce his shield arm but it wasn't doing anything. Mentally he began counting down how long it would be until he was nothing but a pile of ashes or worse a charred corpse.

Then a miracle happened.

_SWOSH! SWASH! SLLLIIISSSSHHH! _

The stream of flames instantly stopped, Jaune's arms fell to the side as he slid down to the ground too tired to move. Sweat interfered with his vision so he couldn't see the approaching figure too well, but he was at least able to discern he wasn't a hostile.

"Aye, they sure did a number on you didn't they Jaune." Commented the male voice. A cool hand wiped the sweat from Jaune's eyes allowing him to see the passive face of Professor Mulnix. His green eyes were dark with concern that cleared up a little on contact with Jaune's blue orbs. "Look at me Jaune, how many fingers am I holding up?"

The smart answer would have been to lie so he could have been dimmed unfit for further combat. Jaune wasn't a very smart person. "Two, and you're not alone are you?"

With an amused laugh he helped Jaune to his feet; he'd already begun pouring his Aura into Jaune to replenish his vitality. "Jaune, I know right now you're probably extremely winded but we need all the manpower we can get. The enemy's assaulted the Torch." Seeing the teenager's immediate attempt to straighten up surprised Mulnix. A minute ago and the boy was on the brink of collapse and now he was doing all he could to stand as firmly as possible.

"What do you need us to do?" he asked looking him in the eye.

"We have a way to turn this battle around, maybe even end it. Right now the defenders are being pressed and we need a new batch to replace them."

"B-But what about things here?" The blond questioned. "D-Don't you-"

"Jaune," Mulnix firmly cut him off. "Conely's Torch is a vital part of not just the city but the kingdom period. We _cannot _afford to lose it to an army of terrorist and guns-for-hire, especially when all the world is watching us. You will take your team and team CNBR to the defensive line and you will hold it until further order. Is that understood?"

If his Aura hadn't breathed new life into Jaune then his words certainly had. Jaune felt like a candidate being given an order from his commanding officer, a mix of fear and eagerness swelling in his gut. "Y-Y-Yes sir!"

The next ten minutes were a blur of movement. Jaune remembered climbing onto the airship while Mulnix and the Beacon professors clashed with the mercenaries. Just from the quick glimpses they caught they saw their teachers were fighting them on equal footing; a far cry from their own battle with them.

"Well shit," Buruan grunted leaning against the cabin wall. "Seeing that makes me feel so…small."

"Seriously Buruan, not helping." His partner stated putting her hands together. Chun Tao's eyes closed as a thin peach-colored aura radiated from her heart. Beside her Ren performed the same motions only the aura that encased him was bright pink like the singular strand of his hair.

Whilst the two martial arts users took the time to heal themselves Jaune peered out the cabin window. Watching the scenes of carnage made his stomach do summersaults. Whatever that strange gas was it had turned Faunus and human alike into savage killing machines. They tore at everything that moved regardless of affiliation. The mercenaries, who he realized were wearing gas masked, ran through the battlefield with grenade launchers. Their payloads exploded into clouds of blood red gas that was quickly inhaled by combatants. In seconds whatever chemical agent it contained took effect.

Both sides of the conflict turned from each other to the face the infected now greedily gunning for them all. Jaune saw men and women fighting side by side only to turn on each other as one savagely lashed out at another. Thousands of severed limbs littered the ground along with river systems of blood formed from fissures and craters left by the battle. The Arc saw bodies blasted apart as well as cut down by all manner of weapons. Mechs angrily stopped along the ground blasting humans, Faunus, and vehicles a part like leaf piles. Against their metal surface the infected's hands and teeth were useless. Energy fields expanded from them whenever they were overwhelmed-charred bodies and body parts sailed over the polluted air only to hit the ground with loud splats he could hear even from the airship's cabin.

"This is…awful." The young knight whispered loud enough for his classmates to hear. Many regarded him with a sympathetic or outright depressed expression. They already knew the situation and didn't feel the need to look out the window to see it.

The spellcaster of team CNBR ran his bandaged hand over his red hair. "This is what war looks like Jaune. Take a photo of this, replace the city with the jungle and this is what the Faunus Rights Revolution looked like twenty-one years ago."

"Do you think that's what their plan was?" Pyrrha questioned. She was shaking, the star freshman of Beacon Academy was shaking just like the rest of them. "The White Fang I mean, do you think they wanted to recreate history?"

No one answered her, not Buruan or Ndidi who merely turned their heads away.

_**Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! **_

Each of the teenagers grabbed onto whoever or whatever they could as the airship violently jerked to the left then to the right. "Guuuuuyyyyss," Buruan called with a frantic expression on his face.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Ren muttered pulling out a spherical shard of Dust. The close-combat specialist already knew what was coming and wasn't happy about it. It was probably going to be a while before any of them got on an airship again after what was going to happen to them. "Put us down!" he called to the pilots. "Everyone huddle together!"

Nora immediately flung her arms around him practically squishing their faces together. "What? You said huddle?"

"I think you meant cuddle Nora." Buruan joked.

"Oh like you're one to talk B." Ndidi called referring to the fact the wolf Faunus was gripping Chun Tao in a similar albeit less extreme fashion as Nora.

"Bail out!" One of the pilots screamed as the tears became visibly in the haul of the airship. "Bail out! This is Striker-034, we've been hit and are going down! I repeat we are going-bail out! Get the hell out of here! Get out!"

A transparent orb of light had consumed the eight, a layer of glass and red quartz was quickly added to it seconds after its creation. The eight freshmen shut their eyes tight as the airship completely broke a part around them in a storm of toxic fire. Unseen masses slammed against their barrier sending them sailing through the air. Everyone grabbed hold of whoever was next to them as the hits continued coming.

"EVERYONE HOLD ON!" Pyrrha commanded as they descent increased in speed.

"THIS IS WHY I HATE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR!" Ndidi screamed moments before their spherical barrier impacted the ground.

_**THHHUUMMMPP!**_

On impact the eight scattered across the ground like marbles, each of them groaning at the pain of impact. They didn't have long to wallow in their pain as each was roughly pulled up to the ground by.

"You the reinforcements?" A soldier yelled into Chun Tao's ear nearly deafening her.

"Yeah, that's us!"

"Then move to the fourth defensive line! Fight off whatever the hell makes it past the fifth! Set your Scrolls to Channel-K!" He hollered before running off back to the front.

"Where the hell's the fourth layer? And why are they sending us that close to the front?" Jaune yelled. The gunfire and chaos was so loud he had to yell at the top of his lungs just to be heard.

_**BOOOOOOMMMM! **_

After catching themselves the students turned to the front row, maybe four miles or so from their current position. Yellow colored smoke was raising from the squadron of crashed airships forming a thick column that was touching the sky.

As wolves had one of the sharpest noises of the animal kingdom, a noise that could smell hundreds distinct odors with ease, it was Buruan who picked up the smell before his classmates. His canine noise took in large woofs of the distinct smell now spreading through the assembled mass of soldiers and Huntsmen. "Guys…" The smell was coming from every direction, every person and every weapon reeked of it, Buruan clapped his hands over his noise in an attempt to keep it out but it was no use. The trails of yellow smoke were dissipating on their side of the field however it had already stuck to every man and woman present. "The gas, the yellow gas they were spaying everywhere," he explained with a shell-shocked voice once they all turned to face him. "It's not a biological agent, it's a pheromone."

Simultaneously all their eyes went wide as the moon upon hearing his proclamation.

No sooner did the defenders hear the colossal cry of the infected, closer and more united than they'd ever been. Hundreds of heads turned to the miles long field that separated Conley's Torch from the rest of Aemon Strip. They came into view almost instantly, a sweeping tide of bodies fueled by a primal rage that had replaced their treasured humanity.

"…G-G-G…Guys…." Came the resident knight's fear-stricken voice. "I…I…I'm….I'm…I-I…I'm…"

"Scared shitless?" replied Ndidi's equally fearful voice.

"…You…You're….not alone Jaune. Not today." Added the Spartan much to everyone's dismay.

"_Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Adelhard Von Blu of team ATHM speaking for the Conley Torch command! As a direct order from Vale Central Command, from General Cedar himself, we cannot afford to lose the Torch. A counter offensive has been planned and activated but will need three minutes to take effect! The defensive line is to be held for that amounted time! I repeat-a defensive line must be held for three minute time!" _

After Adelhard some unknown military officer took over the broadcast; by then the eight students had stopped listening.

_Three minutes. _They collectively thought as they looked at themselves then at each other. No one's eyes were free of fear nor did anyone make a show of hiding it.

Taking a deep breath the peach-eyed leader of team CNBR broke the silence. "In case we don't make it through this…it's been an honor." She said looking around at everyone with the bravest face she could muster.

Before anyone could say anything in response a booming voice came over the Scrolls. "GRIMM! THE GODDAMN GRIMM ARE COMING"

There were no smart remarks about how much worse things could have gotten. At this point it was redundant.

* * *

"OPEN FIRE!"

* * *

Forty-seconds in and the fifth line collapsed into the fourth. After that the combined fourth line was grinding against the Zerg rush that had become the infected and Grimm. Thousands of guns had fired at the same second, a thunderstorm of modern artillery that deafened the heavens themselves. From hundreds of miles away, at the back of the battle and in homes far away from Aemon Strip the thunderstorm could be heard. Children who weren't already hugging their parents were now gripping them like their lives depended on it. Parents hugged their children and each other as tight as they could for they too were caught in the adamant grip of fear.

Shell casings of every cartridge and type pelted the ground, the rain of the storm that enveloping Conley's Torch. Hundreds slipped and fell back to hit not the broken ground but the pseudo floor of shell casings that had been created. Crashes and explosions sent clouds of casings up into the air only to rain back down.

_**CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! **_

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **_

Fire, air blades, sharp as steel feathers, stingers, and soundwaves rained down on the defenders of countless red and black aerial monsters soared the skies above them. Some were brought down by the concentrated fire of the defenders while others soared up far out of their range. Bodies were blown, shredded, and crushed like scraps of paper before the eyes of hundreds of people, millions since they were being broadcast to the world.

_**BOOOOOMMMM! BOOOOOOM! **_

Only the fifth line saw the explosives attached the infected before they went off. No one who saw them had enough time to report them before they were either pulverized, slashed, or incinerated by the plethora of death heading their way. The explosions shocked the other four lines as they had no idea what had happened. From out of the smoke and ash came the rest of the infected wave, totally unhampered by the infernos blooming in front of them.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **_

Deep within the fourth line stood an utterly terrified knight who could do nothing but watch as hundreds were slaughtered right before his eyes. He couldn't count the manners of death he saw unfolding but they all had one thing in common-they all left him feeling absolutely sick. His trembling hands kept Crocea Mors at the ready even though inside he was praying they wouldn't see use. With every word over the coms and every explosion that hope grew dimmer and dimmer. To his right his teammate's twin machine gun pistols constantly screeched and at his left the Spartan's timed shots nearly shook his teeth out with the loud cranks. Going beyond them the firearm forms of his classmates' weapons collectively howled. Even Rad, whose unconventional weapon would have seemed useless was casting spell after spell from his spell book. Fire, lightning, ice, oversized boulders, and pure energy blasts came from him as he flipped through page after page.

An invisible bolt of lightning struck Jaune as those around him fired into the oncoming waves of enemy. _Useless…I'm freakin useless._ For a moment his blue eyes fell to the sword and shield in his hands. Suddenly hatred welled up inside him manifested in a tight half-snarl on his face. _This is it! I'm supposed to use this…to survive hell! What the hell is wrong with me? Why didn't I ever…_Jaune tried to imagine what any of his ancestors would have done in this kind of situation. Not two seconds into following that train of thought he realized the obvious choice, a shield wall, was completely out of the question. _Melee, _he seethed watching an infected dash past two Huntsmen whose throats he'd slashed. _The 'dance of death' is all my weapon is built for. Was built for…what I let it…_

"HEADS UP!"

The tremor snaked through the ground catching everyone's breath. Suddenly Pillars of azure fire or plasma erupted from the ground, completely consuming the infected and Grimm above them. The energy bended and warped into snapping whips and tentacles that struck out and swept through the hordes. The faces of the youths dropped as more of these pillars sprung up from the ground breaking the Zerg rush a part but not halting it completely.

Jaune could hear Adelhard's name reach his ears and he instantly knew what he was seeing was the Knight of Brightroar's Semblance. For a moment he felt a false sense of security take hold of him. That moment was when he was body checked by an infected. Crocea Mors flew from his grip, the infected's fist roughly slammed against Jaune's cheek then came another.

Seeing a set of bloody jaws coming for him Jaune acted on instinct, "NO!" His hands went to the infected's head and throat to keep his infected jaws from touching him. He'd seen too many zombie movies to know what being bitten meant. "Get off of me! Get the hell off of me!" At the last second Jaune saw the concentration of red building on the right side of the infected's forehead. He didn't comprehend it until he saw it grow to golf ball size. Then it burst.

_**SPLAT! **_

Hot blood sprayed Jaune's face earning an ear-piercing scream of surprise. The body fell on top of Jaune dead. Blood racing Jaune grabbed his sword and started slashing at anything that moved. _Head! Head! Head! _His primal combat instinct shouted in his ear and he followed it.

"GAH!"

"HEAD DOWN!"

"AAAHHHH!"

"OUT! I'M OUT OF AMMO!"

"GET OFF ME! GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!"

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

His field of vision was limited but Jaune could see they were being pushed back, hell, they had already been merged with the third line. _Three minutes, hasn't it been three minute yet! _He prayed whatever the counter offensive was it happened soon. A Wyvern's fireball impacted next to him throwing him away. Hitting the ground he saw an infected woman coming at, mouth dripping blood. He slashed at her hand taking it off then across her stomach spilling blood. When she still didn't stop he drove his sword through her throat. Spinning around as he pulled it out he split the head of the next infected in half. Somebody tackled him bringing him to the ground. Kicking and screaming he tried to get the infected off as tried to bite into his shoulder.

"JAUNE!" The Spartan shouted charging through the crowd. Milo separated the head from the body in a flash of gold and red. "Jaune-"

_**SPLAT! **_

Right before his eyes the Spartan went down, a trail of blood following her.

_**SPLAT! **_

Jaune rolled across the ground, blood trailing down his left shoulder. Biting through the pain he crawled towards his shield. Behind him a towering pillar of that same azure energy erupted, eradicating a good number of infected but still not enough. More climbed over their dead to get at whoever they could. Two leapt at Jaune only to hit the scarred surfaced of his shield. Pushing back he took the heads off both in a single slash. Frantically Jaune searched for Pyrrha but he couldn't find her amidst the chaos.

"PYRRHA! REN! NORA! BURAUN! CHUN TAO!"

"JAUNE! JAUNE! AAAAHHHHH!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

There was no escaping the screaming, the omnipresent screaming that now filled his world. _Damn it….damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! _More bodies fell in front of him, their death howls reverberating through his skull. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! GOD DAMN IT!" Jaune roared to the stained skies.

Hundreds of eyes were blinded by the luminous golden light that erupted from the seventeen year-old. What onlookers could agree on was that it came from Jaune Arc, exactly what it was none of them could identify. The infected went straight for the light hell bent on destroying it.

_**BINNNNGGG! **_

Right before their eyes the defenders watched the dome of golden light not only repel the infected but outright send their broken bodies soaring across the air like cannonballs. The dome grew causing the same to happen to the infected, their surprised cries being the last sounds they ever made. Above them the Grimm opened fire on the light only for the flames to instantly be extinguished and stingers sent back to their owners with the force of artillery shells, shredding them like they had done to the humans.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Ren yelled watching the light grow. He braced himself as the light advanced towards him and Nora.

The two felt…something pass through them as the dome passed straight through them and the rest of the defenders. Before they too were blinded the Viking and martial artist looked between each other. Both their eyes were filled with a starry eyed wonder they'd rarely felt.

"Jaune…" they both concluded before their world was engulfed by a blinding light.

* * *

_Jaune! Jaune! Can you hear me! _Came a voice in the knight's mind.

_Mr. Von Blu? _

_YES JAUNE! WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW KEEP DOING IT! HOLD FAST JAUNE! HOLD FOR YOU TEAMMATES! YOUR FRIENDS! STAND STRONG!_

Jaune had no idea how he was hearing the older knight's voice in his head; it was possible it was his mind going over the edge. It wasn't just that he could hear Adelhard's voice in his head but he could feel it-like he was right there beside Jaune. Even if he hadn't asked him Jaune only had one thought on his mind and that was protecting his friends. No, not just them, everyone around him.

Jaune felt something powerful inside him banging against the confines of his body. He heard its plea for release.

"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

* * *

On the outside battle spectators paused in their battles and activities to watch the golden dome expand to encompass nearly all of the front of Conley's Torch. In after reports many would describe the dome as being one of the most mystical things they'd ever seen; the light, the color, all of it seemed almost magical in essence. Some compared it to the moon given its luminous glow and sparkle. Moments after its creation a wave of blue energy of an equally mystical natural attached itself to the dome causing it to triple in size and intensity. The light grew harsher producing heat to go with the now sun-like radiance.

Overhead satellite images pin-pointed two sources of energy, their Auras comparable to small scale energy reactors.

One of them was azure blue and the other was golden yellow.

* * *

**Here's hoping I was able to portray the battle reaching a fevered pitch and the cast reacting accordingly. In a large scale engagement it's pretty obvious they'd see gross mutilation and death on a scale they'd never seen before, what I'd like to imagine the V3 finale would have been in depth. Story wise this chapter had some important moments that WILL play a part latter on. I'll leave you to guess on what they are. Here's a free one-by the end of this arc Jaune's Semblance will be revealed and it's going to be vital to his character development. **

**Abeille-French word for 'bee'. A bee Grimm that is based on the Asian Giant Hornet, a rather aggressive species of hornet that will keep attacking until it runs out of a vastly dangerous venom unlike other bees who stop after one sting. Their venom is strong enough to cause cardiac arrest and anaphylactic shock, killing a full grown human being. Naturally they live in giant hives in forests and only come out when they something either disturbs them or they smell negative emotions as Sage stated. The average Abeille is four to seven feet and the queens are double that. **

**Oniyanma- Dragonfly Grimm that are basically scaled up versions of real life dragonflies mixed with Megaguirus from _Godzilla_. Their wings beat fast enough for them to fire compressed air blades dubbed "Air Cutters" with the strength to perfectly split a human being in half. In addition to their remarkable speed they posse compound eyes like normal dragonflies giving them nearly unrivaled vision. **

**Thank you to all those who have taken interest in this story and I'll see you next time! **


	31. Chapter 31: That Time of the Year Pt6

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 31: Just that Time of the Year Pt.6 **

Only a handful of Vale City's three point six million residences knew the true story of Conely's Torch. An even less amount of those outside the capital city knew what its true purpose was. This purpose was one of Vale's most fiercely guarded secrets, one that men and women had been executed in order to maintain in centuries past. Time had turned this secret into a myth, an urban legend really.

On the day of the twenty-one first anniversary of the Faunus Rights Revolution that urban myth became a cold hard truth that would take some time to swallow.

The golden and orange light that had been building inside the gigantic Dust crystal suddenly condensed into a miniature sun. Its light quickly ran through the entire crystal blood through the human body. It was radiant and blinding to everyone and everything that gazed at it. For humans there was a silent _thump _in their chests that went largely unnoticed except to a handful. All at one every Grimm within a hundred miles bared their teeth in heated hatred of the light. Its brilliance was like the sun only with something else added to it, something they found utterly repulsive.

In seconds the Dust crystal had completely lit up with the furious light of a hundred suns. Then, with a single flash of brilliance hundreds of beams of reddish-orange light shot out simultaneously. They arched and twisted in unimaginable ways outwards all over Aemon Strip.

All together the Grimm howled to the sky, in rage and fear as the beams tore through not only their number but the battlefield itself. The approaching mass of flyers scattered when more than half of the beams punched holes in their ranks. Big or small, Wyvern or Nevermore, it didn't matter, in seconds every trace of their wretched bodies were incinerated by the righteous heat.

Those that didn't soar the skies angrily tore apart the ground sending the ground combatants scrambling about like frighten mice. The only party that didn't seem to show any surprise or fear at the divine-like attack were the infected, which was to be expected since they'd long abandoned reason. All the White Fang could do was numbly stare at the blinding light before they were wiped out in the exact same manner as the Grimm. Just before they perished they all had the same thought, _They had that in the middle of the city this whole time? And no told us or said anything? _

The beams left trails of fire in their wake, some ten seconds after they'd passed swiping walls of fire erupted.

In less than a minute the entire battlefield had been decimated, the odds radically shifted in favor of the Kingdom of Vale. Every second of it was caught by the news copters that persisted in remained airborne during the battle despite orders to withdraw.

The thousand year secret had just been exposed to the world; another event that would be commented on when the entire battle was replayed on every news station in the world for the six o'clock news.

* * *

Jaune now had a rather positive grasp on what a hangover felt like, and he hated it. His mind was too clogged to form a coherent thought, even simple words or pictures were far out of his reach. Exactly what the clogging was he couldn't describe. The more he tried to bring all the pieces together the worse he felt. After a few seconds of trying and failing Jaune could register the fact he was lying on the ground; he could feel the dirt beneath his twitching fingers. Hearing came next. His name was being called over and over again at full volume. The shouting began to chase away the fog allowing his mind to fully reform. He heard Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha-all of them close to tears. There was a fifth voice, female and older than the others; it appeared to be trying to calm them down before directing itself towards him. An unexplainable warmth soon fell over his body like water from a warm shower.

_Wait a second, _the depths of his subconscious spoke up. _I know what this feeling is. It's…Aura. _

The sun was doing its best to peek out from the gray clouds that had been obscuring the sky all day. Jaune felt like he was waking up from a deep sleep with the light blinding him for the first minute or two. Taking the light's place were a pair of hazel-colored feline eyes. For a brief moment Jaune thought he was looking at Blake before he noticed the startling difference between his Faunus friend and the woman staring at him. For one there were wisdom in those eyes, the kind he'd seen in the instructors at Beacon and his own relatives. He saw the orange locks and black locks follow between them immediately cluing him in.

"Woah now kid, I know you may still be feeling a little off your big moment but you're still pretty weak now." She chided gently pressing Jaune back down.

As the image of the woman's face came into view Jaune's grip on reality solidified. Turning away from her tanned face he saw the wide-eyed looks of Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha all directed solely at him. "Ugh…uh…what do you mean…b-big moment?" he wheezed finally getting his mouth to work again.

The tiger-woman leaned back with a cheeky smile on her striking face. "You and Adelhard saved about five hundred lives, not counting everyone who was seconds away from dying before the Prime Torch was activated."

"I…I did what?" Jaune blinked.

"Harto! Harto!" Thundered a deep male voice from the distance. Team JNPR and the Faunus looked over to see a well armored man in his mid-thirties jogging towards them. His armor had been broke off in several places revealing deep and bloody wounds that should have left him immobile yet he was moving towards them at a rapid pace. Coming to a stop just before them his blue eyes fell on Jaune then on the tiger-Faunus. "Congratulate the kid later! We've still got a battle to win and we need you in it! Same thing with them!"

With something of a pained chuckle the woman, Hart0, reached into her pocket and withdrew a green colored ball. "Here, I know the taste is probably going to make you swear off of gumballs but trust me, you'll thank me for it."

Before Jaune could even move his head Ren had swiped the ball out of Harto's hands and presented it to Jaune. Without much choice Jaune took the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. Almost immediately he wanted to vomit everything he'd eaten in the past twelve hours. He yanked and coughed as Pyrrha took over supporting his back. The disgust barely lasted a minute as once it faded Jaune felt the strength he'd lost return to him in portions. The ability to actually move his arms and his legs were much appreciated when he realized he could still hear the sounds of combat occurring some ways off. Like a fire had been lit he bolted upright shocking onlookers while Harta simply chuckled.

"Still got some fight left you? That's good kid, because we're gonna need it." She commended getting to her feet. Now standing in full view Jaune realized the Huntress was almost the picture-perfect model of an 'Amazon Warrior'. From what he could see through her clothing her body was athletically built while at the same time remaining quite alluring especially at the hips. He practically had to force his mind to look anywhere but her chest which lead to him getting a look at her weapon, a six-foot long double-ended halberd. "Sorry to break it to you Jaune, but this fight's not over just yet. I'm afraid you can't take a break just yet."

Eyes wondering to the sky he was somewhat relieved to find it was no longer filled with blood-thirsty Grimm or hijacked gunships. _Okay, hopefully now we won't have to worry about death falling from the sky. _With that thought in mind he used his returning strength to push himself upward. He staggered for a moment needing Pyrrha to balance him, "I-I can still fight." He stated hoping his voice wasn't cracking. "All we have to do is push back the White Fang and that'll be it right?"

Her feline ears happily twitched at his words. "More or less, just keep kicking their asses and they'll eventually sound the retreat. Seems Adelhard was onto something when he said you were a bright one." She purred. Harto lingered just long enough to see Jaune's mouth drop to the ground before dashing in the opposite direction.

The sound of soft clapping turned the collective of team JNPR's attention to their left. Standing in a row was team CNBR, their state of health being an equal reflection of their own. Though none of them looked like they were close to Jaune's previous level of exhaustion they all were looking noticeable pale, especially Rad who had to lean on Ndidi for support. "First off, thanks Jaune for saving our asses." Buruan started giving him a quick thumbs up. "Second, dude I hate to break it to ya but I'm pretty sure Harto the Tigress isn't interested in guys half her age. Even if they just saved her team and her life."

Nora was able to get a short laugh in before Jaune found the air needed to speak. "Buruan!"

* * *

Generally speaking the fact that Councilman Louis Versailles hadn't been evacuated yet was both expected and surprising. For almost six-hundred years the Versailles family had kept itself attached to the core of the Kingdom of Vale. With a proud lineage tracing back hundreds of years, the blood of knights, conquers, kings, and businessmen flowed in their veins. In the past eighty years they had two of their own sit as Councilmen, four as ministers, twelve as mayors, and at least one as overseer of the Vytal Festival. In terms of wealth it was, and still is believed, the entire family is worth every cent in the kingdom's treasury. If one were to add up the net worth of each member as well as the wide range of assents the family possessed it might very well have been true. Over the centuries there had been countless attempted kidnappings and assassinations leading the Versailles family to adopt some of the most absurd and costly security measures in the country's history. This habit ended up leading to the phrase, 'A Versailles never travels without a shadow'.

In this day and age that saying was truer than ever before. For you see one thing had remained constant throughout the years was the Versailles family's…atypical view of Faunus.

Instead of a man the seven teenagers honestly believed they were hearing an entire disorganized orchestra when Councilman Louis Versailles opened his mouth to scream. It all happened so fast, one sight of Blake's feline ears and golden eyes and then he was practically broadcasting his location to whatever enemies remained. "AH! Kill it! Kill it, kill it, kill it, kill it!" The forty-five year-old man screeched to the high heavens falling back. "Keep that filthy freak away from me!"

To her credit Blake didn't so much as bat an eye at the insensitive words. Izaak guessed the black garbed ninja had endured harsher punishment from men and women far worse than the dark haired councilman before them. Unlike her partner Yang was visibly reacting, said reaction being one of barely contained anger. Though he felt a similar anger stirring inside of him he managed to keep it off his face. "Sir, you can relax. She's with us." Izaak managed to say with a crocked smile on his face hoping that would settle him down. As it turned out the powers that be weren't exactly feeling nice today.

Councilman Verasilles's eyes went from Blake to the Viking. Though the panic had died down for a few seconds it immediately flared up once he registered who he was speaking to. His green eyes searched his face, staying on the thin silver-rimmed hazel eyes he possessed. Then, his gaze went from Izaak's eyes to the rest of his body, more specifically the oversized axe he'd planted in the ground. Once all those things had been taken in his face screwed in disgust. "_This_ is it? This is what my own government sends to protect me? An animal and a bunch of brats including a criminal and a half-breed mutt?" Versailles hollered.

While team RWBY's reaction could have been summed up as annoyance the remaining members of team IONC were a different story. The three seventeen year-olds' eyes all twitched dangerously and their fingers formed-half fists before uncoiling themselves. Neil and Olivia practically glared at the forty-four year-old man as if he was an insect that had decided to stick itself to their pant legs. Izaak's eyes continued twitching longer after the others had stopped; no matter how small it was everyone could feel a sudden shift in the Viking's demeanor.

His left eye hadn't stopped twitching when he spoke, "Please Councilman, I know this has been a stressful day but we really need you to be cooperative." The bronze haired warrior said with a false smile.

The scowl never left the adult's face even when Izaak ordered Olivia and Weiss to be the ones to guard him. Like with Blake and Izaak he took one look at them and sneered.

"How much trouble would we get in if we, I don't know, lost him by accident?" Yang whispered to Neil.

The knight's stoic expression hadn't changed much, but every once and a while he did shift his attention to Olivia and Weiss. "Just grin and bear Yang, and save your energy for what's coming instead of insults."

Her puzzlement at his words didn't last long. Over the returning mayhem she heard them quite clearly-the vengeful growling of various animals. Looking away from the knight to their surroundings she was somewhat aghast at the sheer number of White Fang surrounding them._ How the hell did they manage to sneak up on us like that? _She thought losing count of the number of terrorist inching towards them. By her observation they weren't there for her or her friends, they were there for the racist prick now cowering behind Oliva and Weiss. Yang could feel the killing intent rolling off of each and every last one of them bathing the area like a rainstorm. With a snarl she briefly looked back to see Weiss had already set up a Glyph around their VIP. Not five minutes ago Versailles was doing his best to piss of each of them and now he was cowering trembling behind the onna-bugeisha and fencer like a frightened child. _And we're expected to risk our lives for this guy?_ The brawler chided loading Ember Celica. At best she had two more sets of rounds before she ran out; she had a feeling that time would come and the battle still wouldn't be over.

_THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! _

"What is that?" Ruby questioned suddenly feeling a sliver of fear crawl up her spine. Her silver eyes fell on the four-legged mech stomping towards them. It must have been some twelve or thirteen meters high for it easily cast a shadow over the decimated battlefield. The angular torso which had once been cobalt blue and steel gray had been painted over in blood red and black. The humanoid-spider mech carried a weapon in each hand: in the right a heavy machine gun and in the left was a rocket launcher. Strapped on top of each shoulder with four meter long railguns that had been scorched black yet still looked very much effective. Ruby felt herself freeze up as the mech's four golden "eyes" fell on her. "Th-Th-That's…no-not a…"

"Yes Ruby, not a Paladin," Olivia interrupted in a bored tone. "That's one of my mine, a KXB-0126 Scylla. Pretty standard, Akagane armor meaning nothing short of a tank shell will leave a dent, propulsion limit of two hundred seconds, two-hundred meter radar, and equipped with two HI heavy machine gun and a Thunderball rocket launcher." The female samurai did a quick glance around them with the same calculating eyes she always wore into battle. They went from weapon to face in seconds, her face not showing one hint of emotion on it. "Izaak, deal with the Scylla Yang, Blake, and Neil punch a path for us, Ruby you're with me and Weiss." Came the order as she began twirling Bishamon and spread her feet apart.

"I'm sorry but when did Izaak and Ruby concede leadership to you Takeko?" Weiss heatedly questioned though she was already preparing a Glyph beneath their feet.

"You gotta a better plan Weiss? Please share it before they-"

_THI-KUNG! _

It was the first time any of team RWBY had ever heard a railgun fire, and it was a sound they wouldn't be able to easily forget. There was a brilliant flash then the bright yellow projectile was heading towards them at break neck speeds. Though all of them tensed none moved, they weren't capable of deflecting such an attack coming at high speed like this one. Besides that, they didn't need to.

Once again with a speed that begongled the mind Izaak was in front of the metallic bolt speeding towards them, Storrdetta drawn back. The violet outlined axe angrily slapped the projectile to the side leaving a trail of electric sparks in its wake. Kicking off his right heel Izaak charged at the hijacked mech with his battle axe at the ready. A crowd of Faunus stepped in front of the Scylla before he made contact.

_**SPPPLLLAAAKKK! **_

A brief whirlwind of metal and wind later and those that had attempted to stop him had been dismembered. Both of the Scylla's railguns roared to life either vaporizing or further scattering the bloody remains of the Faunus terrorist.

_**Boom! **_

_CRACK! _

The Scylla was already moving away when Izaak appeared by its left side, Storrdetta just beginning its path towards one of the machine's spider like legs.

_WHOSH! _

Storrdetta ended up hitting nothing but empty air much to Izaak's disappointment. The towering four legged mech was now hovering through the air, its upper body rotated so all its weapons were aimed solely at him. The golden eyes of the mech lit up before all four of its guns fired, their payload heading straight for the Viking.

_**Boom! **_

Yang didn't panic when she saw Izaak disappear in the storm of fire and rock when the over-sized bullets and rockets made impact. On one hand she knew Izaak wasn't so careless as to get himself killed and on the other she knew she had to focus on the current matter. The White Fang were merciless in their blind attack, dozens upon dozens of them pushing past each other to get to Verasilles. Parry one attack and counter another, this was the cycle she repeated while remaining almost totally stationary. Axes, blades, hammers, and knuckles slammed against Ember Celica continuously denting the bright yellow metal as well as taking small chunks out of it.

_**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! **_

Because she knew what was at stake Yang went directly for the head whenever she saw a chance, the head or throat really. Those that had Aura strong enough to withstand her punches were merely knocked to the ground with broken bones and third-degree burns. She didn't pay attention to those that didn't past the trails of blood and bone fragments that exploded from her attack. She could barely feel each hot spray of blood against her knuckles; all she wanted to feel, could feel, was bone breaking with each swing of her fist.

_**SLLIIISSSHHH! **_

_**SLASH! SSSLLLAAASSSHHH! **_

A voice barked so loudly Yang could have sworn Neil was shouting right into her ear. "Girls! Up the middle line!"

Neil's fight hadn't been like Yang's or Blake's. Between his greatsword and his aerokinetic abilities Neil was a lawnmower while the B and Y of team RWBY were simply weed-whackers. While the two had been busy holding the perimeter Neil had been cutting a steady path forwards for them. Said path was paved with mutilated bodies as well as dying Faunus who were spending their last breathes cursing the young knight.

None of the three girls missed a heartbeat in dashing down the recently created line with the council member in toe.

_**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! **_

Bishamon and Crescent Rose sung in a horrifyingly perfect duet that was applauded with the sudden deaths of the attacking Faunus. Head, chest, arm, shoulder, throat, or stomach, the girls weren't aiming for a general area, just someplace that would stop their attackers in their tracks. Corpses hit the ground one after another creating a trail of blood that the continued to grow. The comrades of the fallen voiced their rage and redoubled their attack.

"Gaytā!"

From the front twin whirlwinds buzzle dozed their way through the attacking masses. Their bullet-like speed was only matched by the intensity they used to effortless slice through flesh and bone. Blood was splattered across the pavement and onlookers.

Ruby and Olivia silently thanked Neil as they continued keeping pace with their VIP, or rather Weiss who was practically dragging him by the heels of his feet. Up ahead they saw the foe-tossing charges of Yang and Neil, as evident by the sporadic bursts of fire and lightning; every so often they caught a violet flash of light followed by the sound of a blade cutting through air. Momentarily tearing their eyes to the rear they saw the Scylla unloading its entire arsenal on Izaak who merely stood where he was with one hand held up. The mech-sized rockets, bullets, and railgun bolts steadily veered into the sky one after another where they all exploded together, thus creating a black colored cloud above the Viking.

Suddenly his fingers bent, and all the projectiles froze in midair. The pilot of the four legged mech immediately knew what was coming; the thrusters on his Scylla fired up with bright blue light.

The Viking's bent fingers suddenly straightened out, what followed was an unseen pulse that spelled the end of the industrial war machine. Riding the invisible wave were all the projectiles the Scylla had thrown at Izaak, now eagerly returning back to their owner with the same deadly speed from which they'd been launched.

_**Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! **_

By the time the Scylla threw up its shield it was already too late; the shells exploded right on top of the mech severely damaging it as well as crippling its ability to move. Inside the metallic belly of the machine the pilot desperately began rerouting power to the thrusters in order to escape. One of the mech's many alarms sounded, in moments he saw the Viking approaching him.

The speed Izaak moved was not his own for it was his Semblance being applied to his feet, speed that could outclass the fastest of race cars and even keep up with fighter planes if pushed to the maximum limit. In a heartbeat he was standing beside the Sycalla's left legs; one swing from Storrdetta and the fourteen meter mech collapsed to the side. Without letting go Izaak spun around burying his axe in the mech's thrusters. Fire and metal exploded from the thrusters as Izaak withdrew his weapon then slammed it back in two more times completely running them.

Escaping the erupting flames by propelling himself into the air Izaak looked around the area to see the battle was still continuing. From what he could see the White Fang had used the fear they'd felt from Conely's Torch as motivation to renew their attack. He had to commend the Faunus terrorist; despite being witnesses to a weapon of mass destruction they still continued to fight. Regardless, whatever advantage they had was gone now that the kingdom's military had time to get its shit together. Far to his left he spotted the outline of his comrades moving away with Councilman Versailles in toe. _This must have been someone's idea of a joke. _He mused as dozens upon dozens of Faunus swarmed them only to either be killed by wind blades or shot to hell. Looking back down at the struggling Scylla Izaak felt a twinge of pity eat its way into his heart. _Sorry I can't offer you a sweeter death pal. _He reversed the gravitational pull of his body, instead of being as light as a feather he was now falling with the speed and force of a boulder. The pilot must have known he was coming for the Scylla began struggling even harder to move.

Storrdetta's adamant blade cleaved completely through the Scylla's head and all the way to the base of the torso. No sooner had the blade come to a stop did the effect become visible for all to see.

_**BOOM! **_

Olivia saw the column of smoke rising up from almost twenty yards away. "It's about damn time!" she shouted much to the confusion of her comrades. "You took two minutes longer than you should have Izaak!" There was a pause in the crowd before her. In a second she'd read their body language. On one hand they were too scared to advance, but on the other all of them seemed to be waiting for something. Between two grunts she saw a black flash moving through the ranks. Her proud combat instincts practically forced the words out of her mouth as she combined her tonfa into _naginata _form. "Weiss, increase your Glyph's strength now!" She waited until she saw the flash move upward before she blinked out.

Though she'd been able to maintain a steely façade for the sake of her pride Weiss almost felt herself jump out of her skin when Olivia called to her. She could sense the urgency in her tone and thus reacted as such. When she looked up she saw what had shaken the arms heiress.

Weiss saw the lightning clad foot heading straight for her and the councilman when it made contact with her barrier. The lightning angrily lashed out as the barrier held up though for precaution Weiss threw one arm around the councilman's shoulder to force him down. Cracks appeared in the barrier and on the Glyph approximately forty seconds after the attack failed. As the leg was withdrawn Weiss saw a girl, maybe nineteen or twenty, glaring at her through the eyeholes in her Grimm mask. She was dressed in traditional White Fang garb up with a stylized sash wrapped around her waist. Her weapons were a pair of jet black greaves that used lightning and fire respective, as she finished examining her. The right leg using lightning fell back and the right which blazed with red hot flames began to move towards the barrier.

_**CA-LING! **_

Instead of her barrier the flame encased leg met the hard metal of Olivia's _naginata_. The two heiresses locked eyes for a moment, a silent understand went between them before Olivia forced the attacker away.

The feline Faunus landed on the ground in a crouching position a little over ten yards away. Through the eyeholes in her Razortooth mask she marked Weiss and Versailles with a simple glare. There was a loud crack like a gunshot going off and she was speeding towards the two of them.

Just as she was about to swing her leg out the samurai of team IONC appeared before her, Bishamon cackling with green energy supplied by its master. The look in Olivia's gray-green eyes were cold and calculative, something of a mirror to the focused eyes of the feline Faunus.

_**CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! **_

The _naginata _and greaves repeatedly clashed scattering flames, sparks, and energy all over the place. From a certain perceptive it looked like the two were dancing, and in a way they were. Olivia's eyes carefully watched every twist and turn of the legs to calculate where the next attack was coming from, sometimes it was close and sometimes she hit at the exact right time forcing the Faunus back. She pressed her advantage knowing she had to keep this one occupied no matter what.

_**CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! **_

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

A tenuous smile came to the samurai's face while a deep frown covered the Faunus's. Apparently she knew what the sound of a gunship's cannons sounded like just as much as Olivia did. "You know it's not too late to high tail it out of here." She offered not dropping her combat position. Despite the intensity of her blood pumping Olivia felt she needed to try to keep anymore Faunus life from being lost. Perhaps she'd hung around her partner and Blake too often. "You guys have lost the advantage. Now that the military's stopping spinning its wheels they're sending everything they've got here, by the time sunset gets here there won't be a thing you can do to stop it. Besides," she paused as her eyes grew darker and colder. Her sudden change in attitude had an effect on her opponent as she noticed the shiver that ran through her body. It confirmed Olivia's theory that while skilled and older this kick boxer was still relatively low on the hierarchy, perhaps no different than Blake. "After everything you guys have done today do you really want to be around when the cleanup crews arrive?"

The Faunus hesitated before responding, a soft chuckle escaped her lips. "Logical and evidence backed, just like all the stories say about you Olivia Takeko." Falling from her lips was the small smile and to her eyes came an impressive fire. "As reasonable as that sounds we can't pull back yet. Too many of our brothers and sisters have been killed today, and we can't let their deaths go unavenged." Her last words came out as more of a hiss; her eyes drifted from Olivia to the girl and man speeding away from them.

Olivia knew her focus was no longer on her but on the fleeing Weiss and Verasilles. She had to suppress a laugh that was rising in her throat. Her combat instincts told her to blink directly in front of her and end this quickly and quietly. "You know, by this time tomorrow there's going to be a whole lot of people needing avenging, one of them's probably going to be for you." She'd have to thank Izaak later for that one.

To the samurai's shock the feline Faunus caught onto the hidden meaning of her words rather quickly. She reacted to Yang's punch with a reverse roundhouse kick that knocked the blond off balance. Faster than Yang could react to it she delivered a flame empowered roundhouse kick to her left side ribs. Shaking off the pain the Y of team RWBY retaliated with a feint the Faunus fell for. Docking to the left Yang threw her left fist out just in time to catch her in an upper cut then made good on that right jab she'd faked earlier. With her opponent on the ground Yang leaped on her ready to deliver what she hoped would be the finishing blow.

_Idiot. _Olivia cursed as she was surrounding by White Fang thinking she'd dropped her guard. The silver blade of her _naginata _passed through each of them gathering more blood with everybody it cut through.

Both of the Faunus's legs aligned giving Yang a good view of the twin gun barrels that served as the greaves' heels. Cursing she crossed her arms as the combined blast of fire and lightning propelled her in the opposite direction, second-degree burns on both her forearms as a gift. As the smoke cleared Yang was ready to drop her guard. Blue light colored the smoke revealing the Faunus coming at her with a flying kick Yang could do nothing but brace for. The force of the attack made Yang's bones groan in discomfort but what really hurt was the murderous current of electricity that ran through her body. While she was paralyzed her attacker struck upward with her other leg breaking her guard. The boxer had just enough time to curse aloud before a powerful lightning enhanced kick used her to create a small crater in the ground.

Through the holes the Faunus girl glared at Yang with disdain. "Vale must be lacking if they sent something like this to protect the head of one of its oldest and…noblest families." She seethed, especially at the word noble. Just as she raised her right leg above Yang's stomach to deliver the final blow a black cloth wrapped around it. Before she could trace its origins it was pulled taking her off the brawler and into the air. Regaining her focus the feline spotted Blake twirling Gambol Shroud with a cold fire in her eyes. "You."

Just as she prepared to kick off the air to get at the feline ninja the White Fang kick boxer felt a chill run up her spine. A cold, mocking voice then whispered into her ear, "Just for the record I warned you to run while you could."

"Shit!"

_Boom! _

Just as Yang's impact had made a small crater in the earth so too did the kick boxer's. The samurai gracefully landed on the ground with her _naginata _slung off her shoulders. A little ways off from her she caught the near death glare of the blond. "What?"

"You could have helped before she used me as basketball." Yang challenged.

"It's not my fault you were too rash to know when an enemy was luring you in." The samurai replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "You know you really ought to learn how to slow down and evaluate the situation, one day it could cost you."

Blake was thankfully it was then that Izaak chose to make his grand entrance because she honestly didn't feel like being a witness to a battle between her partner and team IONC's samurai.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

At first everyone was surprised just how loud Izaak's voice was for even Weiss, who was almost fifty yards away could hear it. Then they were surprised at the literal wave of debris that he'd launched across their section of the battlefield. In retrospect it wasn't that hard for Izaak to find enough debris to practically carpet bomb the area, really, between the hundreds of destroyed vehicles, uprooted chunks of earth, and even bodies it was more a question of what wasn't in the attack. Somehow he'd even snagged a few Grimm in his gravitational trap. The demonic beasts were helpless as they too were launched like rockets along with all the other things Izaak had collected.

The White Fang scattered like mice as the barrage of rock, metal, Grimm, and bodies came down over their heads. It didn't matter what they were hit with, the speed at which the objects were being propelled was more than enough to break all the bones in their Aura protected bodies. The cacophony of noises that resulted from the attack was a nightmare to hear, but not as bad as the terror that came with being in the center of the attack.

By the time the attack was over what was left was unrecognizable as anything but a sea of wreckage. Towering heaps of vehicles lay turned over sending thick columns of smoke into the air. Most if not all of the Grimm had died on impact leaving behind only their masks; those that weren't dying were slowly fading away into the dark nothingness that made up their bodies. Bodies…there were too many of them warped and twisted in too many horrific ways to be described.

Blake felt like she wanted to vomit yet at the same time slap Izaak. He calmly walked passed the virtual graveyard he'd just created with a somewhat blank look on his face. She couldn't discern one emotion from him, or rather, it was hard to given the fact he had blood and oil splattered all over the front portion of his body. Storrdetta was covered in the same substances only they were already drying up. He came to a stop just in front of them.

The Viking stood up straight as he turned to her. A real emotion, sorrow, passed through his eyes as he bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry about this Blake."

It took her a minute to full realize what he was talking about. Her mouth was big enough to swallow a watermelon as her face went a deathly shade of white. "B-Bu-But…h-ho-how…I…I-I-I never-"

"You didn't have to Blake, you told us through how you acted." Olivia cut her off planting her _naginata _in the ground. Despite the glare her leader was shooting her she continued to talk in that same deadpan manner she usually did. "Ever since we've known you every time someone brought up the White Fang you would always tense, like someone was speaking ill of your mother. At first it might have been passed off but when it happened every time, especially when someone mentioned how their lives had been negatively affected a look of shame would cross your face. That left only one, logical explana-"

"Olivia!" Izaak barked startling Blake and Yang. His eyes had gone from sad to angry in an instant. To see such anger outside of battle was a shock to the two of them, more so since it was being directed at one of his own teammates.

To her credit Olivia didn't back down from Izaak's outburst. Returning from her sideways glance to Blake she crossed both her arms. Though she'd never felt intimidated by the female warrior Blake suddenly felt very small and very weak underneath her piercing gray-green eyes. They weren't predatory or disapproving, just discomforting to look at. "You're ex-White Fang okay, that doesn't matter."

Both girls felt like they'd just been swept off their feet, Blake more than Yang. "What?"

_**Boom! **_

The four looked over to see a massive tornado sucking up Grimm and White Fang before discarding their severed remains. While the two members of team RWBY were slightly taken back the I and O of team IONC looked on with disinterested eyes. Grabbing their attention Olivia spoke, "It would matter if you hesitated today in striking down your former comrades Blake. Fortunately for us you didn't therefore it's no longer an issue." The arms heiress finished with a sigh. "Let's go regroup with the others. The sooner we drop Versailles the sooner we get a chance to catch our breath." With that she began heading off in the direction of the tornado not caring the others hadn't even started following her.

Though Blake felt like her head was about to explode she was able to grasp enough reason to call out to Olivia. "Wait! Olivia, please wait!" The onna-bugeisha stopped in her tracks and turned sideways with those same cold eyes. "If I…if I had hesitated…"

"You would have been a problem." She answered without even being asked.

"And what would you have done then?" Yang challenged taking a step in front of Blake. The look in her eyes told both warriors she wasn't afraid of confronting Olivia in a verbal as well as physical battle.

For a time Olivia was silent and unreadable. Just as she opened her mouth Izaak chose that moment to step in. "What could have been doesn't matter now guys." He laid down with a glare in all their directions. "We can save this little soap opera for later, when our lives _aren't _in immediate danger. Sound fair?" At last when the other two girls began moving did Izaak know he'd accomplished his mission. With a heavy sigh he followed them, his hands finding their way into his pockets. "I hope everyone else is having a better day then us."

By the time they caught up with their comrades they'd already cleared a landing zone for the incoming airship. Versailles was looking green, no doubt due to witnessing the atrocious amount of fore it took to keep him alive. Weiss was lying on her knees huffing out her breath while Ruby did her best to comfort her. Off to the side stood Neil looking passive as ever.

Upon seeing them he scanned over the tension in their shoulders and refrained from saying anything. His eyes lingered on Blake a moment more than the others before he found an overturned APC to lean against. Ruby was the only one who expressed any kind of visible relief at none of them being too critically injured as she was the only one who didn't breathe a long held sigh of relief when the airship came into view.

The Councilman stepped forward before regarding the seven teenagers with half disapproving eyes. "So it seems you all are…more than just mere…children." He said using the term loosely. "You have my word I will remember this."

Before any of them could speak Izaak stepped up with a glaringly false smile on his face. "Just doing our job sir." While his smile may have been false there was no denying the validity of his words.

The councilman took one step towards the airship which had lowered itself for him. Immediately the soldiers fanned out guiding him aboard. Nor they or the students saw the lone figure calmly walking towards them almost ten meters away.

They didn't realize a thing was off until a bluish-white particle beam tore its way through the ship's engines.

Izaak's hazel eyes widened as he saw the beam race through the air. As years of instinct had taught him he threw up his G-Cage in the name of defense. It was all that kept the seven in-training Huntsmen and Huntresses safe from the inferno that followed.

"What the hell was that!?" Weiss shouted covering her eyes.

"Another headache." Izaak responded searching for the councilman.

"Izaak!" Blake cried snapping to him.

Seeing the orange light building up Izaak reinforced his G-Cage by pouring more of his Aura into it. "Everybody brace yourselves!"

The others knew something was wrong when Izaak physically grunted as the orange and red colored particle beam slammed against their gravitational barrier. It was larger and stronger than they'd expected. Thanks to the gravity barrier the eight foot wide blast fanned out around them, blowing chunks out of the ground further alarming the group.

As soon as the beam subsided the seven felt the wave of killing intent wash over them like a tidal wave. Those three from Haven merely stared wide eyed at the feeling while the team from Beacon felt like they'd each been sucker punched.

Ruby was the worst of the bunch. It felt like the air had been literally sucked right out of her lungs leaving her gasping for breath. The strength in her legs began failing her as evident by the shaking that nearly brought her down. Her grip on Crescent Rose began to go slack. What words she couldn't say were conveyed through her fallen face.

Acting on her big sister instinct Yang immediately stepped in front of her, battle ready. Feeling a similar feeling take hold of themselves Weiss and Blake joined her forming a defensive wall in front of their leader.

"Blake," Izaak said in a cut voice.

When the ninja looked over at the Viking she was once more surprised, his face was hard unlike anything she'd ever seen. At that moment he didn't look so much like a teenager but a harden warrior knowing he was about to engage an enemy that could very well kill him.

His eyes never strayed from the figure approaching through the smoke. "Take Versailles and go, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang cover their escape. The three of us will hold this girl off. No matter what don't let her get within five meters of either of them."

Only Yang and Weiss responded to his command, Ruby was still too fear stricken to even realize Izaak had spoken.

"Move right now or I'm going to kill all of you." Came the voice of the figure at last emerging from the smoke. At best she was twenty-four or twenty with apparently white haired tied in an orange and red bandanna. Her eyes were the kind go orange seen only in the fiercest of wildfires, search lights radiating pure anger that was visibly in the faint outline of energy rising around her. Matching her eyes she wore a reddish-orange jacket over a black shirt tied up by three red straps. He had to narrow his eyes to see the PMC logo stitched onto the sides of both sleeves. Her camouflage pants were of the desert kind and her steel tipped boots were smeared with blood. Her weapon was what seemed to be a claymore, one that had to be between six and seven feet long. At the end was a star-like emblem that glowed bright with a Dust crystal at the center. "Step away from that pig and you get to live."

"I'd loved to but you see we do our bosses will-"

Izaak was sure in that one hit he didn't see coming about four or six of his bones were broken, two of them probably were his ribs. He'd check when the world stopped spinning and he'd done something about the fifteen foot stone golem looming over the mysterious mercenary.

* * *

By Sun's count a full seventy-four seconds had gone by before Neptune flew into what was probably the biggest rage he'd ever seen.

"YOU BASTARD!" The usually calm and cool trident wielder screamed at the top of his lungs in the midst of his war charge. His Aura had made the elemental transformation from pure energy into bright blue lightning that coiled around his trident like a mass of angry snakes. The constant cackling of the azure mass was comparable to the chirping of hundreds of birds to onlookers.

To anyone else the sight of a electrified trident being wielded by an anger fueled teenager might have been horrifying, but to Hoyt it seemed like as interesting a sight as two dogs going at it over a bone. Even as Neptune closed in on him his face showed no signs of panic. If Neptune had been in his right mind that would have been enough cause to stop his frontal attack.

Just as Neptune raised his trident to strike Hoyt lazily held out his sword to meet the attack.

_**KAAAAA-LLLLLIIIIINNNGGGG! **_

Neptune didn't register what had happened until all the lightning from his trident fizzled out. In union with the disappearing mass of lightning his face fell in realization that his attack had been stopped dead in its tracks. Cadellcanaid had easily stopped the attack by sliding into the space between one of the weapon's three prongs, cutting through the lightning like a knife through butter.

The trembling trident wielder was awestruck by the simple act that had stopped what could have been a fatal attack. "Pretty impressive since you're running on fumes Goggles." Hoyt chuckled still keeping the boy deadlocked. "Unfortunately kid, it's not a good idea when you're facing a bishop."

_SWOOSH! _

The blue-haired teenager didn't have time to grasp the fact his stomach had just been slashed before he was sent skidding across the ground by a nasty front kick. No sooner had Neptune stopped did he feel the cinder block that was Hoyt's fist slamming down into his stomach. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever screamed in that much pain before or how his lungs even had that much to use given the fact Hoyt's punch had driven most of the air out of his body.

"NEPTUNE!" Sun screamed already dashing towards the mercenary. At the moment all the dark skinned blond cared about was wiping that sick grin off of Hoyt's face. Unlike his partner Sun had time to analyze the grin he wore, he knew something Sun didn't.

"Croc eats monkey." The swordsman mouthed just loud enough for Sun's enhanced ears to hear.

The Lockjaw had already sprung out of the ground by the time the bo-staff wielder deciphered his words. It came up at his right, mouth opened wide enough to swallow Sun in one gulp. Eyes going wide Sun stopped and pressed his hands together to activate his Semblance. The distance between him and the demonic crocodile was rapidly decreasing. By the time the explosive clones had formed they had already leaped head first into the Lockjaw's mouth.

_Boom! _

Sun fell back first as smoke completely consumed the demon's face. His chest painfully rose and fell with baited breath as he waited for the smoke to clear. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up; screeching in shock he rolled to the left just as the Lockjaw's head thrusted out of the smoke intending to swallow him in one bite. Landing on his side he had a brief moment to catch his breath before he felt something large and powerful slam into his opposite side. Blood sipped through his teeth as he was sent rolling across the ground with a killer throbbing taking over half his body.

For the moment all Sun could do was watch as the overgrown crocodile stalked towards him with murder brimming in its reddish-orange eyes. "A-Ah hell." He groaned trying to force himself upward or at least to his knees. Sun never was built for endurance like Sage was so he was having a much harder time fighting off the river of pain attempting to flood his mind. Just keeping his eyes open was proving to be far more of a strenuous task than attempting to sit upright.

Despite their heavy size Lockjaws could move with impressive speed when they needed to on land. Based on how the beast was rapidly closing the distance between them Sun hypothesized it could smell his death was near. Just as it lunged forward he felt a tremor travel through the earth, pass him then stop directly beneath the Lockjaw. Suddenly the earth bent upward forming into ten foot tall slabs that encased the Grimm in a crudely made prison.

The next thing Sun knew he was gently being flipped over onto his back leaving him to stare into the focused brown eyes of Velvet. All he could do was chuckle as his fellow Faunus placed her Aura encased hands over his purple colored left side abdomen. As the bunny eared girl healed him he watched Yatsuhashi strode forward, broadsword at the ready. The blade was glowing with a magical reddish-brown outline Sun recognized to be Dust.

With a roar Yatsuhashi brought slammed his blade against the stone prison he'd made resulting in an explosion of rock dirt and shrapnel. Unlike Sun who was caught off guard when the Lockjaw burst out of the smoke Yatsuhashi was ready; swinging to the right he knocked the Grimm away leaving it temporarily dazed. While he had the chance he raised his sword for what he hoped would be the finishing blow, it never came as the sound of buzzing reached his ears before he could move.

The Abeille and Oniyanma indiscriminately pelted the air with their payload. Cursing that she had to break off her healing Velvet erected a barrier around her and Sun while Yatsuhashi summoned a dome shield of earth by stabbing his sword into the ground. Once all their insectoid eyes caught sight of Sun's wounds the Grimm collectively shifted their focus to the two Faunus. Both cursed in horror as the barrage of stingers and Air Cutters began ruthlessly pounding against their small barrier. One crack after another began appearing in perfect coordination with the growing waterfall forming on Velvet's forehead.

Directly across from them Yatsuhashi had about a minute's worth of safety inside his earth dome before it was completely shattered by the Lockjaw's tail swing. So fast was the attack the samurai inside barely had time to get his guard up leaving the tail with a clear line to his abdomen.

Velvet knew their barrier was a few seconds away from breaking when she turned to Sun. "When the barrier goes run for it." She held up a baseball sized orb of fire Dust that had already begun glowing with light and energy. "Don't stop, don't turn around just go."

Though it still hurt Sun found himself able to sit upright. Placing his hand on the orb the light seemed to grow a little brighter, evidence of how just how much strength the team leader had left. "Better idea, I stay here with you, cover you while you make a run for it. Hate to break it to you Velvet but we both know you'll get further than I will with that opening.

_CRACK! _

Despite the situation she felt a small grin form on her lips. "If I did that how would I be able to face Blake again?"

The two Faunus shared a sad smile as they mutually agreed to make a run for it. Their barrier shattered not a moment later leaving them exposed to the poisoned stingers and Air Cutters. They closed their eyes and held up the Dust shard hoping the resulting firestorm would at least give one of them the time to get away.

_**SSSSWWWOOOOOSSSSHHHHH! **_

The sixteen foot wide air blast was so massive they were both knocked back a little even though they weren't the target of the attack. The small aerial slashes were easily overwhelmed and absorbed into the larger blade shaped wave that knocked away the stingers, then continued to bisect the Grimm.

Turning away from the dismembered creatures the Faunus looked back to see Hoyt grinned at them. Lazily slung over his shoulder was Cadellcanaid and held up in his right hand was a struggling Fox.

A furious looking Coco picked herself up from the rubble; she took one look at the grin on his face and squeezed the trigger of her mini-gun.

If Sun had the strength he would have told her it was pointless.

Coco and the whole of team CVFY found that out themselves when they saw the dozens of bullets turn and jet off up, down, left, and right before they could even touch Hoyt.

"Wh-What?" Velvet gasped being a mirror of Sun when he first encountered Hoyt.

_THUNMP! _

Scarlet hadn't even bothered firing his flintlock after watching the first hundred or so of Coco's shots bounce off. Sage was hoping his air blast would dispel whatever barrier was deflecting her shots only to see his attack get dispelled instead.

"Hate to tell ya this kid, but you're about six years too young to take me on." Hoyt began tossing Fox aside then holding out his sword. "Maybe if all eight of you came at me at once I might have to break a sweat!" His air slash was possibly one of the largest Coco had ever seen-measuring at almost seventeen feet, and with almost Mach speed to boot.

"Shit!" The leader of team CVFY cursed converting her mini-gun back into handbag form. Brown energy formed at the edges as she swung it to counter the air slash rapidly approaching her. "Gah!" she cried on impact being thrown over twenty feet from her previous position. Her handbag skidded a few feet away from her leaving her defenseless to the Grimm hovering above her.

"Coco!" The rabbit Faunus cried breaking off into a run to over her leader and friend.

Not paying any mind to the girl's desperate run Hoyt started tracking across the battlefield to the downed form of the Lieutenant. "Hey! You okay big guy? These kids really did you a number on you didn't they?" he cackled only to get a growl in return. "Well don't worry, I'm won't tell anyone you were held off by a bunch of snot noised preschoolers, your people on the other head are a different story. Come on, get up. Our ride's here." He pointed to the approaching airship blasting everything that moved out the sky. It was more than twice the size of a Bullhead with much more armor and weaponry that was being put to proper use. As the ship hovered just a few feet off the ground and the White Fang rushed inside Hoyt turned one last time to look at the downed students His cool blue eyes fell on Neptune and Sun specifically. "Better luck next time goggles, monkey boy."

"Wait!" Sun cried using Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang as a crotch. "How the hell are you still alive? We blew you to pieces! No amount of Aura could have saved you from that!"

"It's quite simple monkey boy," Hoyt chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders placing on foot on the ship. "I'm immortal."

Hoyt could have said he was Monty Oum reborn in the flesh and Neptune still would have tried his hardest to run him through with his trident. Summoning up the same maniac strength that had fueled his failed war charge he sprinted up to the haul of the ship and stabbed his trident into the side just as it began taking off.

"God damn it Neptune, stop!" He couldn't allow his best friend to head off to God knows where. Not even half of his wounds were healed nor had the blood stopped, but he still forced Aura into his legs and ran. Each step was a hammer to his already beaten feet and broken body. In a few short hazy steps he was clinging onto the side of the airship though his grip was already going slack. "Buddha, can this day…get any…worse." A thick black hand fell over Sun's just as he felt he was going to slide out. Another wrapped around his waist keeping him held in place. "Th…anks…you guys." The Faunus sighed.

Though Sage grunted Scarlet took the time to face his wounded leader. "You know you two can be a real handful sometimes you know that?"

The all boys team was completely blind to the looks of disbelief on the faces of Coco and Velvet as they watched the airship fly away. Around half the Grimm flock that had been attracted to their battle had suddenly changed course and decided to chase after the airship though the other half reminded behind to finish off team CVFY. "D-Did…they just ditch us?" Velvet crocked out as Yatsuhashi was sent crashing against the ground after an ill-fated attempt to behead the Lockjaw.

"Sun! Neptune!" Coco bellowed to the sky while crawling towards her handbag. "The next time I see either of you your asses are grass ya hear me! Grass!" Just as she was about to grab at the handle a stinger impaled itself in the ground not three inches from her hand. With a shriek she pulled her head away, spanning up she saw two Oniyanma joining the Abeille in its assault on her. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Velvet was already dashing towards Coco when the first Air Cutter collided against her back; a fireball was forming in her hand as took aim to throw it. She would have if her ears didn't pick up the sharp buzzing coming from behind her. She heard Coco shout her name yet her target remained unchanged. Though her fireball impacted one of the Oniyanma and the resulting flames spread to the Abeille those that had gathered behind her now had a free shot at her backside. Her Aura stood up to three hits, then she was kissing the ground with a two foot long gash down her back.

Frantically grabbing at her teammate Coco slung the Faunus girl over her back and began running in the opposite direction. Behind her the ground continuously barked in anger at being cut up and impaled. Right beside her heel the ground exploded in shrapnel knocking the Gatling gun user off her feet.

Fox didn't need to tell Yatsuhashi to move when they saw their teammates go down. The gauntlet wielder was too busy holding off the Oniyanma attracted to his rising sense of fear. In fact he let the fear openly stream into his mind; the Grimm naturally gravitated towards him like dust to a vacuum. Doing this gave the towering samurai the chance to sprint towards Coco and Velvet. Shouting in rage he brought their would-be executioners to himself.

"Yatsuhashi, don't do it!" Velvet called as the Abeille launched a wall of stingers in his direction.

"Get up and run!" He shouted back stabbing his sword into the ground causing a three rock plates to rise up and defend him. The stingers skewered themselves into the rocky barrier as Yatsuhashi hoped they would. Lifted his sword out of the ground he struck the barrier with his palm causing a brown wave of energy to run through it. In seconds the rock wall broke apart then the fragments propelled themselves towards the Grimm. "What are you two waiting for? Run before they-gah!"

_THUNK! _

The remaining members of team CVFY felt their breaths catch when the gasp left Yatsuhashi's lips. All three of their eyes instantly went to the three foot stinger skewered through his right arm.

His gigantic sword fell first then the rest of his body followed suit. "Da-Da-Damn…it." Yatsuhashi muttered on his knees. To experience the dreaded sting of the Abeille was entirely different from reading about it in a textbook-it hurt like a hell he'd never known existed. Mere moments before his sense of hearing went with his arm he heard the demonic beating of an Oniyanma's wings. He didn't hear his teammates shout his name when the overgrown dragonfly took center stage in front of him. His pained face was perfectly reflected in the Grimm's multi-sided eyes. _Well? Come on you overgrown fly, hear up and get this over with!_ He barked softly closing his eyes.


	32. Chapter 32: That Time of the Year Pt7

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 32: Just That Time of the Year Pt.6 **

As a samurai, as a warrior, Yatsuhashi had long since made peace with the concept of death in battle. He figured at the least he could face the reaper with dignity. Closing his eyes he waited for the swift gale that would hopefully make it quick and painless.

_**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! **_

His breath and eyes opened simultaneously letting the pain speeding through his right arm continue its through his body. As the last of his strength left him he was able to turn his head to the side to get a glimpse of his unknown savior.

Smoke rose from the barrels of the modified berrttas that were Professor Sokolski's pride and joy. An ammo clip slide from the handles of each weapon, in seconds the redheaded markswoman replaced them and continued firing. Each shot from her weapons was rewarded with a Grimm's dying scream followed by the sound of flesh being torn apart. What made the shower of bullets even deadlier was the fact each bullet didn't stop after penetrating one body, it continued onward, thrusting itself through four to five Grimm each before disappearing into open air.

Just as quickly as they'd amassed the insectoid demons were gone, their shattered masks being the only remnant of their existence. They broke the heavy stomp of Velvet's boots in her mad dash to her teammate.

For a moment Sokolski watched Velvet immediately get to work in treating Yatsuhashi then she turned her attention to the remaining Grimm. Now that she had their attention the swarm started advancing towards her. If it was possible to read their expressions she was sure they would have been shocked to see the devious smile she had on her face.

_**SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! **_

The two streaks of silver cut through the many Grimm with the speed of the wind and all the sharpness of a knife's edge. Unlike the bullets which nearly tore the Grimm apart through sheer kinetic energy the katana cutting them down left precise, near surgical cuts.

Dropping down in a crouch in front of Velvet and Yatsuhashi was a middle age somewhere in his mid to late thirties. His crusty brown hair did little to conceal the twitching dog-like ears that protruded from the top of his head. Through his torn black and red _gi_ his rippling scar covered body could be seen. Grimm blood dripped from the edges of his dual katana which were held tightly in each hand. "What's his status?" he asked not even bothering to face either student.

Velvet didn't stop working when she responded to the veteran Huntsman. "He's out of the fight, I stopped the poison from killing him, but if I don't get him to a hospital it eventually will." Already she'd burned through half the bandages she always kept on hand. Her gloved hands had been stained deep red by extracting the stinger then attempting to suck out poison which had already infected the entire right side of Yatsuhashi's body.

The dog Faunus snorted. "You can forget the hospital part; what you can do is get him to safety."

"Which is exactly what we will be doing Katsuro." Larisa barked as she unloaded round after round into the Grimm. "Coco, your team's done well in surviving this battle but now your part is over."

It took one look at her team to tell Coco there was no use in arguing with the senior Huntress. In addition to Yatsuhashi's condition Fox was having to lean on her since about a quarter of his bones including his right leg had been broken courtesy of the Lockjaw, Velvet was more than likely on the last stretches of her Aura, and all that wasn't even mentioning how Coco was pretty winded herself. "We better get a passing grade for this." She somewhat chuckled.

Katsuro flashed her a foxy grin while dropping into his favored stance. "We'll leave that up to Glynda. Though if it helps we will put in a good word for you." His twin katana lit up with red and brown auras respectively. With a snarl Katsuro swung both blades in an X-shaped cross. The shot flew through the air with speed rivaling that of Larisa's bullets, the same went for their destructive force. Launching himself into the insectoid's dome he continued firing more slashes only instead of pure energy they were now flames mixed with sediments. "Larisa! You know the drill!"

"Yes I do! So shut your mouth and let me work!" The ex-DIA agent barked taking aim at the dirt-filled clouds that took shape where each slash impacted. Once her Dust-infused bullets made contact with the smoke a blue fireball erupted; the flames rode the wind jumping from Grimm to Grimm leaving them burning husks. The sapphire flames were hot reflections of the cold blue light in her own eyes. "Attention all Beacon students! As of this moment you are to regroup at Twain's Crossing! This is a direct order from the Vale Army so don't even think about disobeying it!" The female gunslinger barked over her ear-com.

Larisa changed ammo types at the sight of dozens of Oniyanma coming towards her. A wall of Air Cutters came her. On contact with the air-composed blades the bullets exploded into puffy pink clouds that the overgrown insects nearly ran headlong into. True to their dragonfly nature they made sharp turns to avoid the puffy masses that had stopped their attacks cold. With impressive speed they homed in on the Huntress with their stingers posed to impale her from every direction. The Oniyanma converged her blind to the silver colored Glyph forming beneath her feet; just as they were about to move in for the killing blow each of the dragonflies felt as if they'd been frozen in the air.

Dropping onto the ground Katsuro let out a war cry before swinging both his katana at the dome-like collection of Grimm.

_**SSSSLLLIIIISSSSHHHH! **_

As soon as the Glyph faded the dismembered chunks of the Oniyanma fell to the ground.

"Heads up Larisa," Katsuro called flicking the Grimm blood off his prized blades. "We've got the White Fang coming, and they're bringing some guests."

"Like I wasn't getting enough target practice already." Larisa remarked. Some ways off the Lockjaw was shaking off the latest attempt at killing it. Though it briefly faced them its attention turned upward to the sky. Confusion overwriting her for a moment she followed the beast's gaze to see a rather interesting sight. "Well what do ya know, Winchesters really can fly." The redhead chipped.

An explosions went off some twenty feet away where team CFVY was attempting to flee the battle. A lone figure dropped to the ground smoke trailing behind him.

The whole of team CFVY literally felt their breaths cease as they took in the ravaged from of Cardin Winchester. His armor, clothing, pants, and flesh had been cut, no, ripped off in jagged chunks leaving the young knight in rags. Blood rain down his body in rivers forming into a handful of puddles on the ground. The only thing covering his upper body was a thin t-shirt that hung from one shoulder while a blood gash poured blood down on the other. Even without the blood on his face it was already ease to confuse it for a tomato given how red it was. What the real kicker was were his eyes-the hot murder that was running through them was unlike anything they'd ever seen from him.

Gripping his mace he embarked on another war charge towards his Faunus adversary. The brown-skinned Faunus met his charge with his chainsaw axes resulting in a horrifying symphony of metal against metal. Neither men seemed to care about anything other than killing each other, not even the Grimm who homed in on their shared animosity.

It without saying that Velvet's rabbit ears picked up quite a lot. Only her teammate knew the exact distance her hearing reached, everyone could only speculate. It hadn't always been a blessing as some people believed. For example, currently she could hear the rest of team CRDL screaming for their leader to break off and regroup with them, and the curses Professor Sokolski and Sasaki kept screaming as the Lockjaw shrugged off each of their attacks. More importantly, she could hear the heavy breathing of the two combatants, the thundering of their hearts, and the atrocious sound of metal grinding against metal. By sound alone it was easy to confuse it for two wild animals tearing at each other with nothing but their claws and fangs.

The condor broke off then with the speed of wind slashed at Cardin's head. The knight fast enough to avoid having his head cleaved in half, but not enough to save himself from getting a gash on the right side of his forehead. What sick grin fell on his face disappeared quickly when Cardin shoved his fist directly into his fist in retaliation. The Faunus went sliding across the ground while Cardin lumbered towards him with his mace raised.

Velvet called out to him the exact moment he began to bring the weapon down. "Cardin! Behind you! Abeille!" He may not have been her favorite person but she had no desire to see him turned into a human porcupine.

By some miracle Cardin heard her, and by another he actually listened. Turning mid-swing Cardin ended up knocking away the stingers with a shield of flames generated by his mace. The black spears were destroyed but Cardin had left himself exposed to his enemy; a fact the Faunus was more than willing to take advantage off.

_**SLISH! **_

Though he was on one knee Cardin still managed to parry the axe-wielder's attempted decapitating blow. Shoving off the attack Cardin rammed his fist deeply into the Faunus's stomach knocking the air out of his lungs. The Faunus dropped the chainsaw axe in his right hand in order to grab his wrist.

Violet eyes and steely gray eyes met each other in a heated exchanged. At the moment neither cared their combined negativity was drawing the attention of every Grimm in the area. Cardin could feel the long held rage he'd kept contained fueling his every move. It wasn't overconfidence, it was more like he didn't care if his life ended there or not. That was why he didn't hesitate in activating his Semblance despite the close proximity. Everyone could see the dozens of red cracks that formed a spider web beneath their feet.

A few of the Grimm broke off realizing what the young knight had in mind. Others didn't, fully willing to sacrifice themselves to kill another human.

The Lockjaw was amongst the second group. Throwing off the struggling R, D, and L of team CRDL it greedily dragged itself towards the two combatants with black saliva dripping from its jaws.

The knight said only one word to the condor Faunus he'd trapped in his suicide trap. It was a word some days he wished he could see to every Faunus on the planet, three in particular whose faces had been engraved into his memory. "Burn in hell." He seethed.

The Faunus apparently had the same feelings he did. "You first Winchester." Dropping his other axe he pulled out a dark colored grenade. With a casual flick of his fingers the pin came off with a sharp _clink_.

_**Boom! **_

Long before anyone could call out his name Cardin came rolling out of the smoke courtesy of the Lockjaw's might tail whip. The Faunus he was battling followed him though he rolled off in a different direction. Both of them had trails of blood following them on their way to the ground.

The Lockjaw looked between the two downed fighters with keen interest. Team CFVY could see it was debating which one would make for an easier kill. Fox looked between Coco and Velvet for a second then he took off in a mad sprint. His Aura flowed into his arm blades causing them to elongate. The Lockjaw turned its attention from the two of them to the tanned skin student.

_**SLISH! SLASH! SLISH! SLASH! SLASH! **_

The two foot scars Fox had left in the Grimm had succeeded in drawing its attention, but it wasn't going to be stopping it any time soon. Jumping on top of its head he began furiously pounding against the skull hoping eventually the small cracks would grow. His Aura concentrated into his left hand, just enough power he needed to end the Grimm's miserable existence.

"FOX!" Coco fractionally screamed over to his left.

He heard his partner's mini-gun roaring along with the beating of leathery wings.

His Aura had already taken enough of a pounding, the toxic fireball from the Wyvern was merely the last nail to the coffin. On top of the burnt skin and brute force knocking his body off the Lockjaw he got a face full of the toxic air that came with the dragon-like Grimm's attacks. He was coughing and gagging whilst he rolled across the ground only coming to a side takes to an overturn slap of concrete.

Unlike Fox the fireball was little more than a mosquito bite for the scarred Lockjaw. It said nothing to the Wyvern that flew overhead towards the downed Fox, merely continuing on its path towards Cardin.

The Wyvern didn't get far thanks to the storm of bullets that slammed into it nor did the Wyvern due to the dual katana impaled in its backside. Grabbing Fox Larisa regrouped with the rest of team CFVY while Katsuro kept the overgrown crocodile pinned long enough for the rest of Cardin's team to usher him away to safety.

Standing before the eight teenagers Larisa growled, "Get your asses out of here now. This battle has proceeded to a level that's past yours and you'll only get in the way if you choose to stand here."

All but one of the students nodded their heads in agreement. "Screw you." Came the hate-filled voice of team CRDL's leader.

With cross eyes Larisa snapped her head to reproach the young Huntsman but stopped short. _Good God do I hate this time of the year. _

Shoving aside Sky and Russel Cardin charged forward, but not towards the Grimm, he was going for the condor Faunus who was wrestling with a Wyvern bare handed. With a thunder-like cry he jumped on the back of the pseudo dragon and brought his mace down. Through the explosion of darkness and bone everyone could hear the frantic screaming and cursing of the White Fang member.

Cardin was deaf to the fear filled calling of his teammates, his friends. The words of team CFVY never reached him nor those of his instructors. All he wanted to hear, could hear, was the sound of the Faunus beneath him cursing at him in pain. Just barely could he hear the sound of his mace getting knocked away. That was when he resorted to flat out punching and clawing at his target. Bones broke under his fist and flesh became trapped beneath his fingernails, in return he could feel sharp claws tear into his cheeks. On instinct his eyes shut leaving touch and smell his only guide.

Darkness was an invitation to the past. Memories came running back to him painting an ugly picture out the black and red his vision had become. He saw three flashes then heard a scream that was a shot of adrenaline through his already pumped body. He heard something loud crack beneath his fingers. Sick satisfaction swelled up only to be crushed by two more flashes of light. He couldn't tell if it was his scream or not, what he did feel was him grabbing the bird-man's head then slamming it into the concrete. Before he could do it again an Aura enhanced fist slammed against the side of his skull, the side that happened to have the nasty gash that had yet to heal.

Falling back he clenched his throbbing head giving the Faunus enough time to reverse the situation. Now he was on the receiving end of an emotionally driven beat down. The blows cam hard and fast, each making him feel like he'd been blindsided by Yang's fists. Instead of dragging him out of the darkness it only made the hot fire burning inside him even stronger. He saw three faces in the darkness, one of them had a pair of canine ears that twitched. The face turned to him giving Cardin a look at the owner's face. He saw a set of murderous brown eyes that reminded Cardin of wolves. The lips of the man pulled back in a tight snarl that showed him a row of sharpen teeth that couldn't have belonged to any man.

The brown eyes and steely eyes merged into one for Cardin. When the lips moved they said the same thing, "After you I'm coming for the rest of your bastard family!"

Katsuro knew for a fact his partner was going to have words with team CRDL when the battle was over. First their leader disobeyed orders, then the rest broke ranks to go retrieve said leader drawing more Grimm into the fray. Honestly he preferred the Abeille and Oniyanma to the Wyvern, at least they didn't create a virtually field of toxic fire when they attacked. The fear, distress, and raw _hatred _the four were emitting was practically a neon sign the Wyverns homed in on. He was slashing his way after the three renegade boys while Larisa hustled team CFVY away. It was tedious work as the demonic insects hadn't retreated, hell they were joining the slug fest the battle had become.

Briefly, perhaps for ten seconds or so, Cardin shocked the Grimm into pure silence. To be fair he did the same thing to the rest of them.

_**BOOM! **_

Watching the ten meter high explosion Katsuro felt something of a twinge of pride for the young knight. There were many things about him he found disapproving, but his abilities when pushed to the limit was one thing he had a healthy respect for. So intense was the explosion he could feel the blowback from some distance away. _I wonder what it was that set the kid off. Did that idiot mention his mother? His sister? His uncle? I guess it really doesn't matter by this point. _Upon picking up the staggering stench of blood the dog Faunus high tailed it towards the sight of the explosion leaving a trail of Grimm masks in his wake.

"You…filthy…ginger haired…bastard!" Came the condor's voice. He'd failed in turning the White Fang member into fried chicken, but he hadn't failed in leaving his mark. With the clearing of the smoke he saw his enemy in the clear light of the peeking sun. At best he was between his mid to late twenties. His skin was tan, maybe a shade darker than Sun's; not to mention the polar opposite of his smooth, flawless skin. His abdomen was mated with scars, some straight and others zig-zagging. A rather prominent one ran down the length of shoulder, starting from the top then stopping just above his heart. A circular burn scar was prominent on the right side of his chest. Around the right side of his neck was a carved knife wound that gave one the impression someone had attempted to slit his throat then decided to go for a straight decapitation. All over his body patches of black flesh stood out as proof Cardin's desperate attack had broken through whatever Aura he had left. His face wasn't really in the best condition given Cardin had been using it as a punching bag; regardless his steel colored eyes were just as piercing as ever. His rustled light black hair had been seared dark thanks to the miniature inferno the Winchester had created. "I should have killed you first chance I got."

Something was fueling Cardin. After a blast like that he shouldn't have been able to move yet he was on his feet immediately, and giving the Faunus his best death glare. He was just a pretty sight as his opponent except he didn't have the multiple scarring he did. Somewhere in the back of his head he'd put all the pieces together-his adversary had no doubt been tortured. If he was thinking clearly that might have given Cardin some pause, but he wasn't. His mind was a hazy field of blood and fire he was lost in. "Kill you…kill every last one of you animals." He seethed through clenched teeth. His right hand was glowing a flame colored red with tendrils of smoke coiling off it like it was the barrel of a gun. It formed into a tight fist that sent finger sized embers to the ground.

Something flashed in the Faunus's eyes. His face went through a series of emotions that Cardin couldn't identify. He spit some blood out then turned his back to Cardin. "You get one more day of life Winchester, after that I'm going to send you straight to hell." The dark wings that had been kept tucked in unfolded. In a single flap the Faunus was off into the skies leaving the wounded Winchester to stew in his continued hatred.

When Russel saw Cardin walking towards his mace he instantly knew what his best friend was going to do. Screaming in frustration he cut and weaved his way through the Grimm bearing down on them. An Oniyanma caught him in the leg but he pushed past it, slashing the Grimm down the middle and proceeding towards his goal. He saw him reclaim his mace then break off into a run after the bird man. Catching sight of a Wyvern tailing him Cardin fired up his mace-instead of an explosion the entire upper part shot out like a grappling hook. Latching onto the pseudo dragon Cardin was carried off leaving his teammates, teachers, and classmates behind. Seeing his partner carried off Russel stopped his war charge leaving his weapons by his side.

"Please God, if you're up there watch out for him." He whimpered feeling a cold fist wrap around his heart.

"Russel, I know you're worried about him but dude you really should be praying for us too." Came Sky's fear trodden voice.

Based solely on his teammate's voice the knife-wielding warrior knew something was wrong. He didn't have to turn around to see what it was. He heard it just fine.

_**RRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR! **_

"God please tell me that's not what I think it is." The Mohawk-haired teen shouted falling to his knees.

True to legend its black color was immediately identifiable. Unlike the other Wyvern this one was _much _larger, almost three times the size of a Bullhead. Its jet black fur was barely visibly beneath all the red and white boney armor that extended to all portions of its body. Its nightmarish wings stood out in sharp contrast to the clearing sky. The carpal of the wings ended in two crescent shaped fangs that possessed the power to carve up steel if desired. Each of the phalanx resembled blacken scythe blades with the way they looked wedged between the reddish yellow leather that looked like fire against the sun's light. Real flames were blown out from the six exhaust-like holes in the Grimm's axe-shaped tail. The gigantic appendage was practically a wrecking ball that happened to look like some demonic axe attached to a demon's body. In that regard, the infamous horns the Ethm Wyvern was known for were proudly displayed on both sides of its triangle head. The red-tipped horns flickered with red energy forming a bridge of red lightning between them. Embers rolled out of the Grimm's clenched jaws, growing with the creature momentarily opened them to breathe in the despair and hatred that had brought it beyond the city's walls. Last of course were the eyes, those car sized torches that burned with an inhuman hatred, that periodically scanned the ground to find humans staring in fear-stricken awe at the Shadow of Death.

Its roar resounded throughout the entire sector sending a death chill up the spine of every man and woman regardless of affiliation. Some fell to their knees in despair as the shadow passed over them while others tried to force their bodies to move.

Then the Ethm Wyvern opened its mouth and out came a stream of black and red flames that roosted the ground and everything on it like marshmallows over a fire. Thick yellow and black smoke rose from where the flames made impact, thanks to the sudden wind that had blown in the smoke was carried over the area. All those who inhaled the toxic smoke suddenly found themselves on their knees coughing their guts out.

Larisa wasn't ashamed to admit her own hands were trembling at the sight of the titanic Wyvern laying siege to the battlefield. She didn't need to turn around to look at team CVFY, the second years had no thought suffered a collective heart attack seeing the Ethm Wyvern take flight above their heads. Fighting for the strength she reached into her pocket and withdrew her Scroll. "Now I know this has been a pretty bad day so far, but we have a major…problem…"

* * *

The first thing Izaak realized upon getting his head out of the rubble was that whoever this woman was, she miles ahead of the average Beacon Academy student. Her Semblance was a Summoning-Type, apparently some kind of avatar manifestation or sort. The stone golem that had knocked him some twenty-five feet across the ground stood at eight meters. In his opinion it was a rather impressive construct. The design reminded him of some ancient barbarian warrior with the jagged spikes and rugged composure. The trapezoid shaped head possessed two orange colored slits that radiated the same level of scorn the mercenary did. The golem's fists were about half the size of a trunk, and with all the power of a boulder behind them. It had to because sending his foster brother rolling across the ground like a bowling ball with one hit wasn't an easy thing.

Olivia was dodging and parrying the wide powerful blows from her halberd. She was being blitzed, every parry sent a small shock wave of pain through Olivia's Aura and her body. The samurai's face was stone cold, her eyes watching the movement of her attacker's arms legs. She'd caught three openings in her enemy's stance but she didn't take them. Catching the claymore with the brunt of her tonfa Olivia locked eyes with the female warrior.

Olivia didn't like the look in her eyes-it was too determined and focused to let fear find a home in them. "You're a professional." Shed deduced taking a step back to allow her enemy. She blinked out of her opponent's front view then reappeared on her lefts side swinging her _naginata _at her head. The claymore moved so fast Olivia's trained eyes had some trouble following the movement of the oversized weapon. Her attack was knocked off though she regained her balance quickly enough to parry the next two overhead swings that came her way.

Neil came in at her three o'clock keeping both blades stretched out behind his back. The golem threw a right straight at him. A five-second blast of air erupted from his backside giving him the speed boost needed to slide under the oversized fist. Springing up from one knee he closed the distance between him and the mercenary.

The samurai heard the clicking of gears in the halberd, that was her first clue in the weapon was more than just a claymore or particle cannon. "Neil, fall back now!"

The claymore's blades suddenly shortened themselves into a fat diamond shape; the handle expanded becoming the length of a pole arm. Orange blades that sprung out from the diamond's sides left a trail of orange light in their wake. A loud _clink _erupted from their contact with Moralltach and Beagalltach. The young knight grunted as he was forced back then yelped with the halberd was thrust directly at his head. He was forced to do so again when the mercenary attacked again, and again, and again. She was pushing Neil back with the ferocity of her attacks. Neil slammed his right foot into the ground then caught her halberd in between his swords.

Above her the golem twisted around so it was facing Olivia. With a look of pure rage it slammed its over-sized fists into the ground rather than go straight for her. The ground immediately began shaking under the pressure exerted by the stone elemental. A fissure split the ground in half, acting quickly Olivia jumped out of the way only to realize she wasn't the main target. The olive-haired samurai watched the fissure race across the battlefield towards the fleeing team RWBY. There was nothing Yang or Blake could do but watch as the fissure split into two in order to form a perfect circle around them. The girls gave one startled cry before the earth pulled itself upward creating a jagged cage around them. Tearing her eyes away Olivia saw an orange light building in the center of the golem, it began racing from the chest up to the shoulder and then down to the right arm. Forming her _naginata _the onna-bugeisha stabbed one end of her staff into the ground.

The dark brown colored line of energy raced from the blade's end towards the fissure that had trapped team RWBY. There was an eruption of brightly colored sparks then the exploded in a shower of rock and raw Dust.

On her end the mercenary sneered before breaking off her attack on Neil. With a furious snarl she transformed her halberd back into a claymore and held it with the bladed end pointed towards the ground. A deep tawny colored aura suddenly erupted from her body, its intensity and radiance comparable to a jet engine's fire.

Neil had to stab Moralltach deep into the ground to keep from being pushed back any further by the woman's Aura. His left arm went over his face to shield it from the pieces of debris that went flying all out in all directions. _Bloody hell! Woman's got enough more Aura then me or Chicahua! Hell, more than half the Beacon staff at that! _The young knight took notice of the waves of malice that rode the orange, black, and red color tendrils forming around the mercenary. Neil was not alien to such unrestrained waves of murderous intent, hell, it had practically another one of his "babysitters" as far he was concerned. The scar-faced teenager's blue-gray eyes went over yonder to the stone prison team RWBY and Councilman Versailles were trapped in. He saw a brief explosion of fire and rock followed by Yang's voice ushering her teammates along. _Area attack, _he deduced watching the golem above the mercenary clap both its fists together before raising them. _Twenty meters, maybe more, a force strong enough to bring down buildings if we don't do something to stop it! _He knew there was no way to break through that Aura of raw power surrounding the female warrior; that meant his only option was to counter attack as soon as she sent the shockwave out. It was a risky move that had less than a fifty percent chance of success, but he had to try it before whoever the hell this woman was closed the distance between her and team RWBY.

A feral growl went up from the golem, a biological impossibility yet there was no mistaking the sound of pure rage that came from the Semblance-born construct. For a split second the teenagers saw the golem's mouth open briefly revealing a orange carves that glowed like magma. At the exact moment the mercenary slammed her claymore into the ground the golem brought its car sized fists down.

_**TTTTHHHHH-KKKKKKUUUUNNNNNKKKKK! **_

The ground beneath their feet rippled like water then broke apart like glass in the span of twenty-seconds. Gapping fissures opened up while spikes made from shattered rock jetted up everywhere moments before being pushed outward by the energy wave still being produced by the golem.

Neil ignited the whirlwind that had been gathering around his legs launching him almost twenty feet into the air. He did a quick survey of the damage then raised his plasma swords towards the sky. Light blue tendrils of wind began coiling themselves around the adamantine blades; the summoned gale condensed into five foot single edged sword edges around Moralltach and Beagalltach. Both weapons stayed perfectly parallel whilst Neil began his descent downwards toward the mercenary.

_**KA-LUNG! **_

Though the wind blades cut deep they weren't tough enough to completely cut through golem's tree trunk like arms. Neil had about a second to realize his attack had failed before the golem was moving with his blades keeping his bound to the stone construct. Almost immediately he noticed some kind of pulse run through the construct's stone skin. His pores opened and all his nerved fired. Still feeling high from his failed attack he kicked off the golem's arm. The knight's eyes focused in on the sharpen edges of the spikes that had just erupted from the forearm. _A second slower and I would have been cloud on a stick. _He mused feeling his own heart pounding in his ears.

The knight knew he was in trouble the minute he felt the soles of his feet touch the ground, a familiar jolt race up his body. Moralltach and Beagalltach went into their defensive cross-shaped formation just in time to meet the heavily powered swing that came. He was saved from being split in half, but he was now rolling across the ground with a killer throbbing in both his arms.

With the knight immobilized the mercenary turned her eyes back to the councilman and his bodyguards. Cold hatred danced in her eyes then manifested itself in the titanic war cry the golem behind her gave. There was a short burst of air then she was off after them, the distance between them vanishing in a manner of seconds. The golem continued hovering above its creator with tawny energy building in its right arm. Once the gap had been shortened it slammed its fist into the ground creating yet another fissure that snaked its way towards the five fleeing humans. The orange eyes of the mercenary watched with keen eyes as Yang and Weiss were knocked to the side leaving Blake and a still trembling Ruby standing between her and her target.

Blake came at her flashing Gambol Shroud and her cleaver. Hissing she made a frontal leap at her that the mercenary easily knocked aside only to realize it was a duplicate. The real McCoy appeared crouching at her left side. The ninja was a second from pouncing when she felt her enemy's Aura flare up. Her arms froze and her legs suddenly felt like they'd been bound in cement.

The mercenary briefly regarded Blake. Just like before the ex-terrorist felt all the fight, all the courage evacuate her body leaving her nothing but a puppet waiting for its strings to be cut. Their eyes remained locked together for a tenacious few seconds but it was enough to tell Blake that there was no way in hell she or her team could fight this woman.

She was being fueled by the same vengeance that had consumed her wayward partner and surrogate brother.

The way she swung that huge claymore carried the same feelings of malice Adam held for humanity.

With her Faunus teammate down Ruby realized it was now just her and the unnamed mercenary. She was scared, and it showed on her face.

She halted when she saw the fear dancing in the reaper's silver eyes. The flames died a little, "Get out of the way." She barked in the redhead's direction. When the redhead didn't do so the mercenary whipped out her claymore. Once again both orange-red blades glowed only this time instead of elongating they shrunk as did the rest of the weapon. The diamond shaped crest at the top fattened until it was about the thickness of a basketball. In seconds a sharp angled mace attached to the handle by a light blue chain had replaced the seven foot mace the mysterious woman had previously wielded. "Move."

_**THUNK! **_

Because Ruby was too busy watching the pieces of debris fly up from the ground beside her she didn't noticed the mace coming at her from the right until she felt her right arm screaming in agony as bones were fractured and broken. The cloak-wearing student rolled across the ground in a pained hump leaving Versailles alone to cower before the unknown warrior.

Now the killing intent that had paralyzed the four students returned in full, and Versailles was totally helpless against it. The middle aged man felt like all the air had been ripped out of his lungs and replaced with liquid cement. Tears began collecting in his blue eyes as all semblance of restraint and self-dignity left him.

_**THUMP!**_

THUMP!

THUMP!

_**THUMP! **_

_**THUMP! **_

_**THUMP! **_

"W-W-Wh-What!? What the hell do you want with me?" the family heir screeched attempting to crawl away. "What the hell is it that you want from me? Pl-Please! I'll g-give your anything y-you want! Anything!"

As if his words were some kind of incendiary product the fire in the woman's eyes blazed to new heights. The orange and red aura around her began to turn darker, black finding its way into the mix and outlining the other two. "What…do I want?" Came her voice, a heart stopping sound that seemed to emanate from the darkness depths of some cavern or tomb. "You're asking me…a stupid question like that?" Forcing the man's eyes to meet her eyes the stone golem behind her spread its arms wide and released a roar that could be heard from the other side of the area, its volume so earth shaking the ground itself literally began cracking under the pressure. "I WANT MY FAMILY BACK! MY FRIENDS! MY VILLAGE! MY LIFE! BUT YOU CAN'T GIVE ME THOSE THINGS CAN YOU! THAT MEANS THE ONLY THING YOU CAN GIVE ME IS YOUR LIFE!"

The golem raised one of its arms as Councilman Versailles screeched to the smoke and Grimm covered heavens for a savior.

Instead of some act of divine intervention he got was a gale force wind so powerful he was thrown across the ground like a sheet pf paper in a summer wind.

The golem groaned in effort as it attempted to push back the violet colored sphere of gravity pushing against it. Pieces of its entire body were sucked into the gravitational sphere along with chunks of the surrounding landscape. On the ground the woman planted her claymore in the ground to keep herself from being drawn in the virtual vacuum that was picking apart her golem. With a furious shout she channeled the aura she'd previously summoned into her golem to fortify it; it paid off as the construct grew stronger and tougher. A surge of orange light resulted in a blinding flash then the gravity sphere that had been eating away at the Semblance-borne creature was sailing far to the right. Everything within the impact zone was sucked up into the sphere leaving nothing but a perfectly circular shaped crater in the ground.

Narrowed eyes watched the I of team IONC casually stroll onto the battlefield. Besides a few tears and scrapes there were no visible injuries one would have associated with being hit by a train car as Izaak had been. The teenager wore his usual lazy smile while rubbing the rock and dust out of his bronze colored hair.

"I gotta say that was pretty cool," he started stopping ten meters from her. "Not a lot of people can knock off my G-Orb like that." The smile remained on his face as he sized up the towering entity glaring holes at him. His eyes twinkled as he took in every little detail about the construct, from the sharp angular shapes to the stocky arms that had effortlessly shrugged off his comrades' attacks. "Thanks to your little rampage I don't have to go through the trouble of trying to figure out what your Semblance is; it is pretty awesome if I do say so." Any person with a brain would have known what was about to happen when Izaak's lazy smile became something…_different. _"This is mine."

The flaming debris, the chunks of rock pulled from the ground, and even corpses that had been levitating behind Izaak suddenly came at the golem with the speed and power to match rockets. Both of its arms went up to protect itself and its creator against the onslaught. Once the shower ended the golem's creator took off running dragging her claymore behind her.

Wearing that malicious grin Izaak sprinted towards her keeping a ring of debris around himself and Storrdetta held tightly in his right hand.

When aligned their faces created an odd duality-one of rage and one of joy. They stayed that with the thunderous greetings of their weapons, literal waves of air being expelled from the meeting of the two weapons. Above their heads the golem slammed both of its fist downward with the intent being to crush Izaak only to end up being stopped by his "satellites instead". Try as it could the golem couldn't withdraw its heads from them leaving its creator to fight the Viking directly.

_**CLUNG! CLUNG! CLUNG! CLUNG! CLUNG! CLUNG! **_Their weapons sang in a booming concert that didn't show any signs of stopping any time soon. Despite their great size the axe and claymore flew from one side to another carried only by one arm each. Hundreds of sparks were birthed shortly before vanishing with each clash of metal.

The stalemate broke with the downward swing Izaak initiated after parrying an overhead swing. Storrdetta had the power of both of the Viking's hands in subduing the claymore. One hand withdrew from the weapon, stretched back, and then flew straight for the woman's face. As expected it was blocked with an open palm; both combatants were now barefoot of their arms leaving them in an intense staring contest.

Anger and joy were deadlocked, anger snorted through her nostrils while joy merely chuckled. Anger reeled back preparing for a head butt that would have shattered solid rock at full strength. Joy grinned from ear to ear.

The Viking's G-Cage completely immobilized the mercenary and her golem. Shock manifested on her face, the first emotion besides anger and indifference she'd expressed throughout the entire fight. Izaak took some pride in that.

Her shoulders slumped yet the woman didn't give up. Her shocked face quickly contorted into a determined sneer as her Aura exploded. Izaak increased the amount of gravity bearing down on the both of them.

_**CRACK! **_

A perfectly circular crater suddenly appeared around the two of them.

Through the sweat gliding down his face Izaak laughed, "You're pretty tough you know that?"

"If you keep doing this some of your bones are going to start breaking soon." The woman stated through her sneer.

"Well, you see this isn't the first time I've had to do this. I think maybe I can keep the G-Cage pressed down for maybe eight or thirteen minutes before I lose something major like an arm or a leg. Even then it won't be a problem." He replied struggling to free his hand.

"You're used to fighting with broken bones?"

"Hey, it's trial and error with my Semblance." He shrugged. "You should have seen me when I was first learning how to use this thing. Once I broke almost all the bones are the left side of my body."

For a long second the woman read Izaak's face examining every inch of him. "How did it take you to heal?"

"Eh, about four months." His grin slipped back into the area of playfulness as he leaned forward, "But that was because I went out and decided to do the whole thing all over again."

It barely lasted an instant but Izaak was sure he saw a smile on the woman's face. "Real daredevil aren't you?"

"You oughta meet my teammates." Izaak responded.

The G-Cage was released at the exact same time Izaak withdrew. Flinging himself backwards the woman was left staring at his retreating figure; realizing the reason for this she had her golem wrap its heavy set arms around her.

Almost thirty meters away Olivia gave the order to fire. The thick plasma beams doubled in size once they passed through Weiss's Glyph. Whitish blue lightning cackled around the main beam.

_**BOOM! **_

Everyone heard the sound of rock breaking apart so they knew for a fact their attack had done some kind of damage. Seconds later and huge chunks of stone came flying out of the smoke.

"How much do you think we broke off with that blast?" Neil asked expecting anyone of his compatriots to answer. "An arm? Everything up to the shoulder? The torso?"

"The whole thing?" Weiss offered hopefully. Looking closer one could see the concern lingering in her eyes. Behind her Yang frantically checked every inch of Ruby's body looking for any more sings of major injury. "There is a plan here right?"

Instead of turning to address her fellow heiress Olivia kept her eyes trained on the smoke. "You four get Versailles out of here while we hold that woman off. Once he's safe you can double back to help us, but that's if any of you are in the condition to keep fighting."

It went without saying that the blond and monochrome girls caught the hidden meaning of Olivia's words. So did Ruby who looked away ashamed.

"She doesn't just mean that guys." Neil injected cracking his bruised neck. Turning to face team RWBY he motioned to the west. "Company's coming."

The sound of fire raining from the sky grew louder and louder with each second; the black cloud that it was coming from continued to roll over the sky creating searing infernos below them. The chorus of reptilian cries pierced the teenagers' ears with an almost painfully clarity.

At once the Wyverns began pelting the battlefield with fireballs creating clouds of toxic smoke every few feet.

Izaak remained where he was crouched low amongst the rising flames. "I'm no therapist but I'm guessing whatever it was Versailles did to you it was pretty bad?"

While the young Viking ripped a pieces of his jacket off to use as a mouthpiece the mercenary watched the Grimm wave descend on them with apathetic eyes. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you." She coldly answered emerging from the smoke. In the end the plasma shot had succeeded in destroying the golem's entire right arm though it was a pyrrhic victory. Izaak saw the burned edges of the destroyed limb were already began to reform; broken fragments growing into full plates that in turn made up a gigantic limb with staggering power. "You don't know jack shit about the man you're defending."

"Sure I do," he countered through his makeshift mask. "He's a racist asshole who'd gladly leave me and my friends behind to save his own ass."

For a long time she didn't say anything even as the space between them began a virtually sea of flames and toxic air. She breathed in the hazardous air yet showed no signs of pain or even paralysis associated with the Wyvern's toxic by product. The Viking recognized her breathing as being too steady and controlled to be natural-she was trying to reign in her hatred. Through the distance he could feel the mounting fury struggling to be pushed down. "If you knew _half _the things he was involved in, everything you just listed would make him a saint."

That admittedly peeked his interest. "My name's Izaak. Can I get yours?"

_**Boom! **_

A solid line of fire divided the two before she could answer Izaak. Both looked up to see the Wyverns had decided to close the gap between them and the ground dwelling humans. The woman watched the false dragons close in on her with a developing sneer.

Spikes grew on the golem's remaining arm, each as long as the average person was tall. In one swift swing all of them were dislodged then impaled themselves in the attacking Grimm. All of them fell to the earth or their masks fell shattering on impact.

Izaak remained in his crouch letting his gravitational barrier direct the flames to the side. Angry their target wasn't roasting alive the Grimm dive bombed the seventeen year-old with flames rolling off their jaws. Said flames died instantly once they were caught in the gravitational field that had deflected their fireballs. In a heartbeat the Grimm had their faces pulverized leaving their headless bodies to return to the nothingness from which they came.

Hazel eyes observed that the mercenary's anger had done the trick in drawing most of the Grimm towards her rather than him. Besides their sheer numbers it wasn't much of a problem as they came in the dozens, and were slain in the dozens just the same. The opposite was the case over where his teammates and their charge was. Versailles's pissing in his pants had been the mouth-watering scent needed to direct half the Grimm to where team RWBY and his teammates were.

Gusts of wind and green flashes had formed something of a wall against the demonic wave bearing down on them. Looking closer Izaak saw the green flashes were happening with for more frequency than Neil's air composed attacks. For a millisecond he caught Olivia mid-teleportation. He got a good look at her eyes and sighed. "At the rate this is going we're going to be either barbequed teenager or we're all going to die from this stupid toxin." All the playfulness left the Viking's face. His eyes squeezed shut and his mind focused on the space above him. Within the confines of his mind he saw a black void with thousands of chunks of debris floating aimlessly from one end to the next. Suddenly the debris began to move in one single direction, to gather in one place. That's what Izaak focused on.

At the moment Neil wished his Semblance didn't revolve around a type of wind manipulation. Already he could feel his eyes beginning to sting a little from the sulfur-like stench carried by the smoke consuming him. It was getting harder for him to see through the haze of smoke and even breath. He cut one hole only to have it immediately plugged up.

Feeling a soft touch on his back the knight momentarily broke his stone faced façade. "Sorry about slowing ya' down 'Liv."

"Don't even start on that. Get your ass out of here. Take a break then come back." She barked.

"Sorry but we both know that's not going to happen."

He didn't need to see her face to know she was smirking, "Typical." In a flash she was gone.

Through the haze of black smoke a myriad of olive colored flashes went off, the death cries of Grimm shortly followed after them.

This was why he hated mob battles, they drained his strength too quickly for his liking. Summoning twenty foot tornadoes and flesh-searing lightning strikes had the unfortunate tendency to drain the large reserves of Aura he'd been blessed with. Doing so time after time had slowly but steadily turned the lake he'd started with into a backyard pond. For that reason Neil calculated his swings so he didn't waste any energy.

He was familiar with the sensation of the world fading away to another but growling and slashing. Sometimes he found that somewhat sad, sometimes he didn't. All that mattered was every inch of his mind was devoted to slashing and dodging the countless attacks coming at him. It took him getting both his legs grazed by streams of fire to realize his movements were rapidly becoming more sluggish, said burn wounds not exactly helping things. He was fighting back tears and nausea in his stomach as his makeshift mask wasn't holding up nearly as well.

_**BOOM! BOOM! **_

_**THUNK! **_

Admittedly Neil panicked when he saw the Abeille's stinger impale the ground. Acting on instinct he hastily fired several Aero Blades hoping he'd kill the demonic bee before it could get off another attack.

_**CRINCH! CRINCH! CRINCH! **_

_**THUMP! **_

If Neil still had any strength in his body he'd kick himself. Though he'd succeeded in slaying the Abeille hidden amongst the Wyverns, a larger, smarter Wyvern had taken the chance to sneak up on him. He heard its steel-like claws tear into the ground, and then the sound of its black colored body swiftly doing a three-sixty. Moralltach moved fast enough to meet the barbed limb, but once again one sword wasn't enough to protect him from a force with the strength of an eighteen wheeler.

_**CRUNCH! **_

Neil couldn't keep the blood from flying from his mouth. Along with the blunt force he'd felt the Grimm's poisonous barbs tear into his skin. Numbness momentarily overran his body, but that wasn't what got Neil, it was the nail-biting pain that attacked the nerves in his arms. Coming up in a pained crouch he saw the ten-foot high Grimm that had just knocked him for a whirl.

"Heh, I'm guessing you've been around for a while haven't you?" He joked noting the two or three scars across the Wyvern's abdomen. Obviously this Grimm had survived more than a few attempts at ending its life only to escape and grow. _Crap, my right arm's not going to be working at hundred percent any time soon. _The young knight mused after attempting to roll his shoulder. "Well come on you bloody cunt, don't you want a taste of human flesh?" Pointing Beagalltach at the Wyvern he counted the paces the false-dragon took towards him.

The Wyvern threw caution to the wind and came at Neil saliva dripping from its black and white jaws.

Neil lunged forward swinging his short sword forward with the intent to cut down whatever it threw at him.

What the Grimm and young Huntsman ended up with was a complete change in perspective. Both of their visions were suddenly inverted and their bodies were locked in their current position.

Though his body was frozen in place Neil's adrenaline fueled mind was still working on overdrive. He saw the flash of bluish-silver move through the enclosed space around him. The light moved from behind him to the Wyvern, flickering in several places simultaneously.

_Wait, I've seen all of this before. _His inner voice spoke up. A whirlwind of emotions raged inside his body. Though it was impossible he could have sworn his fingers had started twitching despite the obvious effect of the temporal field he was caught. _Bluish-silver light, moves like light and can cut through almost anything. _He observed watching the flickering light complete its tracing over the Wyvern's body. _There's no doubt about it, that's Razor Carbine. _

Once the temporal field disappeared and movement was no longer restricted the Wyvern's life came to an end. The winged Grimm was now cut into some twenty or so pieces, including its mask. His eyes finally free Neil ran them along the length of the weapon that had slain the beast-the gun blade Razor Carbine.

And its owner Daniel Alton turned his head at that exact moment to look him in the eye.

Neil wasn't the only one frozen in his place, the ex-Huntsman looked like he'd just seen a ghost in the form of an old face. The breath visibly caught in his throat as he summed up every aspect of Neil's appearance. In turn Neil unconsciously felt his body tense up, _Run. _A voice from the back of his head commanded. _Distract him, blindside him, do it and haul ass as far away as possible. Escape. _He felt a familiar throbbing pain in his left shoulder at the prolonged gaze he held with the dark haired detective.

It was Alton who found the ability to speak before Neil did. "How bad?"

He flinched, he hated himself for it but his voice had awakened those long buried childhood memories. "Can't move my arm, my eyes feel like they'd been dipped in acid, and I'm feeling kind of nauseous."

He hesitated before placing his hands over Neil's eyes. Again, the young knight flinched on contact with the older man's skin. His Aura flowed into his eyes removing some of the previous pain that had been spreading into his skull. When he took his hands away he could feel his vision returning to partial clarity. "Can you stand?" Alton asked.

_**RRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR! **_

"…It doesn't seem like I have a choice anymore." Was the young knight's monotone reply.

* * *

Yang didn't care if she was legal age or not, as soon as this shit storm was over she was going to have a drink. No way in hell was she bringing Ruby with her, Weiss would probably be appalled to ask such a thing, and Blake would be…unavailable. Maybe she could have got Izaak to go along. She'd get drunk off her ass and he'd spend almost the entire time reading a book or something. Of course all this would come about in about a week or so when she felt like she had ampule use of her hands again.

In the past four hours she'd broken more bones, cracked more skulls, and probably killed more people than she could ever count. The evidence was painfully clear on her knuckles, dry and flesh blood stuck to her black gloves and fingers in a manner that quietly unsettled her. Her hands were starting to go numb, hell, just throwing a straight jab now felt like sticking a needle directly into her knuckles. She kept doing so because she was the "tank" of her team and in situations like this it was her job to clear the way.

It was amazing that there were still a few White Fang grunts left despite the death laser reveal barely an hour ago. They were determined, Yang had to give them that much before she smashed her fists into their cheeks.

It made her blood boil that she was spilling blood to protect a racist asshole who'd insulted her, her teammates, and her friends right in front of them. It made her furious her little sister had a fractured arm protecting him. The handful of police officers they'd hooked up must have felt the same way. Detective Nu, the officer they'd met a few months ago, was the most vocal in his disdain at having to risk his life for a "pants-shitting idiot politician". Yang would have agreed with him if she hadn't been focusing all her strength on keeping the group moving forward.

Of the six officers that had joined three of them were now dead. Not by the extremist grunts that insisted on carrying out their foolish vendetta but by the flames and toxic breath of the Wyverns. Everyone had covered their faces with make-shift masks to stave off the poisonous air permeating Ameon Strip. There wasn't one among them who wasn't coughing up blood or had red tinging their eyes.

Out of all of them Ruby was probably the worst off. Her Aura was approaching net zero, her left arm was virtually useless. That was to say nothing of the mental trauma everyone was sure she'd endured throughout the day. She struggled to keep up with the other requiring Weiss to half carry her.

_**BAM! WHANK! **_

_Just tell me this is almost over, please just tell me that because I don't think we have that much left. _ She prayed.

Explosions lit up the sky in front of them scattering hundreds of Grimm to the wind. The students and policemen looked up to see a damaged Narwhal pushing itself through the hailstorm of Grimm.

"I don't suppose they'd be willing to let us hitch a ride?" One of the remaining cops offered dropping to his knees.

The whole of team RWBY watched with cold but baited breath as an entourage of armed soldiers hustled out of the ship to collect the councilman. Only a handful of them even gave the battle worn students and officers a second glance. What Yang wanted to ask was if they could take Ruby along with them even though she already knew what the likely reaction would be. _"List of priorities." _Olivia and Weiss had called it the dinner before this little mess. Watching them hustle the pants-crapping councilman away she muttered a good riddance under her breath along with the rest of her team. _We practically just ran through hell all for a racist prick who didn't have a damn problem with leaving us to die. _The boxer mused with a hollow chuckle. _If that psycho lady catches up with us then we're in deep shit. At best she'll just kill us and worst she'll make us suffer for helping that asshole get away. _Though they'd lost her in the Grimm onslaught Yang had a feeling she was hot on their tail. She didn't favor their odds if she found them.

"So now what do we do?" Blake questioned with distant eyes. It was clear the day's battle had taken more of an emotional toll on her than on any of them.

Fishing for another cigarette Nu gave her an offhand answer, "We keep fighting 'til someone throws up a white flag. Given the ass kicking we've handed these bastards that shouldn't be-"

_**RRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR! **_

Emotion flew back into the ninja's amber eyes. It was fear, raw unhinged fear. "Oh God, why? Why? Why?"

Maybe it was a few miles away but the group could see the Ethm Wyvern's demonic outline as well as the smoke stakes it created. The field of black and red flames rose higher into the sky with each second.

"Well…th-that explains…where the Wyvern c-came from." Yang grounded out knowing full well she was shaking just as much as her compatriots.

_**BOOOOOMMM! **_

Nearly all their teeth fell out at the sound of yet another airship rudely kissing the ground. A building-sized fireball erupted almost twenty meters from their current location spewing metal and bodies everywhere. Everyone averted their eyes away from the metallic meteor; its impact had the unfortunate side effect of scattering the toxic air all over the place.

_**CCCRRRAAACCCKKK! **_

"EVERYONE MOVE NOW!" Blake screeched grabbing Yang and jumping away.

In an upward explosion of rock and metal pipping came the Lockjaw snapping and roaring at everything in sight. With a speed that betrayed its size the beast lunged at the first person it saw, one of the three remaining policeman. The cop got off one shot and one terrified shriek before he disappeared in a shower of red and white.

"Bastard!" Nu screamed unloading every road in his gunblade.

Yang and Blake followed him though all their bullets did was irritate the overgrown reptile. In a rage it did a full tail sweep. The girls and two officers were hurled backwards by the sheer pressure generated by the attack. Yang came up flat against the ground with a growing pain spreading through her right side. Prying her eyes open she saw the Lockjaw was sizing up each of the downed defenders.

Her heart skipped a beat when it began advancing towards Ruby. "NO!" The brawler screeched dashing as fast as her pained legs could carry her.

Though she managed to get Crescent Rose pointed at the approaching Grimm Ruby had a feeling one shot wouldn't do anything to stop it. Her body was half-numb with pain and her vision was shifting between clear and off beat. _Go out fighting. Go out fighting. Go out fighting. _She kept repeating trying to steady her aim. All she saw was a black abyss beyond the Grimm's jaw stretching into God knows what. _You know what? Screw it! _Getting to her feet Ruby held Crescent Rose out to her left side like she was gearing up for a swing. _Maybe this way I'll take out an eye before he gets to me. _The reaper optimistically thought channeling what was left of her Aura into Crescent Rose.

Before the rose colored weapon could meet the face of the Grimm a sound like thunder boomed, "THUNDER DROP!"

_BOOM! _

Ash and smoke were kicked up by the surprise attack obscuring the Grimm from everyone's vision.

Just as Yang was making a mental note to thank Nora when this was over she heard the death growl of a _very _pissed off crocodile. "Oh come on,"

Nora's grin faded upon seeing the first signs of the white mask beneath Magnhild. The only evidence of her attack was a scar three feet in diameter. With the clearing of the dust she saw she was now kneeling on top of the Lockjaw. And it was growling at her. "Uh…maybe I should have put a little more force into that one." The Valkyrie got off before the Lockjaw roared back and threw her off.

_**To Be Continued…**_

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**Author's Notes: I'd like to take this time to thank everyone who's supported this story. It's been a very hectic last few months for me thus making writing a hell of a lot harder than normal. Now that those troubles are looking to be mostly over I'm hoping to get chapters out a little faster, provided final exams don't get in the way too much. Having Volume 3 on Blu-Ray and the soundtrack on iTunes should help : ) With some luck I'll be able to get the conclusion of this story arc out by this Friday as I'm sure some of you have grown a little tired of the nonstop destruction and mayhem. **

**Story Notes: **

**Ethm Wyvern-The "Alpha" of the Wyvern species; its partially inspired by the Varusaburosu from **_**Monster Hunter **_**in terms of appearance. Ethm is an Arabic word that roughly translates into "sin". Its nickname is the "Shadow of Death" because accordingly death follows this monstrosity like a shadow. Its body is encased in armor that's able to shrug off around seventy-percent of conventional firearms barring the highest grade of missiles and nukes. Whereas most Wyverns' fire balls can be likened to streams and rivers this guy's can be likened to waterfalls and even meteors for all their strength. Naturally the smoke that's emitted from them is enough to kill every living thing in a well populated area in less than eight minutes. The tail is part wrecking ball and part war axe, oh and it can lit said limb on fire in case pulverizing the target isn't enough. As a "boss" Grimm it has the ability to command lesser Wyvern to do as it commands. **

**Lockjaw-A crocodilian Grimm that takes some attributes from modern day crocodiles and alligators. They can live in freshwater or saltwater, though they did prefer places like swamps and marshes were its always gloomy. There's a widely accepted notion it's okay to kill baby Lockjaws if you ever come across them-you see the older they get the tougher and meaner they become. Full grown Lockjaws have been known to shrug off air strikes and still keep going. Of course their underside is vulnerable but get luck getting there. **

**Bloody cunt-An Irish curse that amounts to "stupid shit"**


	33. Chapter 33: That Time of the Year Pt8

**I do not own anything expect the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 33: Just That Time of the Year Pt.8**

The group took it as a bad sign when Nora went flying without even being able to make a dent on the Lockjaw's armor. If they could have used straws to decide who went next they would have, the Lockjaw wasn't up for waiting for them to decide. It bulldozed its way towards them shrugging off everything they threw at it, which arguable wasn't much since half of them were running on fumes. Those that weren't out of ammunitions for their weapons were running dangerously close to. For that reason ammo was used sparingly, especially since the remaining Grimm weren't exactly big on letting the Lockjaw have all the fun.

Pyrrha and Buruan decided to tag team the demonic crocodile without their leaders' consent. They knew the only hope they had was getting the Grimm in its backside-a hard feat but one they could pull off if they got lucky. Summoning his stone wolves Buruan took the option of keeping the beast distracted, slashing and clawing at its white armor while Pyrrha carefully maneuvered the surrounding metal towards the Lockjaw. The wolves dog-piled the Grimm but it didn't seem to do any good; in a shocking display of speed and power the beast rolled over smashing the canines. In mere seconds the Grimm was back on its legs, shrugging off Buruan's attempts to carve out chunks of its black flesh. Cursing as loud as he could he continuously slammed Golden Wolf down only to find each slash left nothing but a light dent in the white armor.

Eventually the Lockjaw grew tired with the young Faunus's ill-fated attempts to wound him and swatted him away with a sharp swing of his tail. It moved in on the downed wolf-Faunus intent on snapping him up in one go. Those thoughts were put on hold when it saw even though he had blood running down the corners of his lips and noise he was smiling.

_**CRA-ACK! **_

Suddenly the Lockjaw felt the ground beneath its feet liquefy alarming it. In a rage it tried to free itself from the muddy trap the ground around it had become. Despite its great strength the muddy water kept the Grimm bound to the circular trap.

Barely twenty feet from the raging Lockjaw Rad and Pyrrha stood side by side, Rad reading from his spell book and Pyrrha keeping her arms raised to the sky. Above the Lockjaw's head a sharpen stake of metal scrapes almost seven feet long and cackling with red energy. Shards of ruby-colored dust floated around the stake before attaching themselves to it giving it a similarly colored glow.

"Buruan move your furry ass now!" Ndidi yelled still keeping her heads pressed into the earth to maintain the miniature swap she'd created around the Lockjaw. It felt like her arms were being pulled out of her sockets, as if she were literally holding onto the demon with her own two hands. Sweat beaded down her forehead just as it did with Rad and Pyrrha.

The teenager headed his team mate's words and ran just as the stake fell downwards right on top of the Lockjaw. It might have penetrated the Grimm's armored backside if it had made contact. A concentrated blast of plasma broke the stake in two.

Suddenly voles of plasma beams went flying over the battlefield, impacting Grimm and humans alike. The students scattered in a panic to avoid the barrage coming from the newest arrivals.

With Ndidi unable to maintain her focus the Lockjaw broke free of its swampy prison, snarling it turned its gaze in the frog-girl's direction and began its steady advance.

_**Boom! **_

A giant sized blast of plasma did the job in not only knocking the giant Grimm off its feet but in pushing it back quite a few feet. To the onlooker students awe and fear willed up inside them for the size of the beam was immeasurable. Besides Weiss Ruby felt her jaw drop, not even Penny had been able to produce an energy blast of that size and destructive power. When the whitish-blue beam faded there was now a clear charred path across the ground. At the other end the Lockjaw was moaning in pain, rearing itself back up while pieces of its prized armor began falling to the earth.

"It's been a while since I bagged a Grimm kill like that one." Came a particularly chippery voice followed by the sound of metal sizzling. Hoyt came into the view of team RWBY, his zewihander lazily slung over his shoulder as usual. In one glance the four girls immediately knew the man was trouble. "A shame I can't bring the mask back for a trophy, would have made one hell of an addition to the collection." The Huntsman chuckled turning a stray eye to the girls' direction. "What do you girls think?"

"Scatter!" Blake cried grapping Yang and bolting to the side.

Weiss pushed Ruby away while she threw up a Glyph to protect herself against the swordsman's attack. Her barrier shattered after a single hit forcing her to fall back with her rapier raised to parry the next attack. S ick grin spread over Hoyt's face at the preparation of the heiress.

"Oh so you've some spirit Schnee! I like that!" he cried as he swung Cadellcanaid.

_**THUNK! **_

The mercenary's smile faded upon realization that his zewihander had embedded itself in concrete rather than steel or flesh. Catching a feint whiff of olives he looked over to his right. His smile returned in all its glory, "Impressive, so the rich do teach their kids how to fight." Noting the death glare Oliva was giving him while Weiss recovered beside her. He saw a time dilation appear beneath their feet. "Sorry but you girls are just a little too slow to keep up with me."

Olivia knew something was up with this man. His entire demeanor spoke of a well-place confidence that she nor the others could expect to ignore. She grabbed Weiss and blinked out again, this time reappearing some ten yards away from him on his twelve o'clock. Bishamon formed into a _naginata_ as she pressed down on her left foot for a forward slash. Beside her Weiss encased Myrtenaster in a coating of blood-red energy and prepared to follow her lead.

"Olivia! Weiss! Don't do it you don't understand!" Cried a voice both girls knew quite well.

"You really oughta listen to goggled over there Mary Tzu. It's a bad idea to rush into combat when you don't know zip about the enemies' abilities." The man's voice chuckled from behind them.

_Shit! _

_How! _

_**CRACK! SLISH! **_

Blood gushed from the fresh laceration going down the samurai's backside.

The heiress beside her had little time to digest what had just happened to her comrade before she was rolling across the ground nursing at least two broken ribs.

Seeing her friends effortless swatted to the side set Ruby off. Slamming Crescent Rose's scythe blade into the ground she loaded her last clip of "Cross Bullets"; in the blink of an eye her scope was on Hoyt's head and her fingers were squeezing the trigger like there was no tomorrow.

_**THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! THUNG! **_

No one quite knew what to say as they watched Ruby's strongest bullets get deflected as if they'd hit some kind of invisible wall.

Ruby fell to her knees, rage and shock knocking all the strength from her body. "Oh come!" The reaper howled banging her fist into the ground. "Why can't I hit anything today?!"

"The real world isn't so neat and dandy is it? Targets refusing to go down with a nice bullet through the skull?" Chided Hoyt. "This just proves you guys are rookies."

_WHOSH! _

Suddenly the mercenary was standing in front of Ruby. Alarmed all her allies sprinted forward desperate to get the redhead away from him.

Wearing his usual cocky grin he lightly tapped Ruby on the head, and the next thing she knew Ruby felt like she'd been launched out of a cannon headfirst into a wall.

Roaring in rage Yang leaped on Hoyt only for her fist to hit the same invisible wall Ruby's bullets did. With a simple flick of his wrist she was sent flying in the opposite direction while Buruan raced in extending Golden Wolf to its full length. Brown and golden energy wrapped around the sword's edge until it was practically a focused beam of light. Unlike the other two Hoyt parried the attack by raising his zewihander at the moment of impact. A circle of air and energy exploded from the meeting of the two swords.

Though Buruan was trying with all his strength to press down on his opponent Hoyt only needed one hand to keep the Faunus at bay. "Hmph!" Effortless he knocked way Buruan's sword then drove his left fist into the young man's stomach sending him on a similar flight plan as Ruby. "So who'd like to be next?" He questioned turning to the rest of teenagers.

"I think this guy would like to have a turn." Chun Tao snarled throwing a grenade-shaped object towards Hoyt.

Before the object could be deflected it exploded scattering red and droplets over Hoyt's feet.

"Smart girl." The swordsman noted watching the Lockjaw cease its rampage and turn to him. "Well come on, croc, let's have a go!" With that he dropped his sword to his side and charged full speed at the Grimm.

Jaune didn't breathe a sigh of relief when the mysterious warrior and the Grimm engaged in battle, mostly because he had a feeling the man was holding back in holding off the Grimm. Standing in the loose circle his friends had formed he spoke, "We need to fall back while he's distracted."

"No arguments here." Ruby mussed rubbing her forehead while leaning on Buruan's shoulder.

Looking around the young knight saw there was little argument expect from Sun and Neptune who looked back at the man. Jaune wasn't sure of the details but he had a feeling he and Sun had met this man before, and he'd done something to royally piss both of them off. He feared he would have to attempt to talk them into retreating but Sage and Scarlet beat him to the punch.

"What about Izaak, Neil, and Chicahua? We can't just leave them." Blake spoke up.

"We don't have to worry about those three." Came Olivia's reply. Frankily the fact she was standing upright after receiving such an attack was enough to make very one silently commend her. Like the others she her clothing had been torn and her flesh cut up over the course of the battle, but unlike them her composure hadn't been lost. Her eyes held that same fire-like intensity they did when the battle first started. "Those three can handle themselves. I've got a tracker in my Scroll, one that's linked to theirs', once they see it's moving they'll converge on it."

"Do you have a plan to get us out of here?" Ren questioned.

"I do but it's going to be risky." Jaune answered taking a deep breath. "It goes without saying but all of us are either out or running little on ammo. Nora and Ndidi still have a few shots left, Yang I'm assuming you do too."

"Four to a fist." The boxer snorted already knowing that wasn't nearly going to be enough to get them through. "Sill want me in the back vomit boy?"

"Yes, you three hold the rear while we make a break for the outer rim of the battlefield. We keep the wounded huddled in the center and the defenders up front to repel anything that comes our way. Anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah boss, I got one." Cackled an unknown voice that made Jaune's blood run cold. "What do we do when the enemy has us completely surrounded? With plasma rifles ready to fry our asses like a burger at a cook out?"

Everyone heard the sickeningly soft buzz of insect wings from within their circle. A simultaneous crawl went up each of them as they tried to discern where the noise was coming from. One by one their eyes settled on Ren and Chun Tai, both of them had gone frighteningly still with their mouths hanging up and their faces rapidly losing color. Both coughed up blood as a shudder ran through their bodies, then streams of tiny insects erupted from their bodies.

"ARGH!" Was the group's collective response falling back on their butts and scooting away.

Chun Tao and Ren both collapsed to the ground, sweat pouring down in waterfalls form their foreheads.

The stream of greenish-red insects converged above the head of the newcomer-a boy into maybe his early twenties or so. His attire, a military jacket and camouflage pants carried the same crest as the mercenaries, Hoyt, and the mysterious woman from earlier. A few strands of his merlot red hair fell down to the bridge of his noise or hung a cut above his golden-brown eyes. They would have been quote stunning to look at if the flames of insanity weren't burning bright in them. His all too wide smiling was practically an open declaration what his purpose. Was. Lifting one hand up the swarms of insects converged onto his palm and seemingly melted into his flesh. A red light slowly spread from his palm to the rest of his body, the mysterious boy breathed in a content sigh. "Nothing hits the spot quite like lotus juice." Returning his focus to the students he waved to them with his adjacent hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you guys after having to duck and hide for almost a month. Name's Pox Mallon, pleasure to meet half of you and I'm gonna be sad to see some of his go."

_**SNAP! **_

Three pairs of burning blue lights illuminated Pox's side. The thick smell of O-zone flooded the area, the loud cackling of electricity soon followed. The air distorted like the very molecules were being displaced, shoved out of the way to make room for the armored figures that seemingly materialized from the arcing lightning. One by one their heavy boots smacked against the ground until six heavily armored men wielding plasma weaponry stood before them.

"You've got to be fu-"

"Let her rip boys!" Pox howled making a pointed gun motion in their direction.

Half of them were hit by the barrage of plasma fire from the mercenaries' weapons while the other half managed to avoid direct contact. In particular Jaune's shield saved his life again but the blond haired youth was now lying flat on his back with his left arm all but numb. Grabbing him and her own winded leader Ndidi attempted to scurry away only to find herself confronted by one of the newly arrived soldiers. Dropping both leaders she wildly struck out with her mace only to have it caught in the electrical field that encased the soldier. There was absolutely zero hesitation in the soldier's lightning-fast jab directly into Ndidi's gut. The frog girl felt all the air leave her lungs then felt it whipping past her; by the time she was able to regain her bearings her entire body felt like it'd just been run over.

The soldier looked at Jaune and Chun Tao with dispassionate behind his metallic helmet. Both teenagers knew just from the way he raised his weapon, calmly and casually, that this man had zero issue with killing both of them in cold blood. It was because of that reason the two of them summoned up whatever strength they had left for one front charge with their weapons held out front. When the weapons were within striking distance they froze in place by an expanding transparent orb of electricity. The struggles of the teenagers were in vain as what strength they had wasn't enough to free them of the electrical trap. The barrier pulsated once before knocking them back with a blazing shockwave that left Jaune and Chun Tao lying on the ground with arcs of lightning racing over their bodies.

Rather than use his firearm the mercenary reached over his back and withdrew a six-foot tall hammer that cackled with the same electrical energy his high-tech armor did. Spreading his feet out he raised the power weapon above his head; lying on the ground Jaune and Chun Tao shut their eyes tight to brace for the painful end they knew was coming.

_**THUNK! **_

When the hammer came down it didn't impact flesh or the ground but a piece of wreckage that might have at one point belonged to an automobile. The burning metal was hurled in the opposite direction on contact with the hammer, and then another flew past it. The solider swung his hammer again deflecting the second projectile only to find more were coming.

Too many for him to deflect.

Acting quickly he held the hammer out in front of him-the bright blue bolts around him feed into the hammer creating a spacious barrier of raw plasma.

_**TH-CUNK! THA-CHUNK! **_

The teenagers watched in wide-eyed awe as the plasma barrier continued taking blow after blow from the flying wreckage until at last, the engine-less remains of a Bullhead were rocketed towards the heavily-armored soldier. Getting the hint he broke his barrier and began running, but alas, it was useless.

The airship crushed the soldier then continued skidding across the ground leaving a wide gash in the broken earth. Jaune and Chun Tao had already sighted Pyrrha by the time they heard the Bullhead skid to a stop. The Spartan looked the worst they had ever seen of her-her armor broken, her eyes red from strain and effort, blood pouring down her arms, legs, abdomen, back, and finger tips. Getting up close they could especially see her gloves had been blown away to reveal raw red fingers that painfully twitched every few seconds. Wordlessly the two crawled towards Pyrrha who merely stood on foot and knee, biting her lip to contain the numbness-inducing pain pulsating through her entire body.

Over yonder Ruby, Weiss, and Buruan were fairing no better than the two leaders against a sword-wielding mercenary. First off Ruby was out of bullets, tired and almost completely drained of her Aura, Weiss was all those things and out of Dust, and lastly Buruan was pretty sure he'd fractured his left leg when Pox ordered his men to open fire on them. It was no longer possible for him to move at top speed with a bad leg, exhaustion, and his heighten senses practically force-feeding him the toxic air. Factoring in all those things made landing even one solid blow on their opponent that much harder. The fact his barrier remained up didn't exactly help either.

Buruan was the most frontal in their attacks, every time he was knocked back he got right back up and went at it again. Ruby would have joined him if her second attempt at a decapitation hadn't been parried and resulted in her getting right jab to the gut.

Weiss and Buruan felt their hearts come to a sudden stop at seeing the solider raise his weapon. A primal roar left the Faunus's lips and cold fire blazed in Weiss's eyes. Golden Wolf angrily slammed against the plasma barrier, and this time the broadsword wasn't replied but continuously pushed forward. Myrtenaster spontaneously grew a razor sharp layer of ice around it that trailed all the way down to Weiss's hands.

_**KA-LING! **_

The barrier came down allowing Golden Wolf to continue its advance towards the soldier who wisely withdrew from the glowing weapon's hungry attack. Rock and light were thrown up once the sword hit the ground obscuring Weiss who rushed in with a speed that belayed her wounded appearance. Just as the soldier prepared to counter attack he found Weiss before him, Myrtenaster was thrusted forward with the speed of a javelin leaving trails of frozen air in its wake. The resulting iceberg was no bigger than the average car but inside the soldier was completely defenseless; rather or not he was still conscious of his vulnerable state was unknown since his helmet allowed no emotion to show. If he was scared of the sword-wielding Faunus angling his blade in his direction he wasn't able to say.

Golden Wolf released a tremendous flash of golden light as it was swung in a horizontal arc. The wave of golden energy almost instantly collided with the iceberg resulting in an explosion of ice, light, and electricity. As the dust settled Buruan felt his broadsword slide to the ground while Weiss fell to her knees barely supported upright by her trembling arms.

"Nice combination guys." Ruby muttered finding the strength to get to her knees. "Gonna have to think up a name for that one."

"I'd say White Wolf is pretty cool." Buruan laughed forcing his body upright despite the great pain and exhaustion he was in. "Hey Weiss, what do ya-"

_**CHUNK! **_

The heiress rolled to a stop right in front of them, blood sipping through her right side. The two silver-eyed teenagers looked up to see yet another mercenary stalking towards them. Instead of a sword these one wielded a dual-sided power axe that cackled with a light blue aura of power.

"You can't be serious!" Buruan snarled readying his sword for another attack. If he did move it'd have to be in one blow because he didn't have the strength for a prolonged fight, that is, if he wanted to use the secret weapon hanging around his neck for when Pox or Hoyt made their attacks. "Ruby, take Weiss and run while I hold this guy off."

"I'm not going to leave you here Buruan!"

"There's no time!" he barked back his face growing more and more feral.

The soldier got no more than one step when the first fireball fell, and then they heard the disgruntled screaming and grunting.

_**Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! **_

Several black masses hit the ground in loud thumps that startled the students. One of the black masses that was mixed with red crashed into the ground beside them. The three heard the sound of Grimm flesh disintegrating followed by heavy male breathing.

Having better senses than the other two girls Buruan was the first to identity who the newcomer was. Scowling he called, "There goes my hope I'd never had to see your ugly face ever again Winchester."

"The feelings mutual Cujo." The mace-wielding knight snarled pulling himself out of the small crater he'd made while killing the Wyvern. Only barely did he notice the completely shocked looks on Ruby and Weiss's faces as they took in his current condition. Buruan merely snorted before turning away, muttering something about death missing a spot check. If it was within his power Cardin would have fired back with some smart remark, but he didn't have time for that. Craning his head back he saw the mercenary dispassionately observing them. His eyes went back to his three classmates then over to the soldier. "Stay the hell out of my way."

"Oh, you can do better Winchester?" The Faunus snarled.

Without turning back Cardin answered him with equal animosity in his words. "Watch me Cujo."

Before Ruby or Weiss could step in to calm things Cardin was off with his mace radiating red light. It was a silent wonder he still had the strength to dash, let alone fight in his condition. His movements were sluggish but his counter attacks were fierce enough to keep the soldier from pressing the attack. Embers and bolts of lightning exploded from their repeated clashes, they ducked weaved out of each other attacks until momentarily knocked his opponent's weapon to the side with a might two-handed swing. In that moment Cardin made a grab for one of the grenades strapped to the soldier's waistline.

Outside the battle the three watched as the seventeen year-old took a plasma-encased fist to the gut. Ruby and Weiss winced in sympathy but Buruan wished he had a camera to record the moment. Cardin took back hand fist to the face, a knee to the gut, and then the mercenary grabbed him by the throat and hurled him back to the three students. "Wow Cardin, you really showed us huh? Tell me any chance you're willing to train us in the art of how to get your ass kicked? I promise we'll take all the notes we can." The wolf-eared boy remarked while rolling his eyes.

"Buruan," Weiss called drawing the Faunus's attention. "Look again."

Indeed his silver eyes looked over at the mercenary stalking towards them and his teeth clenched in irritation. The mercenary stopped his advance as he too realized what the young knight had done. Dropping his axe his hands went to the grenade Cardin had grabbed-the metallic sphere that was now being overrun by flame-colored cracks that spread from the grenade to the rest.

_**CCCCCCRRRRIII-IIINNNCCCCHHH! **_

The R and W of team RWBY looked away while the two boys watched on with cold eyes.

As it turned out when fire met plasma-powered armor the resulting explosion was quite… interesting. Blue and red battled each other in an amazing Technicolor display that completely consumed the soldier. Metal being torn apart and melted at once created a horrid melody the soldier was helpless to silence. He continued screaming until his voice could no longer be heard over the sick cackle of fire and lightning.

_**BOOM! **_

"Got anything to say now furball?" Cardin sneered in his classmate's direction. Not surprisingly Buruan averted his gaze with his arms crossed.

"Actually Winchester I do, heads up."

"WINCHESTER!"

Apparently Cardin recognized his attacker because he cursed to the high heavens when he saw the familiar condor wings coming his way. In the blink of an eye Cardin was rolling along the ground with the condor Faunus clawing at his face.

Ruby and Weiss looked to Buruan who remained perfectly passive at the savage conflict unfolding before them.

"Buruan!" Weiss shouted.

"What? Did you not just see him turn another person into a human time bomb? The guy can take care of himself."

"Buruan." Ruby called to him. Please."

He hate those eyes of hers, those pleading eyes he could never, _ever _say no to. They overrode his hatred for Cardin in seconds. _Why the hell does she want me to save this guy? Ruby, don't you know what he's done to not just me but everyone else?_ He questioned marching towards the struggling warriors. Just from watching the two of them go at each other Buruan knew Cardin's conflict with the unmade White Fang member went beyond racial hatred.

"I don't know about you but this is really pushing it for worst day of my life." Ruby muttered.

"What part qualifies?" Weiss chided. "The mindless death and destruction around us? The fact that this whole time our government's been keeping a giant laser right under our noises? We just had our lives saved by Cardin Winchester? Throughout the entire day we've been getting our asses kicked left and right?"

Having been her partner long enough Ruby knew when Weiss starting getting like this it usually meant she'd reached her breaking point. She couldn't blame her. "All of the above." She tried to avoid looking at the small crater the murdered soldier had formed with his gruesome death. Never in all her life had Ruby seen a death so…_painfully _as that-being burned and electrocuted alive before having your entire body violently vaporized. _And Cardin probably knew that was going to happen. _The reaper abysmally noted. Though she wouldn't say it aloud she felt like she was watching Buruan in the way he fought-hatred carrying his every motion and fury in his eyes. Hidden sorrow began to reveal itself as she watched Buruan join the indigo-eyed teenager in his wrestling match, _You two hate each other so much but you're so alike you don't even realize it. _

_**BBuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzz! **_

The two girls swung their weapons to their twelve o'clock in a frenzied panic. The swarm of insects snaked around Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster respectively to entangle the two girls. Before either could scream they felt firm hands clapping down on her faces, it was like having a cinder block steadily pressed against their heads. Only barely were their eyes able to catch Pox grinning maliciously at the two of them.

"Not much left there to take but I've been waiting to see what White Rose tastes like. I'm not disappointed." He laughed tightening his grip.

The heiress and reaper would have screamed, kicked and clawed at his hands if either of them had any strength left in their bodies; what little strength they did have left was rapidly leaving their bodies. Bit by bit darkness began to consume their respective words. Air became harder to take in while their sense of touch and hearing began to fade away.

_This…_

_We're…really gonna… _

In surreal sync the two thought they could hear the other's heart beats come to a chilling stop one beat at a time.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" The two heard a familiar voice scream over the darkness.

A black shadow jetted past their fading vision forcing Pox's hands away.

"Bl…ak…e." Ruby's barely conscious voice whispered.

The feline ninja stood defensively before her friends holding Gambol Shroud and its sheath at the ready. The narrowed slits of her eyes and tensed up posture of her body reminded on of a jungle cat ready to attack at a moment's notice. While any ordinary person would have been terrified of the amount of killing intent the normally docile Blake was giving off Pox only seemed amused.

"Oh, so I finally got the kitty cat to show her claws." He mused eying her with his madness-tinged eyes. "You know you're actually kind of hot when you're acting all murderous."

Blake said nothing of the comment, only keeping her fangs bearded at the enemy that came within a hair's length of killing her friends. The instance she moved she was going straight for Pox's head, no ifs or buts about it.

"That look in your eyes," Pox started. "It's just like back then isn't it? That cold ruthless wildcat the White Fang spent so much time raising. You act like it isn't there but we both know it is." Pointing to his neck his face twisted into a lopsided grin that only furthered Blake's urge to separate his head from his body. "But you're out of practice kitty cat. I'm not sure you still got it. What do you say we see if you do?"

Bait, he was baiting her like a hunter would a dangerous animal. Sound logic and reason returned to Blake in pieces at the realization their roles had become hunter and prey. If she did charge in recklessly he'd kill her in an instant. _I don't have it anymore, _the ninja woefully muttered listening to the sounds of the battlefield. _I don't have that same speed that I used to or enough stamina to push my body that far…but I don't have to._ She thought with an invisible smile.

In a heartbeat Blake attack, but it wasn't a lung or attempt on his head. It was a set of energy slashes fired from her weapon.

With impressive speed they flew towards the redhead who merely held up his right arm. Dark red colored energy covered his forearm as he effortlessly swatted the attacks away.

Above Pox a light blue and green colored sphere of energy propelled itself towards him.

"Good ploy Blake, but you and Mr. Mohawk are going to have to do better if you want play with me! He exclaimed shocking the ex-terrorist.

Russel thought for sure his prized daggers would be digging into the flesh of the merlot hair mercenary, instead he found them impaled in the cracked earth and his target standing off to the side.

"Russel get away from him now!" Blake screamed.

_SWOOP! _

The dagger-wielding R of team CRDL came up beside Blake in a crouch, his breathing just as heavy as hers. Planting the six-foot trident that had almost cleaved Russel in two in the ground Pox pulled out his Scroll. On the surface it looked like he'd completely forgotten he was in the middle of a battle but the two "assassins" knew it was quite the opposite.

"How do we fight this guy?" Russel asked.

"I'm not sure we can Russel." The ninja responded not daring to look back at her teammates. "We're too exhausted and too unevenly matched. Running away won't help since his Semblance seems to revolve around summoning up some insects to drain a target of their Aura."

"I can hold him off while you take the others and run." The knife-wielder offered shocking the ninja. Meeting her red-tinged amber colored eyes he was a little taken back by their uncharacteristic purity. He'd never seen eyes like them, and truth be told he actually found them quite enticing to look at. _Oh man Cardin would have my ass if he could hear me now. _"No offense but between the two of us I've got the better chance of holding him off."

"On what basis?"

"My Semblance can deflect those insects."

"Except you can't control it properly."

"Can you just let me have the spotlight this once? Seriously Blake, as a side character I don't get to do this kind of thing often."

Blake wanted to wipe that idiot smile off his face. Russel may have been far from her favorite person in the world but she would never forgive herself for leaving him to die.

"Hey guys!" Pox called breaking up their mini-discussion. The elaborate trident he wielded began shrinking and retracting as he hid it behind his back. "Got some bad news-it's time for me to bounce. I had fun fighting you guys and I'm hoping next time we'll be able to have another go! That's of course if you survive!" A mass of crimson colored insects welled up from his feet and obscured his entire body. The mass of insects raised higher into the sky then flew off amidst the smoke and flames leaving the winded students to themselves.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Russel questioned feeling the toxic air beginning to eat away at his lungs.

Blake didn't have an answer for him and frankly she didn't want to know. She'd met cold people, dangerous people, and insane people over the course of her life. Pox definitely qualified as the last two. "Co-Come on Russel, let's g-go regroup with the others." The ninja hacked out doing her best to keep the black cloth pressed against her face.

_WHOSH! _

"I'm afraid I can't let you guys do that."

_**THUMP! **_

Blake and Russel were sailing across the ground then kissing it. Groaning they pushed themselves up to find Hoyt staring down the two of them. While Blake briefly wondered if he'd already killed the Lockjaw Russel blindly charged at the swordsman. He brought his knives down in an X-shape-all he ended up hitting was empty air.

"Over here Thrust." Hoyt called appearing behind him.

Russel lunged at his enemy only to end up with the same result.

"Do you want me to slow down? Am I going too fast for you?" Now he was ten feet away from him. He'd gone and sheathed his sword putting his hands in his pockets.

"No," Russel muttered flooding his daggers with Aura turning them flame-like energy daggers. "Just…stay…right…where…you are!"

_**Crack! **_

Pavement and rock was kicked off in Russel's propelled sprint towards Hoyt. A heart beat later and the young heir was bringing his daggers down on top of the blue-eyed man.

Hoyt's eyes cackled with amusement despite the increasing descent of the daggers. "You're fast when you gotta be kid. I'm impressed bbbbbuuuuuuttt," he placed an open palm flat against Russel's chest with a coy grin plastered on his face. "You leave too many blind spots open."

_**THUMP! **_

"Russel!" Blake screamed watching the knife wielder get blasted across the ground. A soft groan reaching her lips was the only sign she could get that he was still alive. Turning her burning eyes to Hoyt she chunked her Kusari-gama at him hoping she'd be able to catch him off guard.

What happened next made Blake feel like she'd been plucked out of reality and dumped in some sort of action film. Calmly Hoyt held out his right head, the air around it becoming visibly distorted. Gambol Shroud never touched his hand as it was caught in the distortion…and then just like with Russel it was hurled right back at her.

Except it was in pieces.

Blake felt like her heart had just been pierced with a metal rod watching her beloved weapon shattered into hundreds of pieces.

_WHOSH! _

"These is what happens when you bring those playground toys to a real fight!"

Somehow Blake ended up lying next to Russel who'd managed to roll over onto his stomach. Their eyes locked for a split second before their sixth senses blurred the alarm at full sound.

Those that had converged on the sight saw Hoyt grab the back of their skulls.

_**CRRRRAACCCKKK! **_

"_AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" _

"BLAKE!"

"RUSSEL!"

Standing up the scar-faced man saw the brawlers of teams RWBY and CRDL charging at him with murder flaring in their eyes. Spreading out his arms he welcomed their attack.

"YANG STOP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Sun roared over the battlefield but his words fell on deaf ears.

The shotgun gauntlet and mace met the invisible wall Hoyt possessed, and just like all the rest were propelled backwards with the force of a rocket taking their owners with them.

Before the two had come to a stop the next attack had already begun. A tightly compacted ball of metal and blast of air came at Hoyt from opposite directions. With near-impossible strength he kicked himself into the air avoiding the two attacks only to find Sage of team SSSN and Nora of team JNPR waiting for them. Bringing both his arms together to shield himself from their combined attacks he was knocked back to the ground. The two teenagers came down together and attacked together. Though Hoyt still didn't draw his sword the urge to became more and more pressing with Sage and Nora pressing-ganging him.

Dropping into a crouch he found himself pinned between the two heavy weapon wielders. Nora's grin was wide while Sage scowled deeply.

"You kids really think you can beat me?" Hoyt challenged grinning alongside Nora.

"Well we are the ones about to smash you into a pulp." Sage offered surrounding his sword with his signature green aura.

"Thanks for playing!" Nora smiled gripping Magnhild tightly. Pink lightning coiled around the hammer's surface.

_**CHUNK! **_

"What!?"

"Where's the pulp? There's something to be smashed pulp here!"

As the dust settled the two realized their weapons had done nothing but further rupture the earth. Alerted to the sound the clapping they simultaneously turned to the right to find Hoyt standing with not scratch on him. Just as their mouths opened in protest the scar-faced man attacked.

Sage felt his warm hand press against his chest-within it he felt his heart slam itself in the opposite direction. He caught Hoyt's insidious smile before he felt the very air itself force him backwards, rupturing his organs and breaking some of his bones in the process.

_**Crack! **_

Beside him Nora raised Magnhild but Hoyt was faster than the Valkyrie. His right hand gripped her left forearm. There was a little appliance of pressure and then everyone heard the snap.

_Crack! _

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" The orange haired teenager cried dropping her hammer. There was a quick jab to her stomach and soon she was following Sage, Yang, and Cardin's league.

To say the rest of the students were scared shitless would have been an understatement. Several of them were visible shaking while others were fighting the urge to flee now.

Unfortunately such thoughts were all that was needed to draw the attention of the Lockjaw, which Hoyt had apparently failed, or neglected, to kill. The Grimm's armor had definitely been broken in several places and cracked in just as many. It was missing its right eye, black blood trickling down the empty socket leaving a small trail of puddles with every lumbering step forward it took. Maybe the Lockjaw was missing some of its teeth, maybe it wasn't, no could tell how many it had at the start of the battle and no one wanted to know how many it had now.

If Hoyt had done them anything, it was made them more afraid to face the now berserk crocodilian Grimm.

"Before I let you guys have at it with that one I've got one last parting gift for the lot of ya!" Hoyt yelled holding up his right hand. Immediately tendrils of air began to condense itself around his palm forming into a sphere barely bigger than a baseball. The more compacted the air was the brighter it glowed turning into a brilliant whitish-blue plasma color. Lightning and wind chanted in unison as the sphere grew in size and intensity. Faces went totally white as multiple eyes followed the direction Hoyt was pointing the blast at. "How's about I give you the gift of despair? That seems rather fitting for you kids!"

With a thunder-like roar Hoyt released the pent-up energy in the form of a blast half a meter in diameter but with all the destructive power of a wrecking ball as evident by the ground it cleared away in its path towards Ruby and Weiss.

Dozens of eyes widen and voices screamed but none of them could get in front of the blast in time.

None but two, two of the most unlikely people you would have ever expected to work together.

_BLIP! _

Jaune was already in position when Olivia teleported the two of them in front of the blast. Jaune's expression was probably the most serious anyone had ever seen-sky blue eyes turned into cobalt iron that stood strong against the destructive power of the plasma beam. Behind him Olivia's default scowl had hardened into a cold mask that would have terrified even a lion if it caught sight of her. From the outlook it seemed the wound on her back had been patched up, or rather that she was never wounded at all given the cool aura she projected. Her left hand was placed the young knight's shoulder. The yellow of Jaune's aura mixed with Olivia's green at the point of contact flowing into his shield turning it light green.

_**Ka-THUNK! **_

There was push back but the two teenagers held strong against the plasma beam. Dozens of whitish-blue lines shot into the sky after being blocked off by the Arc family weapon. The faces of Jaune and Olivia broke out in cold sweat as if they were being put face to face with an intense flame. Neither said a word but continued gridding their teeth in preparation for the attack to at last come to an end.

Shock corrupted Hoyt's face until there wasn't a trace of his former smile left. It didn't return until the beam ran out of power.

A clear path had been cut across the ground only to stop at the knight and onna-bugeisha. Crocea Mors was charred black and its owner was on one knee but his eyes still held that same fierce fire in them. Standing beside them with her tonfa at her side stood the onna-bugeisha, her calculating eyes watching Hoyt like a bird of prey.

"…Royals who actually do something." Hoyt proclaimed cracking a half smirk. His gaze fluttered from Jaune to Olivia and back again. "So which one wants to take a crack at me?"

"We don't…he does." Olivia answered with a raising of her eyebrow.

Hoyt heard a sharp whirling sound like a jet fighter zooming through the air. Turning to his right he did see what could have been a jet, granted it was human sized, on fire like the sun, and wielding a saw-tooth sword that could have easily cut through his flesh like butter.

A collective cheer went up as Chicahua torpedoed Hoyt into the ground creating a six by five foot crater in the ground.

"You were eight seconds off Chicahua." The O of team IONC called.

Rising out of the ash and dust Chicahua seemed to be inspire just as much fear as courage in his classmates. Like Cardin he was shirtless and wounded. Unlike Cardin his skin was burning with a visible layer of light and heat that only grew brighter around his tribal lines and his scars. His eyes, his bright orange eyes were now such burning red and yellow they might as well have been suns. As for the Faunus's wings, they seemed to have grown in size turning into gigantic flaming feathers that shimmered in the afternoon light.

Pushing the concrete and rock away Hoyt climbed to his feet, blood pouring down in rivers over his right side. "You…look like you could be pretty tough. Actually, since you're from that tribe of batshit-crazy maniacs you would probably would give me one hell of a fight." Wiping the blood off his forehead using his sleeve he scanned over the rest of the gathered Beacon students. "Sadly I'm out of time and so are you guys."

"Care to be more specific?" Chicahua questioned taking one step towards the man.

"I think you already know bird-boy." Hoyt quipped craning his head a little to the left.

_**RRRRRUUUUMMMMMBBBBBLLLL! **_

"Earthquake!" Someone shouted.

"Everyone get down!" Olivia and Chicahua shouted together.

No one questioned the teenagers, they simply obeyed them.

A black and gray colored object buzzed through the air cutting apart everything that got in its way. Those that dared to look up where amazed by the giant weapon's cutting power-no matter what it went through it never lost speed or power.

_**RRRRRUUUMMMMBBBBBLLLLL! **_

Emerging from the earth came a familiar stone-made hand that tried in vain to grab at the axe. It materialized in front of the soaring weapon attempting to catch it.

_**SLASH! **_

Having severed the limb Storrdetta returned to Izaak's grip as he strode across the battlefield with Alton carrying his brother in toe.

"I was wondering where you were." Yang called noticing the Viking failed to hear him, or if he did he didn't acknowledge her. Like the rest of them battle had taken its toll on him-his outer layer of clothing lost and wounds glory all over his body. Expect unlike the rest of them from what Yang could see Izaak wasn't coughing his guts out like the rest of them. The brief glimpse of his eyes she got showed her those hazel-colored orbs were free of the red that tinged theirs'. His skin had grown a little paler than usual but other than that there was nothing else to discern he was breathing in the same toxic air they were.

Coming to a stop across from them was the female mercenary. Unlike them there were only a handful of scratches on her, and of course she looked completely healthy despite the fact the entire area was a toxic bed field. Her eyes and Izaak's remain deadlocked while countless eyes watched their every move.

"So I guess this is where we say goodbye huh?" Izaak stated with a little sadness in his voice. "You got a mean swing I can tell you that much."

"So do you," She replied dispelling her golem. "…Azana. My name's Azana Strelitzia."

A smile graced the Viking's face. "In that case it's nice to meet you Azana. Looking forward to meeting you again."

Something resembling a chuckle came out of the woman's lips as the remaining soldiers assembled behind her. "If you're as good as he says you are then I'm sure we'll meet again."

Azana's words had captivated the Viking as evident by his complete detachment from everything else but the mercenaries' escape. The custom Longsword that began blasting its way onto the scene sent the others into a panic but not him. The lot of them: Azana, Hoyt, Pox, and the remaining White Fang members fled onto the airship leaving the rest of them to battle the Grimm hordes headed by the one-eyed Lockjaw. Eventually the elongated airship was nothing but a gray dot that disappeared amidst the red and black smog connecting the sky to the earth.

"I guess who "he" is will have to wait for next time." Izaak muttered directing his attention to a rather noisy commotion happening a little over thirteen meters away.

Odds were Ruby and Weiss were going to be kicking themselves for being so defenseless that everything that attacked them went after them first. The Lockjaw added its name to list when it attempted to swallow the two of them as Blake and Detective Nu were doing their best to hustle them away. It easily swatted Sun and Neptune to the side when they attempted to get in front of it. Jaune was the next one to stall the demonic Crocodile, unlike the other two he had better luck as he'd managed to climb on top of its head. There was only one problem…Izaak couldn't see the young knight's shield anywhere on his person. Cursing he made his way towards the buking and rearing Grimm.

_**CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! **_

Jaune didn't know what those three cracks were but he was pretty sure he was going to be feeling them if he ever woke up. The Lockjaw had completely rolled over three times in its desperate attempt to shake him off. Needless to say it didn't work. His entire body was crying to him yet he continuously asked it for more and it answered. The Lockjaw threw its head back and forth causing his organs to play basketball within him as evident by the blood he kept coughing up.

Gripping the Lockjaw's head he stabbed Crocea Mors down into the Grimm's head. Even though the sword successfully broke through the mask it wasn't enough for the Grimm was still moving.

"Jaune get off that thing!" The blond heard his teammates shouting over the rush of air and howling. In his current state he could barely make out what they were saying so all he could do was peer up every now and then to see the terrified looks on their faces.

Pyrrha wanted with all her heart to run over there and yank him off the beast before he got himself killed but she was too busy protecting Ren and Nora. Even if she could Jaune honestly doubted she had the strength left to fight the titanic Grimm.

Somewhere inside Jaune thought he didn't want her coming closer to him. He didn't want any of them getting close to him.

He caught Ruby's silver eyes just once. It was when the Grimm decided to make her and Weiss its latest victims that Jaune fought past the critical exhaustion to catch its attention. _Every second its fighting me it's not looking at them! It's not them! It's not them!_ He was _not _letting this monster get any closer to either of them. He kept stabbing his sword into the hole he'd made further irritating the Lockjaw. Each time it raised its voice he responded by driving his sword deeper and deeper. Inside his chest Jaune felt a steady warmth building and building until it felt like his heart was about to explode from within his chest. Below the Lockjaw grew frantic to throw him off yet he persisted.

The two of them roared together, one in pain and the other in determined fury. A burst of light erupted from Jaune's sword then flooded into the Lockjaw via the impaled sword.

Mouths went agape as the Grimm's movements came to a sudden halt. What was left of its head was fading away, or rather burning away like pieces of cloth in a fire. In seconds a barely conscious Jaune rolled down the side of the Grimm's mask holding onto his sword by a weak grasp.

Shock manifested on the faces of everyone around Jaune, shock and gratitude.

"J-J-Ja-Ja-Jaune…" Ruby croaked out. "You…yo-you just…"

There was no clear indication Jaune heard her for he looked like he was a minute from going under. Taking in all the looks his friends were giving him he did the only thing he could think of doing-flashing them the peace sign with a lazy smile on his mangled face.

In some ways it was a good thing Jaune slipped unconsciousness at that exact moment; that was because at that exact moment the assembled students heard the Ethm Wyvern's unholy roar. Which left the rest of them to silent break down in terror as the Shadow of Death finally made its way towards them.

Theirs eyes saw the black and red shape of the Wyvern heading towards them, bringing with it a wave of invisible dread and malice and paralyzed each and every last one of them. Inside hope died in several as each flap of its black and red wings brought it closer to them.

Ironically the Ethm Wyvern broke the very same spell it had caste on them within moments of its appearance. Upon opening its maw all eyes could see the inferno waiting to be unleashed. No Aura, not matter how strong or body how sturdy would be able to survive the firestorm the Grimm would rain down on them.

Everyone grabbed the person who was closest to them or in other cases sprinted to the first person they saw.

In Yang's case she ended up alongside Blake, Sun, and Neptune. The two boys were putting everything they had left into putting up a barrier to protect but something inside told her it wasn't going to be enough. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew she was about to die. Maybe she felt dying quickly from the Ethm Wyvern's hellish flames would have been better than suffering through the slow poisoning everyone was going through. If she could have asked what the others thought then she would have done so if only to make herself feel better.

"Really pushes the line for worst day ever huh?" Came a surprisingly upbeat voice beside her. Turning her head she saw Izaak standing right there beside her, staring at the growing fire inside the Wyvern's mouth with conflicted eyes. "I mean first crap starts falling from the sky and now it ends with this? I mean this is why I hate this time of the year." If he was scared Yang couldn't tell, what she could tell was he was bracing himself for something. "What about you? Do you hate this time of the year Yang?"

In all honesty Yang began to think Izaak truly had gone insane with fear for asking her a question like that. She continued staring at him for a good while even as Sun, Neptune, and Blake worked to strengthen their barrier. Yang could have joined in but she was never any good at those kinds of tacks. She'd seen Izaak perform similar feats which left her wondering why he wasn't doing so now. _Go on ahead, just answer him, it's not like you've got much to lose by this point. _ "I've been shot at today, blown up, been called every name in the book, set on fire at least one, then _frozen _in a block of ice, electrocuted once, turned into a human softball, had all that happen to my sister and friends, taken down so many bad guys I oughta get a medal for it, and…" Tears brimming at corners of her eyes the boxer ran a hand through her hair. Looker closer Izaak saw its golden color had been lost, not to mention quite few visible strands were missing. "Those bastards ruined my hair Izaak! LOOK AT IT!"

Cracking a grin The Viking slammed Storrdetta down as soon as the words left her mouth. "Happy to know the day's been shitty all around." He said bending the laws of gravity to his will.

The Aura-composed barrier the three had set up was now bolstered by the natural law of natural made a toy by the bronze-haired teenager.

Three layers of Aura and one composed of pure gravity with an undercutting of Aura supporting it.

When the sea of flames washed over the battleground the barrier miraculously held, but that doesn't mean its occupants were one-hundred percent sage of the residual effects. The sheer force exerted by the blast was what caused the teenagers to hold onto each other like there was no tomorrow. Overriding each of their senses save for touch was the sound and smell of onyx-colored flames consuming everything in their path.

The only men who ever held Yang these close were her father and uncle, no one else had come even close. It might not have been fair to add Izaak to that list since Yang didn't have much choice at the moment but she did so anyway. Besides, as crazy as it sounded she actually enjoyed being this close to the Viking. Her head tucked in the crux of his neck allowed her to catch the thunder of his heart-a strong engine that beat at a steady rhythm compared to her erratic beat. In a way it was calming. Izaak said nothing and did nothing but be her anchor as they all weathered the blast to the best of their abilities. Would they counter attack when it was over? Would any of them have the strength to do so? She didn't have the answer to these questions even though she so desperately wanted them. For the moment she was content silently holding onto the hazel-eyed youth beside her.

While Yang was thinking all of these things Izaak's mind was running over the mental image of the Ethm Wyvern. He'd compared what he saw to what he'd read finding most of the information matched up. Watching the flames around them slowly begin to die he finished the last touches on his plan. As soon as the inferno ended he was going on the attack-alone or with allies it didn't matter to him. _If I can at least give them some time to get away then why the hell not. _A portion of his brain reasoned flexing his grip on Yang. He did his best not to look directly at the golden mane he'd become quite fascinated with over the past few months. It was funny, she'd acted like half of it had been cut off yet from up close he could hardly tell the difference. Then again, one thing he learned about Yang was one strand equaled her entire scalp.

At last when the flames died down and he removed himself from her arms that was what he said to her on his way towards the Ethm Wyvern. Izaak turned his head when she called his name, asking him what he planned on doing. "Putting an end to the shittiest day of the year." For him it was always easy to block out the words of other people no matter how loud they were or what they said. It was a skill the Viking took some pride in knowing it had saved him from the worst social society had to throw at him. Now it was shrugging off the panicked cries of his friends and classmates. They were probably wondering if he had some sort of death wish. The Ethm Wyvern was likely thinking the same as it watched him approach it the calm of a man going for an evening walk. _Why aren't you fleeing in terror? Or cowering in the dirt? Or barfing up your guts like the rest of them? Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? _Were the words he imagined the Ethm Wyvern asking as its murderous eyes watched him advance closer and closer towards him. _Am I insane? Probably. _He would have answered.

Izaak held no delusions about his situation-the odds of him surviving were abyssal at best. An ant was trying to kill a lion, and the lion was probably going to take its time killing the ant. In spite of the odds Izaak had faith he would be able to stall the titanic Grimm long enough for his allies to make an escape. If they got their asses moving as he and the Ethm Wyvern shared a tension filled stare down. _Gee guys, how about instead of yelling at me you get yourselves out of here so I don't kill myself over nothing. _He chided wishing his words could be projected into each of their skulls.

He had to admit, the so-called Shadow of Death was much bigger and uglier in person. Ironically size would be his greatest asset in the fight as he was so small the Grimm would likely lose track of him trying to kill him. As he hoisted Storrdetta up he made sure to get his grip on his left hand light, giving the gravitational sphere in his palm just enough room to breathe. _In the meantime make sure I've still got a left arm. _He noted.

The Ethm Wyvern accepted his challenge with a roar then it flapped its wings bringing it to the sky. Its entire body rotated counter clockwise bringing its axe-shaped tail the Viking's way. With the temporary removal of gravity the attack sailed under Izaak's feet, then with its earth-shattering return he landed on the armored limb axe-first. With all his Aura flowing into his beloved weapon he began dragging it upwards leaving a long gash in the Grimm's black armor. Because Storrdetta had been embedded so deeply into the Wyvern he was able to stay attached even as the demonic flyer took to the skies. The wind shear alone was enough to make him feel like his skin was slowly being torn off. Obviously his inhuman opponent knew he was clinging to him like a bug and was promptly trying its hardest to shake him off.

"YOU CAN TRY BUDDY BUT I'M AFRAID THAT'S NOT HAPPENING!" He roared at the top of his lungs bringing Storrdetta down again with all his might.

_**CCRRRAAACCCKKK! **_

_**RRRAAARRAGGGGGGHHHHH!**_

In exchange for that one Izaak was sure some of his bones had been broken and one of his organs punctured. His body involuntarily slammed back against the Wyvern's tail furthering the damage. It took a straining for the muscles to lift Storrdetta for another attack which came exactly as the Wyvern decided to fling its tail from side to side to shake him off. The adamantine axe nearly flew from his grasp but Izaak's iron grip held onto it. "WILL YOU STOP SHAKING ALREADY! REALLY! WITHOUT THE TAIL YOU LOOK A LOT BETTER!" A thick violet aura completely encased the adamantine blades mere moments before they made contact with the Wyvern's tail.

_**KA-RRRRUUIIIINNNKKKK! **_

A moving waterfall of black blood pelted the ground below while Izaak free fell through it. Whole portions of his body were splattered black while the air rushed past him like rapids in a river. At the far end of his vision he spotted the Ethm Wyvern raging in the evening sky at the dishonor of having its tail cut off by a lowly human. His trademark grin came to his face seconds before he felt his body touch the ground, _Happy to ruin your day ugly. _

_**Crack! **_

By his estimates he possible had a fractured spine, five broken ribs, broken shoulder bones, and a slew of organs that had been turned into hockey punks. Plus he was pretty sure when his head smacked against the ground one of his teeth might have come loose. Scratch that, did come loose when he coughed the blood welling in his throat out. Not exactly his best landing but it could have been worse. Olivia would have given him an earful if she'd seen it so he was happy she wasn't. Weiss might have done the same which made Izaak doubly grateful he was alone.

_**GGGGGRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr! **_

Laying back with one hand on his weapon and the other clenching the G-Sphere he'd been so cautiously creating Izaak gave the Ethm Wyvern his best smile. It wasn't much considering his face was a hot mess and his eyes were finally starting to show the typical red that went with breathing in Wyvern toxin. "What? Don't look at me like that, you look way better without that tail dragging you down."

The Ethm Wyvern was far from amused at his ill-attempt at humor. What curiosity it might have held for him before had turned into pure hatred. Izaak returned their hatred right back even though he never moved from his lay-about position. Embers escaped from the Shadow of Death's clenched jaws and nostrils. In a few seconds those bridge crushing jaws would open and out would come a river of flames hot enough to scorch a city. In his left hand was a concentration mass of gravity that would hopefully be enough to deflect it. What happened next…_His head or mine. _He resolved tightening his grip on Storrdetta. The adamantine weapon had never let him down before and he wasn't betting on it doing so this time.

Murder flashed in the flames. The Ethm Wyvern acted first releasing the black and red stream at the first year Beacon student. At that moment the eyes of the axe-wielder briefly dilated into primal slits. His left arm was a fraction of a second slower than his eyes.

Almost a full minute before the G-Sphere could be launched something canceled it out. A soft hand fell on Izaak's wrist as soon as the violet colored ball was dispelled.

"As cool as that would be I think its best you left this to the professionals Mr. Egilson." Affirmed a cool male voice.

Izaak's entire system fell out of order upon hearing the voice. The blood river thundering along inside him came a sudden, and somewhat disappointed halt.

What the flames met was a literal wall of radiate cherry blossoms that emerged from either side of the Viking. The wall of bright pink not only held up against the black and red tide but from the looks of it seemed to push it back just a little with every passing second. Infuriated the Wyvern upped the attack yet the wall of sakuras held strong. Despite the effort it put into it the Ethm Wyvern was eventually forced to end its attack, in accordance the sakura pelts were dispelled scattered across the battlefield.

Three sets of footsteps broke the silence created in the aftermath of the fight. With his hand released and his body free Izaak was able to catch sight of the approaching three Huntsmen. Two girls, one a Faunus and the other garbed in samurai armor, and one man whose sheer intensity dwarfed the left over heat of the Wyvern's fire blast. He recognized each of their faces.

"You all ought to be ashamed." He cracked loosening his grip on Storrdetta. One by one the adults over took him until he was lying in their shadow. He had no complaints about letting them take the spotlight. "Letting us kids do all the heavy lifting while you took your time getting here. I expected more from the famed team ATHM."

Marshall Williams, the M of the team as well as its resident strong man snorted. "A mouth that barks against any and all who crosses it. There's no doubt you're an Egilson."

The H and M of the team, the fiercely skilled Harto and Tomoe, laughed good naturedly at their teammate's bluntness. Up close Izaak had to admit both were just as beautiful as everyone claimed them to be-Harto's black stripes proudly displaying her Faunus heritage along with her orange furry ears. Dressed in just the black combat pants and a combat short her beautiful athletic body was what Izaak imagined women like Yang, Nora, or even Arslan would grow into. On the other end of the spectrum the elegant Tomoe was a perfect picture of what Izaak Olivia might one day look like. Ebony black hair with a handful of pink highlights with a hime-style cut. Her every move carried with her the pride and strength the samurai of Yamatai was famed for producing.

Lastly was Adelhard, who stood at the front of his team with both hands resting on the pummel of his sword. "You kids have our thanks for holding the line this long." Izaak couldn't see it but he had a feeling the Dragon Knight was smiling. "Izaak, you've made your ancestors proud but I ask you please let us handle the rest from here."

"Heh, sure thing. I've always wanted to see you guys in action." He laughed. Tears of pain were beginning to form at the corners of Izaak's eyes. Taking in each breath was getting a little harder but he was sure the fight would be over before it got too serious.

Besides, he'd die before he passed up the chance to see team ATHM in battle.

And it was glorious.

* * *

"Quite the light show wouldn't you agree boys and girls?" Hoyt called watching the explosion of bluish light consume the Ethm Wyvern. He'd only ever seen Adelhard's "Dragon Burst" attack only once, when he was on the fringes of the blast. The first time it'd taken his breath away and made him glad they were still on the same side. Now seeing the explosion of raw Dust and energy filled his heart with silent dread. There was a chance in the future as PESTILENCE continued its operations they'd cross swords with the Knight of Brightroar. Hoyt in all honesty wasn't looking forward to that.

"All that strength and manpower and you didn't think it would be a good idea to off the guy hailed as one of Vale top five Huntsmen?" Snarled Fiskal bringing a handful of eyes to him. The condor Faunus didn't back down from some of the heated and bemused glares he received from the mercenaries. If they wanted a fight he'd take them on even if he couldn't stand.

"Those are big words coming from a guy who got his ass kicked by a couple of school boys." Azana snorted unamused with the condor Faunus's tough attitude. In his current condition he should have been in the medical bay not here mouthing off to the rest of them. "Take a good look at that kid," she started pointing to the rising arc of blue flames. "You think the three of us could take on a man descended from dragons with so little preparation? Or how about while he has a team of extremely skilled and component warriors backing him up? Maybe if half of you furry-assed idiots joined us we might have had a chance."

It was in Fiskal's nature to be combative. He would have argued the matter further if the calming hand of Delmar didn't settle him down. The fish Faunus was warning caution in his gray-blue eyes, he hated it but he was right. Settling down as to not upset his wounds he strode over to the glass. Deep down he did feel fear seeing the magnificent display of power kill the Ethm Wyvern. Fighting Adelhard Von Blu and his team didn't sit well with Fiskal as he knew of only a handful of the White Fang's elite who can go toe to toe with him. "We still should have done more." He groaned. "Yeah we made a scene on national TV but we didn't kill _anyone _of importance. Not a councilmember, not a minister or politician, or even a major industrialist."

As usual it was Pox's laughter that made Fiskal's blood run cold as ice. Delmar and several of the remaining White Fang shifted uncomfortable at the merlot haired man's laughter. It, and the look in his eyes told them he knew something they didn't.

The downside of working with PESTILENCE was they weren't privy to even _half _of what the PMC was planning. Besides destroying Vale they had no idea what it was that drove the collection of soldiers and scientist or what methods they were planning to use. The order of their relationship was painfully simple to the White Fang's rank and file-they gave orders and layouts and they followed them without question.

Even if the Faunus had no idea what their "allies" real goal was.

As evident by Pox's face the White Fang's attack was a ruse used to cover up whatever the hell PESTILENCE was doing. "Who said anything about killing government officials?"

"Who said they were the real target?" Azana asked catching everyone's attention with the coldness radiated by her eyes. "Don't you realize what the world just saw? Do you think people _knew _Conley's Torch was a superweapon of city destroying scale? A better question to keep those heads spinning-do any of you think Vale was looking at anything but containing Aemon Strip?"

Slowly the gravity of the woman's words hit the remaining Faunus hard as ice. Their faces morphed into thoughtful expressions that betrayed the dozens of possibilities they were running in their heads. Even Fiskal couldn't help but wonder what PESTILENCE had accomplished while they were slugging it out with the city's defenses. Listening in to Hoyt on the Scroll gave him an idea of what had happened. And it left him extremely hungry to know what the hell was going on above his head.

"That's an affirmative, we're all finished here in the Agriculture Sector." Came the voice on the other end of the Scroll. It was male, young too. "All the bees have been released, pigs infected, and the rats have been set loose into the sewer network. We'll be awaiting pick-up in five."

The most malicious grin any of the Faunus had ever seen spread across Hoyt's face like blood gushing through an open wound. "Copy that. Operation Memorial complete, we're returning to base now."

* * *

**Long overdue end to the Anniversary Arc. I hope I made it enjoyable with everyone's favorite character getting a moment in the spotlight. I know I dragged this one out a long while but 'm hoping all the readers out there will stick with me to say how this little event affects the story and characters. So long and see you next time readers! **

**R.I.P Muhammad Ali, out of the whole crop of people to come out of our world you truly were one of the greatest and you will be dearly missed. **


	34. Chapter 34: First Spark

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 34: First Spark **

"Jaune? Jaune? Come on boy, open your eyes or something so I know I won't have to tell Julian we lost his only son." A male voice called cutting through the familiar darkness Jaune was floating in. "Do you have any idea what's happening? Trust me kid, you're missing out on one hell of a life time show." The voice said again only much louder. Professor Mulnix's bearded face was the first thing Jaune's mind visualized and that was exactly the first thing his blue eyes saw. A smile broke out over his dirty face while happiness fluttered through his eyes. "See Jaune, was that so hard? I know you love napping but you picked a lousy place to do that."

The young Arc couldn't see anything past his teacher's face but he could hear a multitude of noises that nearly left him deaf. At first he tried to seat up only for his body to angrily refuse him. "I…feel…like I just got…run over a tank." He groaned not liking the thick taste of blood on his lips.

"Kid you got body slammed by a Lockjaw multiple times and sandwiched between it and the ground, the fact your head isn't a pancake is a miracle." The instructor replied with a hardy laugh. "Take it easy kid, you guys did you job in getting us a win."

"It doesn't, gah, sound like we've won yet." Jaune spoke attempting once more to sit up despite his body's protest. Too many thoughts were racing through his battered heads, most of them centered on his teammates and friends. Were they alive? Did his idiotic act of bravery buy the others enough time to get away? Moving his head took little effort on his part, but his eyesight wasn't what he wanted it to be. From what he could make out several adult figures were hovering above his classmates, some of them already tending to wounds and injuries while others kept them from moving for fear of making things worse.

"Oh that?" Mulnix joked helping the teenager at least sit upright. "Yeah, that's just the other side deciding they'd rather go out swinging. Take a look."

Once he had all his senses returned to him Jaune was able to make out the battle happening in front of his eyes. Normally he would have been paralyzed in fear at the sight of an Ethm Wyvern being within hundred feet of him, but he wasn't. That was because said Grimm was on the receiving end of an epic beat courtesy of the legendary team ATHM.

Without its tail the Ethm Wyvern was at a major disadvantage in terms of attacking its annoyingly speedy targets. Its fire breath was of little to no use since each member of the four-man team had some way of weathering the steel-melting flames. Tomoe's sakura pelts were unlike anything Jaune had ever seen, thousands of them moving in shifting clouds that literally cut through everything in their path. A collection of them constantly floated around the Ethm Wyvern's jaw keeping it from releasing its strongest attack. Each time the Grimm released an ear-shattering roar to scatter the petals it found itself the victim of one of a hard-hitting attack courtesy of Marshal and Harto. It was almost absurd how easily Marshal swung that hulking six-foot broadsword with such speed and accuracy despite his gruff appearance. The blade cleaved off chunks of armor and flesh with every motion leaving a silver flash amongst ever growing clouds of red and black.

_**KKKIIIII-LLLIIISSSSSSHHHH! **_

As opposed to the heavy thuds the broadsword left the dual glaives tearing across the Grimm's back were positively nail-biting. They sounded like buzz saws go at it with the resulting sound eerily reminding listeners of the worst of horror movie deaths. The glaives, little more than circular blades with emerald colored highlights crisscrossed across the Ethm Wyvern's back until they both came to stop above its head where their Faunus owner reclaimed them. In a fluid motion Harto connected both weapons together turning the pair of weapons into a double-sided halberd she eagerly jammed into the Grimm's forehead. The tiger-woman did a remarkable job in holding into the monster as it threw its head from side to side generating enough force to pulverize the average person. It could have been the mass hysteria and exhaustion but a few people claimed they heard the H of team ATHM laughing as the Ethm Wyvern tried and failed to shake her off.

At least until it finally did via slamming its head into the already shattered ground. When its head rose back up there was hardly a scratch on it save for the stab wound Harto had left the beast with.

"I must say I'm impressed." Tomoe stated joining her leader with her weapon, beautifully crafted katana and sheath in hand. "This thing's almost as thick-headed as Marshal, maybe more so."

Not a second later and the six-foot five Huntsman slammed into the ground in a crouching position. Though neither Adelhard nor Tomoe could see his face they could tell he was sneering, that and his voice more than gave it away. "How about you use that tree-sized stick up your ass for something useful Tomoe?"

Adelhard was silent as his teammates began their routine round of bickering in the middle of combat while Harto joined them. From what he could see her right shoulder had taken the brunt of the impact leaving her entire arm in less than stellar condition. Turning his eyes from his teammates he found the Ethm Wyvern was eyeing them the same way a gator would eye another of its kind-with suspicion and disdain. His team had proven themselves to be a greater threat than the students, teachers, or remaining military had been thus they had to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

Rearing its head back the Ethm Wyvern let loose an unholy war cry that sent visible shock-waves through the battered air. Multiple roars and screeches answered the aged Grimm's call in seconds filling the air with a nightmarish chorus of demonic voices. The evening sky which had begun to paint itself a myriad of colors ranging from red to violet was suddenly overtaken by scores of leathery black and red wings that furiously beat against the air. Each and every last one of the assembled Grimm regarded the humans with heartless eyes that blazed with only one emotion-pure hatred.

Though those around him went through a variety of emotions ranging from fear to mild excitement, but Adelhard's stony frown remained in place. His grip on his prized sword didn't easy up for one bit as he began walking forward. "Harto, Tomoe, Marshal, protect the wounded and retreating while I go fly-swatting. If anything gets past me kill it."

"Past you? Ha! Adelhard that won't be leaving us much to do." Harto half-coughed half-laughed despite the aching pain that show through her shoulder. "Alright fine, go add another star to your golden record while we sit here scooping up your table scraps."

The three senior Huntsmen could tell their leader was smiling though he didn't show it; in return the knight knew his comrades were chuckling at his advancing form. No arguments on what was going to happen and who was going where. "You guys are overestimating me again," he whispered so low no one could have heard him. Dracheträne began to hum with azure-colored light that shifted back and forth like flames. They started at the tip of the sword then raced down to the base of the claw-like guard. "If I was at ninety-percent power you wouldn't have any scraps left." Were the knight's last words before the Ethm Wyvern gave the command to attack to the amassed Grimm.

Adelhard's one-handed swings was simple enough to watch, the effect was what shocked onlookers unfamiliar with his abilities into silence. Jumping from the sword through the open air was what could only be described as a literal wave of blue and white flames that mercilessly incinerated anything it came into contact with. At fourteen feet in length the attack was nothing to sneeze at. The Grimm barely had time to scream before their blackish bodies were turned into cinders.

_**WHOSH! WHOSH! WHOSH! WHOSH! **_

At least five other energy blasts flew from the still burning sword leaving huge gaps in the hordes' advancing line. Despite their loss in numbers the Grimm continued flying towards Adelhard who held up his multi-forming sword with both hands clenched around the handle. Dracheträne suddenly fell forward cleaving a massive hole in the horde's line. A second slash formed a gaping cross in the Grimm's attack line, one several of the flyers took notice of and wisely fled before they were killed. The Grimm flock scattered into an unorganized mass as those of lesser and greater intelligence tried to grasp what had just happened to over half of their brethren. Adelhard didn't give them any time for it; in a span of seconds the blue flames surrounding Dracheträne flared up completely engulfing the sword. The Dragon-Blooded Knight released a ferocious roar as his sword swept through the air in front of him releasing another of his famed Dragon's Gust attack.

_**BBOOOOMMM! **_

The Ethm Wyvern snarled in disdain at the knight's one-handed slaughter of its kin. As the dust and smoke settled the cobalt-eyed Huntsman began making his way towards the Shadow of Death, his accursed sword still blazing with azure light. Its eye twitched in irritation before a swift bark left its over-sized lips. The Wyvern and Nevermores that had hovered so close to its side suddenly dive bombed the approaching human like suicide bombers.

The Knight of Brightroar easily saw through the greater Grimm's strategy.

_**WHOSH! WHOSH! WHOSH! WHOSH! **_

Four slashes, four river-like beams of energy that crossed together into a web of blue and white energy that shredded anything that touched it. The black fireballs collided with the make shift shield resulting in black and blue embers. The Ethm Wyvern watched the smoke for any sign of its enemy.

_**WHOSH! **_

Taking immediate flight the black armored creature dodged the fin-shaped blast of energy that would have cleaved one of its wings off. Hovering in the air the Ethm Wyvern reared its head back preparing another burst of flames as Adelhard gathered his power into his sword. The enemies, man and Grimm, launched their attacks simultaneously causing the energy beam and stream of hellish flames to meet in the air.

_**BBBOOOMMMM! **_

_**WHOSH! **_

_**AARRRGGGGRRAAHHH!**_ Came the howling cry of the Ethm Wyvern due to the three-meter hole in its left wing. All the draconic being had seen was a flash of blue and silver then came the feeling of something sharp and powerful tearing through its wings like a bullet. Though it still couldn't completely see Adelhard it let loose a barrage of fireballs.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Each explosions piled on top of the other though the aged Grimm knew that wasn't enough to kill the experienced Huntsman. Eyes that had seen the deaths of thousands of the fall of countless human constructs caught sight of the armored Huntsman dashing out of the smoke, darting towards the right with a hand held out to the sky. Eight fireballs left the Ethm Wyvern's mouth in rapid succession, each the size of a two story building.

_**WHOSH! WHOSH! BAM! BAM! **_

Dracheträne's spear form was no less powerful than its sword form nor did the dents and cracks in Adelhard's armor lessen his defense. He continued running amidst the searing flames with his spear blazing with azure colored light. Knowing penetrating power the spear held the Ethm Wyvern kept up its string of fireballs forcing the knight to continued moving across the broken ground. The knight was extremely aware of the string of craters he was leaving in his wake. He also knew his teammates were doing their part in holding off the remains of the flock. If the Ethm Wyvern wanted to it could have easily called them off to corner Adelhard, but it didn't. His steel-hard eyes remained locked with the burning torches of the Ethm Wyvern's; this fight had become personal for the two of them.

_**WHOSH! **_

His left foot practically broke the ground apart with the amount of force he put behind slamming his foot down. Dracheträne made one revolution above his head before it cleaved through the sphere-shaped mass of fire about to crash down upon Adelhard. Surrounded on all sides by the resulting explosion he spotted the Ethm Wyvern preparing for a diving attack. Teeth clenched he rerouted all his strength to his legs knowing if he wasn't fast enough or high enough he was going to be a smear on the damned Grimm's black wings. In his hands Dracheträne reconfigured itself into an almost grappling-hook like instrument.

Given its sheer size when the Ethm Wyvern swooped in low it produced gale force winds that threw back everything that wasn't tightly bolted into the ground, which was everything from people to objects. Mulnix threw his body over Jaune to keep him from being blown away like a straw newspaper, and even then Jaune could feel his body being pulled away from the earth. Shutting his eyes tightly the seventeen year-old blond wondered what it was going to take to bring the flying demon down for good. To date Adelhard hadn't been able to land one fatal strike save for a puncture wound that apparently hadn't hindered the Ethm Wyvern's flying ability. Hell, he'd lost sight of the veteran knight as had the other spectators. The first thing his aching eyes saw as they regained vision was the sight of the Ethm Wyvern climbing the evening sky bellowing its apparent triumph to the heavens.

That triumphant was cut short by the sudden explosion of blue and white that swallowed a good chunk of the Grimm's left side. Suddenly its upward ascension was turned into a frenzied downward spiral it struggled to break out of. Trails of black and red blood followed it along with a growing haze of blue-tinged smoke. Within the fifty seconds of free falling the Ethm Wyvern was almost half a mile away from the ground when it managed to pull up just enough to avoid smashing its head into the ground. It was then that the still breathing figure of Adelhard swing from one of the creature's wings up to the space above its forehead. Too dazed was the Grimm to realize Dracheträne was back in its broadsword form.

_**WHO-KLISH! **_

Instinctively its head swung to the side as the nanite sword buried itself within the demon's left horn and remained there despite its attempts to shake the knight off. Momentarily jumping off with Dracheträne raised the knight and Grimm locked eyes in a heated glare. Flames escaped from the furnace-like jaw of the pseudo-dragon while blue energy blazed around the broadsword turning it into an elongated blade of pure energy.

_**WHO-KLIIIISSSHHH! **_

_**AAARRRGGGGG! **_

Jaune was sure he wasn't the only one who had to do a double take upon watching Adelhard literally cleave the Ethm Wyvern's left horn off in a single slash. He couldn't have been because he heard the multiple gasps of his classmates. As a testament to the horn's weight the ground shook a good deal once it made impact.

Adelhard came down in a crouch with his breathing heavy from the exhaustion setting in. There were no visible signs the poisonous air was getting to him but looks could be deceiving. Meanwhile the Ethm Wyvern recovered surprisingly fast from its humiliating mutilation to counter attack with a stream of fireballs. Still winded there was nothing the Dragon-Blooded Knight could do but put his sword into a defensive position seconds before the attacks made contact.

There wasn't in screaming despite the considerable pain Adelhard must have been in from the sheer heat and force he was struck with. In a single slash he cut away the smoke to find the Ethm Wyvern's electrified horn heading straight for him. There was an explosion of lightning and smoke before Adelhard could be seen skidding across the ground having to use Dracheträne as a blade brake. Once he came to a stop his sword transformed into a mace which he quickly threw at his opponent's eye. To the knight's surprise the Grimm collapsed its left wing leaving fully revealing the three hook-like claws big enough to up to tear chunks out of buildings; they were more than enough to deflect the metallic mace heading for it. With the mace deflected the Grimm scrapped its claws along the earth kicking up a whirlwind of air pressure and debris.

Recalling his weapon the knight concluded he couldn't allow the battle to drag on any longer if he planned on keeping causalities to a minimum. Half of Dracheträne's reformed blade disappeared into the air, moments later spider-web cracks formed around Adelhard from which blue flames seeped out. As the cracks widened the flames changed from embers to gaping walls that wrapped around the knight's crouched form. Anything that came into contact with the barrier was instantly turned into cinders. "Are you finished yet?" He called as the wing began to die down. Removing his Multi Forming Nanite Sword from the ground while the aura of blue energy still encased him Adelhard began to walk towards the Grimm at a steady pace. "In case you couldn't tell this has been a long day and I'm actually starting to feel sore in places you couldn't even imagine. That in mind I'm sure that little hole I gave you and all those scratches are getting quite annoying aren't they?" It wasn't surprised when the Ethm Wyvern gave him a heated snarl as an answer. Its mouth briefly opened then shut as if it were trying to convey some hateful words to the human. "Knowing that…what do you say we put an end to this little evening with some fireworks?" He finished with a grin.

It went without saying the Ethm Wyvern fully understood what the knight was asking. Without its other horn it couldn't gather all the unholy energy that went into its strongest fire blasts putting Adelhard at something of an advantage. If the Grimm were able to hit him with a fully charged blast he wasn't sure he, his teammates, or those they were protecting would survive. That still didn't mean what was coming their way wasn't going to be any less pleasant.

Strangely enough watching the Ethm Wyvern raised its head back to charge up energy didn't feel Jaune with as much dread as he thought it would. Given the circumstances it was incredibly odd: he could barely move a muscle with his friends not being in better shape, they were out of Aura and tricks, there was nowhere to run to, and no time to avoid the almost wave motion-like beam coming their way. _I oughta to be pissing in my pants right now. _The seventeen year-old murmured feeling the steady beat of his own heart. It should have been thundering given the previously listed circumstances. The one thing he could clearly make out was Adelhard's back-the same thing that calmed him. The fear-fueled trembling he'd been afflicted with since clawing his way back to consciousness was cured by the sight of the sword-wielding knight in a complete defiance of all forms of logic. _I don't…I honestly don't think I've ever felt this calm before. Not since I was around my…_His father had always had that special way of calming him down, probably because for as long as Jaune could remember he was the strongest person he'd ever known. It felt like that was the person Jaune saw standing in front of him, strong and proud ready to face down anything the world threw at him. Before the Arc knew it he was sitting upright with his red-rimmed eyes solely on the Knight of Brightroar, his mouth agape. Something was telling him to watch what happened next carefully, no matter what transpired next he wouldn't look away.

From the Ethm Wyvern's mouth came an overflow of black and red fire that visible roasted the air around it. It was death in the form of a roaring stream of hellfire that would leave nothing but ashes in in its wake. The blast fanned out into widespread blast seconds after it was released.

Both of his gloved hands gripped the hilt of Dracheträne in a reverse grip. His breathing was as steady and calm as the breeze of an early morning wind. One minute his body was so relaxed and at ease then the next it was as tense as a serpent about to strike. Anyone with even the slightest bit of sense could tell the moment Dracheträne tore into the ground Adelhard had struck the final blow.

Fissures snaked around his feet forming a nine meter circle of spider-web cracks so wide and deep they lead into nothing but darkness. Not a full breath later and the darkness was burned away by the sudden eruption of azure energy rising through the cracks and fissures.

The sound of the energy eruption truly reminded onlookers of a dragon's fierce roar, its declaration of destruction against whatever entity had been foolish enough to challenge it. Dozens of eyes could make out Adelhard at the center of the flame-like mass of energy that coiled and twisted around him until the blue inferno had turned into a literal nest of dragon heads. Counting them was impossible to most as each head snaked and twisted around the other on its collision course with the Ethm Wyvern's fire blast.

Admittedly no one, experienced or not, could clearly watch the two attacks push against each for fear of having their eyes or faces burnt out. A mind-boggling mix between a sheer and a roar was born from the two attacks trying to overpower the other while tearing away at the environment around them.

From somewhere within the cone of energy Adelhard let loose his own war cry, a sound that would have frozen the fiercest of creatures. In accordance the energy dragons began chowing through the Ethm Wyvern's stream of hellfire as well as snaking around it.

_**GGGAARRRRRRRHHHHH!**_ The beast cried as the first dragon sunk its ethereal fangs into its black flesh; not long afterwards it was joined by the others. The Ethm Wyvern shrieked in horror as it tried to pull away but it was no use, too many of the dragons had gotten their teeth into it and they didn't plan on letting go until the job was done.

It was very possible the look in the Shadow of Death's eyes was one of fear as any creature with a basic instinct to survive would have been terrified at the situation it was currently in. Despite its thunderous death cries Adelhard Von Blu did not let up in his attack.

With another war cry that shook the heavens another energy dragon formed, this one so massive it could have swallowed an entire city block in a single goop. A pair of glowing eyes homed in on the struggling Wyvern, there was a roar then a lunge that had the Grimm screaming for mercy.

That was the moment Jaune could literally feel every organ in his bone turn into Jell-O. Until the day the reaper himself took him to the next life Jaune Arc would never forget the magnificent explosion that was the final blow of the battle between Adelhard and the Ethm Wyvern on December 8th, 1574. The dome of whitish-blue continued to grow until Jaune could practically reach out and touch it with his fingers.

_So, _Jaune's darkening mind concluded watching the light build and build until he could no longer keep his eyes open to observe the battle's ending. _That's why he's called the Knight of Knights._

* * *

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! _

When the Viking finally managed to open his eyes he was immediately forced to shut them again due to the intense light beating down upon his head. As if his loss of sight wasn't enough Izaak could hear nothing but a continuous ringing in his ears that he couldn't identify. A heart monitor perhaps? He could clearly hear a beeping sound in the background among a multitude of voices. For the bronze-haired Viking that was enough for him, with a grunt he attempted to sit up only to find his hands and abdomen were being restrained. After the third try panic began to set in. _No, no, no, no! I'm not doing this shit again! Not a chance in hell! _His teeth were mashing themselves together as he summoned every bit of his strength to break the invisible bonds keeping him pinned to the operating table. Izaak's breath was becoming more and more fast-paced.

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! _

The humming got louder and the voices grew more blurred. Izaak had long given up on trying to make out what it was they were saying because his instincts had already told him something bad was coming his way. His head was shaking from side to side in a vain attempt to free his body but it wasn't doing any good. His Semblance was working or else the entire operating room would have been a smashed grape.

He was completely helpless.

_SSSKKIIIIRRRRWWWWW! _

Izaak's eyes perfectly dilated until his irises were little more than dots in a vast white sea. "NO!" The teenager roared now totally raging against his unseen restraints with all his might. "LET ME GO! DAMN IT LET GO OF ME!"

At that moment control of his body was taken away leaving him as nothing but a statue attached to a metal slab. His fingers scratched against the metal as the light above him grew brighter to the point the sweat gathering on his skin began to sizzle. Four silver glints were visible during the few intervals he was able to open his eyes. Each time he did they moved closer and closer along with that damned humming noise.

By that point Izaak couldn't fight back the scream building in his chest any longer. He let it out not caring if his captors called him a wimp.

"_IZAAK! IZAAK! IZAAK, PLEASE STOP YOU'RE GOING TO BRING HALF THE FLOOR DOWN!" _

Like he'd been hit by a bolt of lightning the I of team IONC awoke to the realm of reality to find he was practically hovering in the middle of a smashed hospital bed. Frenzied eyes darted from one end of the hospital room to the next to find spider-web cracks all over the place. Paints, furniture, and medical instruments had been driven into the wall with the force of a drill turning some of them into colored splats. Turning in the direction of the voice Izaak saw Verde and another doctor pressed against the wall with expressions of sheer terror on their faces. Immediately realizing what had happened he deactivated his Semblance causing the room's gravity to return to normal.

Everything that had been suspended or held up his Semblance suddenly fell to the ground, sometimes whole and others in pieces much to Izaak's dismay. Verde and his fellow doctor fell to their knees grasping for breath and trying to calm their racing heartbeats. In spite of his own condition Verde was quick to notice had defensive Izaak had become upon realization he was inside of a hospital room; the teenager's body posture spoke of a scared animal unsure of its surroundings and willing to attack anything that touched it.

He nearly collapsed once he got to his feet and again after taking his first step. "Izaak, come one Izaak." He offered making sure he didn't set the Viking off again. Verde was taken back when his eyes made contact with Izaak's. He was scared. "You can relax Izaak, you're safe here and so's everyone else."

The Viking visible eased up at the kind words of the young doctor yet his shoulders were still hunched like any second he was going to throw a punch. "My teammates?"

"Are still breathing." The green-haired doctor answered getting within arm's length of him. "Yang, Ruby, and the others are still alive. Some of them are in critical care but they're out of danger." That finally brought a peace of calm to the first-year student. At last the tension drained out of Izaak's body meaning he could be approached without fear of injury. "I'm not going to have to call the psychology department to have them take a look at you am I?" He joked.

It brought a spark of warmth to Verde's heart when he saw the seventeen year-old give him a smile in return. "Been there done that Verde, it didn't end too well."

"Uh Verde," Came a freighted voice by the door.

Looking up the young doctor seemed to realize his companion was still recovering from his near death experience. "Oh right, sorry about that Dr. Pedal. Okay so, uh, I think…" He looked between Izaak and the destroyed room with a growing sweat drop on his forehead. "Izaak, you…just…stay here until we're able to get you into a different room. Doctor's orders." He warned putting on the most serious face he could have in response to Izaak's blank stare.

"But I feel fine, like I got outside and help with cleanup."

"No, you're still injured."

"I don't feel injured."

"Not until you suddenly collapse outside and everyone's screaming at me on why I let you out."

"Can't you give me permission to leave? You are a doctor."

"…"

"…"

"Um, excuse me but, we actually don't have that authority." The other doctor, Dr. Pedal spoke up for the first time. He was an elderly man with graying black hair, a wrinkled face, and cool blue eyes. He was using the wall for support in standing up proving he was still trying to bounce back from Izaak's violent awakening. "While yes from the looks of things all your wounds have healed and the toxin has worked its way out of your system we don't know if you'll relapse thus we can't let you go."

"Just stay here and don't break anything else." Was all Verde said before grabbing Dr. Pedal and leaving the hazel-eyed teenager alone in the wrecked room.

Izaak stood motionless in the wrecked room blinking absent mindedly at the door just barely hanging onto the hinges. It was possible he might have done as Verde had asked had he not noticed the flickering light above his head. Slowly and quietly his eyes were drawn upwards towards the broken ceiling tiles, the light was mere seconds from dying but continuous alternating the room between black and white. Unconsciously the boy's breathing began to pick up in pace and his fingers started drumming meaninglessly against his sides. His eyes wondered to all corners of the destroyed room. One minute it was dark and the next it was light.

_**CRACK! THUMP! **_

By the time he realized he'd left the room his feet were already pounding against the floor in a slow run that had turned his former room into nothing but a distant memory. His breathing had not calmed in the least, rather it had picked up as if a scalpel were being pressed to his neck spurring him onward. Though countless people stared at him he was too spaced out to care or acknowledge them. When he didn't recognize any of their faces at first glance he kept on going, pushing past nurses, doctors, and patients alike.

He needed to see someone he knew, a familiar face before he started going through a full blown break down.

* * *

Whatever the hell Ruby was experiencing at the moment it was worse than a sugar rush, and she'd been through a busload of sugar rushes. "Ooooooohhhhhhh." She groaned just barely having the strength to lift her head up.

"Easy now," chided an unknown male voice. "I know they say you're pretty tough for your age but even you're not superhuman enough to be moving in this condition."

"Doctor…Rax?" The young redhead spoke finally able to see the blue-eyed doctor clearly through the clearing haze that had impaired her vision.

The first thing Ruby immediately notice about her situation was that moving her body hurt a good deal more than she thought it did, especially around her right leg. Looking away from the doctor her breath caught in her throat upon seeing her right leg had been hoisted up in a cast. "Wh-What…how did I end up…oh." Memories came back upon closer examination of her injured limb. It was Professor Oobleck that covered throughout the entire battle between Adelhard Von Blu and the Ethm Wyvern. She remembered the crimson blood that seeped through the glass-wearing Huntsman's clothing to the point he seemed like he'd chosen to wear all red. Despite his grievous wounds he did his best to shelter Ruby from the shrapnel the battle sprayed the area with. It wasn't enough as she vividly remembered a literal wave of dirt and metal being blown their way. Professor Oobleck wasn't able to stop it all; she watched in horror as a large piece of shrapnel implanted itself in his right shoulder sending him to the ground in a heap. Less than a minute later and Ruby, who'd forced herself up right suddenly felt a barrage of rock and metal bite into her right leg bringing her chin first to the ground. "I am…did anything end hitting a…a…"

"For Pete's sake Ruby," Dr. Rax chuckled shaking his head. "You took a few pieces of shrapnel to the leg not a crossbow bolt. It was bad but it's not like you're never going to be able to walk again. You're lucky in that regard." The playful tone in his voice vanished just as the joking smile turned into a dark frown that told Ruby all she needed to know about her situation. Reading her expression rather quickly the smile returned to the doctor's face. "None of your teammates have lost a limb. You girls got rather lucky despite being at the heart of the battle; most of the teams we've had to treat were either missing a limb or two, out an organ, and in some cases pleading for us to kill them so they wouldn't have to suffer any longer."

Ruby visible shivered at the description the battle's aftermath. It was going to be a while before she was able to sleep soundly as she saw several of those things happen right before her eyes. She could feel a small vile of vomit rising as she recalled crossing a sea of dead and dying men and women to find her teammates. And how she was a hair's length from joining them. "So," she started trying to drive the images out. "How long is my leg going to be like this?"

"Like I said you got lucky, none of your major tendons like your Achilles or Soleus tendons so you're out of that danger. On the other hand I did have to remove a fair amount of shrapnel from your leg, some of it had actually penetrated half way through your thigh." Dr. Rax informed her in a neutral tone as if he were stating the weather. With each word Ruby could feel her face growing greener and greener at the thought of him having to remove pieces of metal from her bare leg. "Naturally we had to disinfect the wound, hell, when you came in we already saw signs of infection. To keep it short you'll be staying here for about five days; once the last day is open you sure be good as new give or take a few minor scars. As for your teammates," he began once again changing his tone much to her dismay. "Weiss and Yang are a little worse for wear but aren't in any danger. Yang in particular seems to be healing faster than the rest of you, Blake on the other hand is a different story." There was a pause that gave the fifteen year-old time to digest the news as well as brace herself for what was coming. "First off her body inhaled more toxic air than the rest of you, so much if she'd been a minute late getting here she very well could have died. Second her skull had a rather large and painful fracture that rattled her brain, keeping her from dying of that took some time and tough work. Adding to the previously listed she had a number of second and third degree burns that could only have come from plasma weaponry. All in all I can say she's going to be the last one to leave, but at least she'll be leaving with a whole body."

Amazingly she'd managed to keep up until she heard the end. The words "whole body" removed the built up tension in her body allowing her to peacefully lay back against her pillow. "Thank God." She breathed happy to know she hadn't lost any of her teammates to the surprise attack. She was ready to close her eyes and let sleep calm her until a name and a face jumped out at her. "Jaune," she mouthed bolting upright once more causing Dr. Rax to raise an eyebrow. "Jaune? What about Jaune? He's okay too right?"

"Jaune?" he questioned.

"Jaune Arc, tall, blond hair, sky-blue eyes, a little dorky looking but has a pretty nice smile?" The silver-eyed girl clarified.

Confusion shot across the doctor's face like a leaf propelled across a field. With an internal groan Ruby realized how stupid her description was. Odds were Dr. Rax had worked on hundreds of patients besides her and her team and remembering them was a miracle in itself. Still, she had to know her fellow leader and friend was alive especially after that reckless display of courage she'd witnessed.

"Ah yes, the Arc male." The dark-haired man suddenly spoke causing the girl's eyes to widen. "You know that boy's body is remarkable durable isn't it? I may not have had to work on him but believe me, word about the freshmen with the pulverized organs and bones got around quickly. It's a miracle he's still able to move let alone be alive. Well, I suppose that's not entirely true. Mr. Von Blu has something to do with keeping him alive."

_Alive. _Ruby repeated in her mind as the darkness finally left her. _Jaune you idiot, you're still alive. _"Thank you Dr. Rax."

She had to admit, she could understand why over half of Vale General's female staff were smitten with the professional surgeon. His smile was pretty charming, especially when it was delivering good news.

"Now that I can leave you in the hands of your guest knowing you won't have a heart attack while I'm away." He said heading for the door.

"Guest?"

She wasn't expecting Izaak to slowly slide into the room in a patient's gown with nary a scratch on white skin. The closer Ruby looked the harder it was to find any visible wound or bandage on him. Izaak's eyes were downcast and shifty until they fell on Ruby. A shy smile quickly spread across his face as he raised his hand in a wave. "Uh, hi? I'm not interrupted some life-saving surgery am I?

"No, though you'll probably need one after Verde realizes you disobeyed orders." Dr. Rax sighed gently pushing past Izaak. "If you would be so kind Mister Egilson, please stay here and watch Miss Rose. There's a TV over there if either of you get bored."

Once the surgeon left leaving the two teenagers alone Ruby could immediately tell something was wrong with Izaak. His foot was continuously bouncing against the floor and his eyes were moving from one end of the room to another. For the first time Ruby actually looked around her room to find it was moderately spacious with a nice view from the window to her right. Below it was a peach-colored couch with two bright blue pillows on either side. Directly across from Ruby hanging on the whitish-blue wall was a thirty-four inch flat screen whose remote lay motionless on the desk beside her.

With an uncharacteristic silence Izaak walked over and plucked the remote up and pressed the on-button. Instantly the two were bombarded with images of the battle of Aemon Strip from every angle imaginable. Every station imaginable had at least dozen men and women on the scene, several of them reporting as they were being pushed back by the denizens of the Vale military. For every reporter that was pushed back another found their way inside-there was no end to it.

They watched the flow back in silence, marveling over the sheer devastation that had befallen Aemon Strip. From aerial cams the fallout was so painfully clear one could have easily confused the national park for some ancient battleground. No one piece of the area had been left untouched by the fighting. It was unnerving to see the hundreds of bodies floating in the lake staining the water blood when it was already turning black and gray. On the shore bodies were being hauled out at snail's pace.

Ruby looked over to Izaak to see how he was handling what they were seeing. He was worried, but it wasn't over the footage. His hands were clapped together and his left thumb was nervously drumming against his interlocked fingers. His left heel never touched the floor and the way his right foot was positioned told her if needed to he was fully ready to sprint out the door.

Or jump out the window.

"Um, uh," she began putting his attention slowly on her. "You can change the channel if you want."

"N-No! It-It's just I…I…this is going to set Faunus-human relationships back to the stone age." He responded slumping in the couch. "Ruby, every man, woman, and child just saw Faunus stage what can in all likelihood be called a terrorist attack on national TV, can you imagine what the fallout's going to be? Hell, by the time we go back to school every Faunus is going to be wearing a hoodie, headband, or strapping their tails, wings, and antenna so tightly against their bodies they'll stick to them."

She didn't want to imagine what life would be like for the average Faunus once the shock of the attack had begun to blow over. For as long as she could remember Ruby had always had a vivid imagination, one that wasn't geared towards thinking up horrible things. "You don't think maybe…"

"There's nothing people will be able to say that'll make this go away." The Viking seethed tightening his hands. "From now on every Faunus is going to have to watch his or her back because I promise you by this time next week there'll be a hate crime happening every five hours. The police won't be doing shit about it because, ah hell, I don't have to explain it do I? If the White Fang wanted to pull an us-against-them kind of situation they're pretty damn close to doing it. I can't even imagine how Blake must feel about all this. I…sorry, I'm sounding like a cynical dick aren't I?"

"N-No Izaak," she stuttered trying to think of something to say. She couldn't place her finger on it but she was sure he was trying to steer the conversation away from something. "If it's not too much trouble, how did you guys know Blake was a Faunus? I mean she had a bow covering her ears and everything."

Sitting up a little the teenage boy gave her something of a bored stare. "Ruby…I have the utmost respect for Blake as a Huntress and a person, but…her disguise was one of the worst I'd ever seen, and I've seen my fair share of bad disguises. Her eyes are a shade of amber only found in cats, and that's not even mentioning how they're _shaped_ like cats. She wears heels, walks and fights in heels, cats walk upright on their heels. Her fighting style is nimble and quick, like a wildcat's…or ninjas. Rounding out all that," he took a big breathe as if to calm himself. "Every time they serve fish…_especially _during sushi night…she's always the first one in line with a plate in her hand and a smile on her face. I can't count the number of times I've looked up to find tuna, Salmon, or shrimp missing from my plate or the guy next to me and Blake chewing with her mouth shut."

"…"

"…"

"…I…never…thought of that."

"Would you have noticed if Blake wasn't your teammate?"

As she remained silent she waited for the outburst, the mocking calls on her stupidity and lack of observation.

It never came. What did come was equally surprising.

"I can understand how you wouldn't know. You're not one of those kinds of people." The hazel-eyed teen concluded looking away from her silver orbs.

"What do you mean "those kinds of people"?" was the redhead's response suddenly feeling defensive. She didn't like where Izaak was taking the conversation.

"You don't read people. In this line of work knowing how to do that can change rather you live or die."

"I don't like prying into people." She defended tightening her grip on her bedsheets a little. "If someone has something to tell me I'd rather they just talk to me rather than leave me to figure it out. Besides, you know Blake's not the kind of person who'd want that sort of information broadcasted." When he refused to look at her Ruby had a feeling they weren't talking about the feline ninja anymore. Another thing, Izaak was wrong about her not reading people because she'd been reading him since he'd been talking. He was trying to keep her attention on something other than himself. "Izaak, Izaak." She had to call his name twice to get his attention. His eyes were wider than usual, fearful even. "Why don't you like hospitals? Was it a scary movie or something when you were a kid?"

When at first he didn't answer her she noticed his shaking had stopped. Maybe he was trying to figure out if she deserved the truth or even if he knew the reason himself. When he did answer it was in a low whisper she could barely here, "I had a bad experience with needles and operating rooms when I was a kid."

"But wasn't your dad a great doctor? Did he something happen to-"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT OKAY!" The Viking roared in a glass-breaking voice that reverberated through the room like a clap of thunder. Since his eyes shut briefly he couldn't see how Ruby had nearly jumped out of her hospital bed at the sound of his voice. He saw her trembling a little in her bed, eyes wide and fearful. Shame immediately overtook him, "I-I'm…I'm sorry Ruby. I-I'll leave now, go check on the others."

Once again the word "no" was the first thing to leave her lips. "No! Wait a second!" She yelled flailing her arms about. "I-I shouldn't have done that. It was insensitive of me. I-I…I'm a hypocrite. I don't like prying into people but I have a bad habit of doing it myself."

There was a pause before he turned to her with the ghost of a smile on his face. "At least you're not sending people through the wall when they mess up your hair."

Both teenagers were able to share a joyful laugh they imagine Yang would have been pretty steamed about.

"Or you know, hearing one wrong thing and giving people lectures on how stupid they are." He added causing the girl to break out into a fit of giggles.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked me about Yang yet." She said once she'd finally managed to get a hold of herself.

The seventeen year-old seemed completely caught off guard by the reaper's question. "Why would I ask that? Yang's a tough girl, from what I've seen it'll take more than a few rocks and stray pieces of metal to bring her down."

Inside Ruby could feel herself dancing with glee. Izaak may not have known it but he'd just passed a "secret test" she put all her sister's potential boyfriends through. While yes there were many parts of romance Ruby had very little understanding of she did know one of them was being yourself. She could remember several of her sister's previous flings who were turned off by the blonde's confident exterior. It was nice to see Izaak wasn't and even attracted to it.

Taking back his place on the couch the Viking found it easier to relax and turn his attention to the reporting. They'd gone back to the station with Lisa Lavender commenting on what was likely going to go down as one of the worst terrorist attacks in the Kingdom's history. "Once they've put a cap on the media the Council's going to devote every piece of manpower to shutting the White Fang down. Sad thing is they're going to have the wrong kind of help doing it."

"What makes you say that? I mean, I know people are going to be angry but-"

"I'm talking about militias Ruby." He declared in a sorrowful voice. "How many people do you think died in all that? How many do you think were maimed or traumatized? Time doesn't make hatred go away, all it does is allow it to fester. People who already had a natural disdain towards Faunus are probably now on board with putting a chain around their neck, locking them up, or worse just putting a bullet through their head. Hm…you think the White Fang's old leadership-"

"_**We interrupt this bullshit reporting with a breaking news update." **_

The reaper and Viking watched with baited breath as Lisa Lavender's face disappeared to reveal a jet black screen with a familiar emblem at the center. It was a bird's skull with a collection of scythe blades arranged into wings on either side. The standard beeping sound told them the signal had just been hijacked and wasn't coming back any time soon.

A minute later and the black screen was replaced by a fuzzy black scenery that couldn't be identified. Standing in front of them was a man wearing what was probably one of the creepiest horror movie mask either of them had ever seen. It was white, as in bone-white that looked all too real to be just plastic or fake and shaped like a normal human face. The empty eye holes had black lining around it that stretched downward towards the mouth to make them look like tears. Said mouth of course was a sickening grin also rimmed with black lining and stitching.

Though it was just a picture neither of them could touch both teenagers felt utterly repulsed looking at the mask. It was the fact that it _wasn't _a Grimm mask that unnerved them so much. Grimm masks, rather people liked it or not, had been a part of Remnant's culture for as long as anyone could remember. Anything other than a Grimm mask wasn't taken seriously by the masses unless it was a particularly eye-catching. What they were seeing was one of those masks because it was so simple and somewhat plain looking.

Oh, and the voice coming from it was practically sprinkled with insanity like snow over a field.

"_**For those of you just tuning in long-standing beliefs of the Kingdom of Vale's stupidity, short-sightness, arrogance, and overall lack of taste have just been verified with this latest act of revolution brought about the nation's oppressed and broken masses." **_The man proclaimed in a sing-song voice that was dripping with sarcasm. From what could be seen he appeared to be seating at a desk with his feet kicked up and his hands happily in his lap. Above his head live-action videos of the battle began playing on an infinite loop, many of them catching the battle from different angles including up front on the ground. _**"A day of peace and remembrance they said. I don't know about you folks but I don't see the peace part, all I saw today was a declaration of war. War on an oppressed people whose cries for freedom have gone unanswered for centuries! But I ask you fair people of Remnant, now that the first shot has been fired are you sure of who it is you will stand with? Do you feel safe standing with Vale? **_All at once the images of battle were replaced with views of Conely's Torch unleashing its pent up power in the form of multiple laser beams. Since they were stuck on the ground Izaak and Ruby were blind to the monument's destructive power, now they had to see it in all its glory. _**"I know having a big bad wave-motion cannon may seem like a good deal, but ask yourselves, do you want an ally who' keeps such a secret from you for over fifty years? What else do you think Vale is hiding? Who's to say Vale doesn't have more of these bad boys lying around? **_The mysterious man cackled throwing his head back allowing the projections to take center stage. Zoom-ins of the aftermath of Conely's Torch had no problem displaying the scorched wreckage the attack had left behind, including the burning bodies.

Without warning Ruby looked away at the sight of hundreds of people literally being incinerated right before her eyes. Her head buried itself in her pillow in a vain attempt to drown out the screaming. All of it was short but blended together and it was a nonstop death howl that sent a shiver down the spine of the millions of viewers watching it. Especially those who possessed characteristics belonging to animals.

"_**Having said all that you gotta to wonder, does Vale need more of these when it has a shitload of WMDs like this?" **_It wasn't just Adelhard whose face graced the video but those of his teammates and dozens of other Huntsmen of notable fame. Just from what was seen one could have gotten the impression they were living disasters, destroying everything in their way either using their weapons, Semblances, skill, or some combination of the three. _**"Really makes you feel safe doesn't it folks? Having these big, strong supermen guarding you day and night! That is unless you're on the opposite side of things! Of course if you're a Faunus you're already on that side of the tracks. If you're not exactly one hundred percent supportive you're in the same boat." **_

_**THUMP! **_

Suddenly both if his hands slammed against the table as he leaned in giving the camera a good view of the masked man. A maniac light burned in his right eye that was highlighted by the warped smile of the mask he wore. _**"Make no mistake Vacuo, Mistal, you two are the same! You thought yourselves Vale's equals? Hah! You think together you are a match for Atlas? Maybe if the embarrassing display we saw today is any indication! Speaking of Atlas was that the best the supposed "Pillar of the World" could muster for their dearest ally? All that with the famed General Ironwood at the head of the fleet? **_

The two saw the faces of their classmates next, all of them locked in heated battles for survival.

"_**A day to remember the pain and sacrifices men and women gave in the name of freedom and justice…and Vale chose to safeguard it with snot-noised brats just barely out of their training diapers! Does that make you feel safe viewers? Putting your lives, your futures in the hands of these preschoolers? Do you feel safe leaving your futures in the hands of a government who lies to its own allies about its capabilities? Who calls on allies who talk a big game but are worse than useless when the first punch is thrown?" **_There was another lean in, one that practically forced the unknown man against the camera giving the world the unsavory view of the mask from up close. _**"Do you feel safe…living under a society that's willing to use a doomsday weapon on its own people who've done nothing but cry and beg for a chance at equality they've already had to bleed for? Think on that people of Vale and Remnant, human and Faunus. I, Barguist Lancashire, thank you for your time and wish you a pleasant evening." **_

He fell back laughing as the videos completely overtook his image until he was no longer visible. After some time even the recordings stopped and broke apart like pieces of glass leaving nothing but a black screen that stayed on for a second. At last the signal came back to reveal a stark-white Lisa Lavender staring the camera.

Five minutes passed before Ruby and Izaak realized they couldn't hear anything from the rooms around them. It was as if the broadcast had done more than take their breaths away-it silenced the entire world of Remnant.

* * *

**It wasn't exactly Cinder but I hope it was exceptional. For all intents and purposes the "Barguist's" broadcast fills the same role as Cinder's in canon in the sense it's going to cause a divide between people and factions. With this chapter there won't be any more big fights for another few chapters as the focus of the story will shift a little bit. The next few chapters are going to consist of butt load of talking, political thriller nonsense, and a few ship teases here and there. **

**Leave a Review and have a nice day! **


	35. Chapter 35: The Men Behind the Scenes

**I own nothing but the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 35-The Men Behind the Scenes **

_**Vale General Hospital, Ten Hours after the battle's end… **_

_Screw hangovers, this is worse by a mile. _Were Yang's thoughts as her eyes opened to a blurry world of white and blue. A moan escaped her lips and her fingers instinctive flexed our in an effort to grasp something solid. What she ended doing was using her bedsheets for support to pull herself upwards. Before she knew it she was arched over the bed groaning at the spinning world. A bandaged hand ran through her golden mane followed by another. _Thank god no one touched my hair. _She mentally sighed running her hands down the length of her pride and joy. Once she'd confirmed her hair was safe she focused her vision on the world around her. From what she gathered it was a standard issue hospital room with no window and no TV. Looking down she saw her hands had been wrapped deeply in red-stained bandages. Forming a fix caused slight discomfort but she could work through it. "At least I still have both hands." She mused before swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

To her silent relief both limbs softly touched the ground. With a shaky breath Yang stood up needing a minute to balance herself. Once that was over with and she had all her senses in order she was able to hear the mayhem happening outside of her door. Dozens of voices barking at each other while wheels screeched against the floor and faint screams penetrated the walls. "No wonder Izaak doesn't like hospitals." The blond said to herself making her way towards the door. Pushing the door open was easy, avoiding getting run over was hard though. Not one person paid attention to her in their mad rush form one end of the hallway to another. Right before her violet eyes countless people were wheeled in on title tables, wheelchairs, and in some cases carried by the arm. Immediately blasting her noise was the thick smell of blood and chemicals leaking in through the air vents. "I think I'm going to be sick." The boxer whispered feeling her legs about to give out from under her.

If not for catching one familiar face Yang was pretty sure she would have stumbled back into her hospital room. His blue eyes widened considerable upon seeing her before he was moving towards him. Grabbing her by the arm he dragged her back into her room. Once he was sure the bed would be there to cushion her fall Dr. Rax released a held breath. "This is why I don't do Huntsmen and Huntresses, especially ones barely out of the academy. You're dodging death one minute only to go out to meet him again first chance you get."

"Kind of part of our job." Came the dry reply. "You guys look like you've got your hands full."

"You don't know the half of it Yang." He shook his head. Looking down from his face Yang saw the smears of blood all over his coat. Now that he was closer she caught the thick scent of blood rolling off him. His eyes more than told her what he'd been through in the last few hours. "I've operated on twelve patients in the last five hours, four of which died, one of them before I even got there including your sister."

"What? Ruby?" She suddenly sat up panic spreading in her eyes and fear infecting her soul. "She's alive right? I-I mean she's got to be right? Right?"

"Your sister is and so is Weiss, Blake on the other hand just left critical since she inhaled more toxin than any of you. Plus a fractured skull isn't exactly good for your health if you want my word for it."

"Which room?" Was her immediate reply.

With an eyebrow raised the surgeon asked, "Sun's with her, isn't that enough?" When she remained unchanged Dr. Rax released a defeated sigh. "Go up a floor to room C-34, sixth door on your left. Due please try not to harm yourself or anyone."

"Thanks doc!" Yang called before jumping off the bed and racing out the door.

Dr. Rax watched the blond-haired box with curious eyes and a passive face. She'd healed faster than her teammates, granted out of all of them her wounds were lighter in comparison. Ruby and Weiss had to be treated for serious Aura depletion while Blake was the worst of the lot. Only Yang had managed to avoid any life-threatening injuries. "I guess what they say is true, it ain't easy wounding a dragon except for hitting their pride." He remarked then walked out the door towards his next patient.

* * *

_**Location Unknown, Twelve Hours Post Battle of Aemon Strip...**_

Behind his mask Adam could feel his own eyes started to turn as red as his highlight. "You know some answers on what the hell just happened would be nice! Answers on why I just sacrificed over two hundred of my men for-"

"Again boy? Honestly I know bulls are hard-headed but I at least thought whatever human genes you have would balance things out." Thong didn't care that her remark twisted the Faunus's face into a hated snarl. It could have swollen into a balloon and popped for all she cared.

"Hey Thong!" Hoyt called from the other side of the elevator. "Just let the boss explain things, after all he called for the kid anyway."

"Probably to tell the kid to relax or give him some extra doses of KOKOU for next time. Heh, you guys sure as could have used it out there on the field." Pox laughed causing each of the Faunus's faces to contort into expressions of fury. Despite their fierce glares Pox's smile widened until it took up almost his entire face. "Oum knows your brother could have used it Carmelo, might have saved him from getting his guts vaporized."

"Hah! Save it Pox." Came the other male at the other end of the elevator on the side opposite of the White Fang. He was a middle-aged man appearing to be in his late thirties with a brown buzz cut and scarred face. A horizontal scar across his left cheek and a vertical scar cutting through the end of his right eyebrow. A small one took up space on his chin and another above his right eyebrow. The man's mocking blue-green eyes ran over the assembled Faunus with amusement and disgust. "You can teach a dog how to play the piano, dance, and sing opera, but in the end a dog is still just a dog."

A visible huff left Carmelo's nostrils and his horns seemed to expand out of his forehead. There was a short snarl before he took his first steps across the garage sized elevator.

"CARMELO!" Adam barked not even reaching to grab the younger boy to stop him. Needless to say it worked

Across from him the ex-Atlas specialist snorted. "Least some of you degenerates know how to follow orders."

"Now, now Thong." Hoyt chuckled. "Give the kid some credit, not like he had much to work with."

While the adults in the room held a slight stand-off Pox and the red-faced Carmelo continued their silent war, one with a grin and the other with a snarl. The human was daring the bull-human to come at him fully knowing what would happen. Carmelo knew what would happen too.

The fight wouldn't last long enough for the garage-sized elevator to be destroyed, hell, what would happen would be so fast it couldn't have been called a fight.

_DING! _

"Come on Adam, you have something you want to say to our boss then follow me. The rest of you follow Hoyt to the storage facility." Thong barked moving to be the first one out the door.

The mask-wearing Faunus and orange-haired mercenary were the first out of the door and were already walking down the designated pathway while Hoyt guided the rest to the left. Around the two of them various men and women worked on vehicles and APCs creating a never ending festival of sparks and grinding noises. None of them paid the pair any mind instead focusing inclusively in the task at hand. Thong didn't need to back to know Adam was taking in the difference of scale between their base of operations and the White Fang's.

Being built out of a hallowed out mountain it was only natural space was in quantity.

"Were you waiting for us?" Thong lightly questioned seeing the six-foot six figure waiting for them at the end of the hall.

"What you don't believe in coincidences Thong?" His deep voice boomed.

Adman did his best not to look intimidated by the man once regarded as one of Mistral's best Huntsmen, and even then he still felt like he failed. It was hard not to feel that way being around Vesuvius Tect, the Reaper of Flames. He was six-feet of muscle and strength that possessed speed that belayed his immense appearance. His face was remarkably scar-free and handsome in that sort of barbarian way with jet-black hair tied into a short ponytail. Certain patches of it were a shade of brown and even gray, no doubt a result of his highly destructive Semblance. Speaking of brown his eyes straddled the line between brown and red, meeting somewhere in between to form an almost-flame like color that looked down on Adam with amusement. Like Thong and Hoyt he was dressed in the PESTILENCE military uniform with nary a weapon on him.

Adam knew Vesuvius didn't need one given his reputation.

One of those flame-colored eyes fell on him, a cocky grin soon followed. "Got your big-boy pants on kid?"

Snorting the Faunus male pushed the door to the conference room open to find three figures, two female and one male were already there.

One of them was Cinder and the other, the woman she was arguing with was maybe a decade older than her. Unlike Cinder whose olive skin was quite typical her tan sun-kissed skin was alluring and her hair was a honey-blood color Adam knew came from only one part of Remnant. She was dressed in a lab coat like the male only hers was open allowing her assets to bounce out just a little. She temporarily broke off her argument to acknowledge Adam's presence. Her deep green eyes cackled with sick satisfaction coordination with the one-sided smile that spread over her face.

"Ah," she started giving the man a leering gaze. "So the tiger sent his favorite errand boy to greet us. How thoughtful, tell me one of these days does Shere Khan ever plan on coming out of that hole? Or for that matter sending an adult to do business with us?"

"Ah Adela," Cinder purred giving the same look to Adam. "Don't be so hard on the boy. He after all, the face of the White Fang to people like us, and it's not like he can't sell the look."

Adam's grip on Wilt and Blush tightened. He knew responding would only give them more fuel to add and that wasn't what he came for. No, he wanted the man sitting patiently at the head of the table with both hands clapped together.

"It would have been nice Cinder, if you had some skin in the last game. Do you have any idea how much manpower we sacrificed for that little stunt?" Adela snorted turning her gaze back on Cinder. The smile on her face could easily have been described as psychotic.

Cinder's smile; however, was of another though no less dangerous sort. Adam had grown used to seeing that smile and honestly would have paid to see someone knock it off. "We both know that's a stone-cold lie. If there's one thing you all bring to the table its manpower. Besides, whatever losses you do suffer can be so easily recovered it's laughable. When it comes to numbers we all know I'm in the bottom rung."

"Which begs the question of why we need you." Adela fired back. Her nails were now starting to leave claw marks in the oak-wood table at the center of the conference room.

A flame flickered to life in Cinder's eyes and in her opened palm. "Do I have to remind you?"

"Enough, both you." The male suddenly spoke silencing the women. It wasn't loud and booming nor it was deep and malevolent, it was simple in volume and tone. What made them so powerful the two sadistic women followed them was that fact the man speaking them was one neither of them had any intention of angering.

Not if they expected to live past the hour.

Adam wasn't sure what to make when he first met Giovanni Yersinia, one of the Ivory Three. He didn't strike at all as a man worthy of the mountains of praise he'd been given both humans and Faunus. Granted Adam already had a low opinion of him since he was an ex-army doctor who served in the Faunus Rights Revolution. Giovanni was an unamusing main in his early to mid-forties with some of the darkest hair he'd ever seen and red eyes. Those eyes were what silently terrified Adam the first time he'd met him in person. He'd seen a lot of eyes in his twenty-four years of life he'd seen many kinds of eyes: bloody-thirsty, crazy, sadistic, broken, happy, fake, and unreadable eyes.

Giovanni Yersinia's eyes weren't broken, they were flat out _hollow_. In one look he'd sized up Adam, broken him down, and cataloged him like he was some piece of machinery.

Sitting quietly in his chair he waited patiently for the others to take their seat at the oval-shaped table. His body frame was normal, no muscle, no scars, and not too skinny. A skin complex of peach color that was common throughout Vale. Once when he was able to look close enough he saw past his omnipresent lab coat and PESTILENCE uniform lay a pair of dog-tags around his neck. Adam recognized as being the sole remainder of a life he'd left behind to pursue a path that had led him to becoming a man so feared even the White Fang dared not openly challenge him.

Taking his seat at the end of the table it became glaringly obvious to Adam how alone he was. Even Cinder, who he was unwilling to _ever _call an ally had taken her seat on Giovanni's end. For the sake of his brethren he remained strong in the face of the three sets of eyes trained on him. His sword would him no good so all he could rely on were what little political skill he had.

"Adam," Giovanni started training those blood-colored orbs on him causing him to flinch slightly. If he noticed or not he didn't let on. "We did tell you what the objectives of the operation were before we carried them out. Both ours and yours were completed, and we told you cost of which wasn't going to be easy." There was no accusation, sneer, or disdain anywhere in his voice. Unlike the others who at least had an idea how his mind worked Adam didn't thus leaving him blind to the thoughts of the revered biologist.

To his right Adela shot Adam another leering gaze. Leaning in over the table she stated, "It's like we told you the first time _Nino_, it ain't easy igniting a revolution…or surviving one."

Adam kept his temper in check when he at last spoke. "We just want to make sure when Elegia or the others start sweeping the country we've been properly inoculated." He could feel his own eyes going straight in Cinder's direction with a heated snarl manifesting on his face. His nails would have started digging into the table if he'd put more force into them.

"Now that's just hurtful Adam." The dark-haired woman cried in a hurt voice.

"But not unreasonable." Giovanni added turning his sudden glare in the woman's direction.

"And that's just cruel. Two men ganging up on a defenseless woman while another simply stands by landing it happen!" The amber colored eyes that trickled with mischief flew to Adela who returned greeted them with a murderous smile.

Giovanni ignored the silent staring contest between his second-in-command and his criminal ally to give Adam his fully attention. Since his eyes were almost totally unreadable he couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not, but what his eyes didn't do his voice seemingly did. "You have my word Adam we've given you all the proper vaccines to every biological agent we've been developing. When the time comes I trust you have the means of distribution?"

The Faunus swordsman was silent for a few minutes. "…Of course we do." He finally answered letting some of the tension melt out of his shoulders. Growing up Adam had learned to trust his instincts when they sent him warnings. They'd been spot on in alerting him to Cinder, and yet he got nothing when Giovanni spoke. _I'm not going to trust this man, but I know he'll give me more of the truth than she will. _

"In that case then you've done all we've asked of you. You don't need to worry about what comes after this." The dark-haired dark paused to lean back a little in his chair, the first humanizing gesture he'd seen from him. "Feel free to quote me to Shere Khan."

"…I will if I have to."

"Good, you're free to go."

He took one look around the table, at the man and women who stood miles above his head. Through his mask his perception of reality shifted and warped turning them into scornful faces with eyes filled with hatred. In return he could feel himself reverting from a feared warrior into a helpless child again.

_No, _the red and brown-haired man thought heading for the door. _Never again, not to them or anyone else. _

"So now can the adults finally talk?" Cinder asked crossing her legs.

Tapping a head button the four meter-long flat screen at the end of the conference room buzzed to life revealing live new coverage of the surprise attack. The four sat in silence watching the news reel with each of them forming their own thoughts and opinions on the matter. Cinder and Adela chuckled when brief interviews with Councilman Andersen came up. Obviously the seventy year-old man was doing everything he could to avoid questions about Conley's Torch, waving them off as a "secret beyond top secret" that was vital to the nation's survival. The councilman's bodyguards were all pushing the reporters away with surprising force. Snap shots of countless politicians and military figures continuously popped in and out with many of them denying even a word.

"It's a shame we couldn't wake the Dreadspawner beneath Mountain Glenn, but I'd say the Ethm Wyvern was just as entertaining." Cinder noted laughing at the wide shot the area around Aemon Strip. It looked like a tornado had passed through then a collection of meteors had decided to touch down on the remains.

"Frankly I think we should have put Barguist on air earlier, made him do a live coverage sort of event." Adela countered.

"And they say men are violent, you women are downright sadists." Giovanni sighed bringing their attention back to him. "Have your contacts confirmed the warheads at For Lennox will be completed on schedule?" he questioned with both eyes on Cinder.

"Of course they will be. By the end of January all twenty-two of them will be ready for use. I you'll be ready to steal them when the times comes?" She giggled.

"Insults Cinder? Really? I thought you were above all that?" Adela barked.

"I thought so." She laughed pushing back and making her way towards the door. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat with you two I have my own affairs to tend to. I'll see you again in a few days when my…toys are ready."

The two biologists were silent as they watched the door close behind Cinder. Thanks to their enhanced hearing they could hear the loud clanking of her glass heels against the floor until she was long out of range.

"When can I kill her?" Adela asked her superior once she was sure Cinder wouldn't hear them.

"Any time you want, granted you'll probably die in the process. You may hold out long enough to get that last laugh provided your voice still works." Pressing a hidden button on his end the TV shut off and the lights around the room flipped back on. Buttoning up his lab coat he too made his way to the door with the blond trailing him. "How many Adela?"

"In total we lost one-hundred and two, fifty-two of them were G-Troopers. It wasn't so bad."

"I agree, though I would have liked it if we could have captured at least one of the councilmembers."

"Oh posh Gio, that would have killed the fun before it even started." Was her joyful replied.

Outside the door they found Vesuvius and Thong waiting for them. "Ortho's got the battle footage ready for you." Was Thong's reply. "He's waiting for you in your office."

As per usual the two ex-Huntsmen guarded Giovanni on his way to his office with Adela bouncing at his side. It was ludicrous to think he needed protection in his own base, but they did it anyway for as he'd deduced, both of them actually enjoyed it a little. Giovanni didn't mind it at all. At least it gave him people to talk to rather than willow in his own thoughts.

"Are you two sure about staying on? I can always order someone else to lead the mission." He offered as they stepped into the last elevator that would take them to the sub-level that housed his office.

"How many times do we have to tell you boss? Yes!" Vesuvius sighed throwing a hand up. "Jeez, it's cute you're worried about us but I mean come on! This is the fourth time you've asked us!"

"With all due-respect sir, do you really want Hoyt, Pox, and Barguist leading the mission without a clear head?" Thong questioned not breaking her stoic mask.

Meeting the ex-Atlas Specialist's steel-blue eyes Giovanni responded, "I am sending Ortho too."

"Sure the kid's capable but you know the minute he takes his eyes off of them all hell's going to break loss." Came the reaper's reply. "Operation Lighting Thief was designed with us as the main stars so it'd be a poor show if we didn't show up." He finished with a grin.

Thong was less vocal in her agreement however Giovanni could sense the same sentiment from her. "I see, well then consider the subject closed. The only thing I ask of both of you is that you come back alive."

"Tsch! That place may house some of Vale's deadliest weapons but by the time we get there they'll be no left to use them." Came the x-Huntress's voice.

Only Adela laughed at the fighter's answer, Giovanni as usual took the comment in silence and proceeded on his way. At the end of the maze-like serious of halls and corridors they came to a set of double black doors with the PESTILENCE logo imprinted on it. Stepping up close the scanner at the top of the door frame flashed bright green running a scan over the forty-four year-old man. There was a blue flash followed by a loud click. With that the former army doctor pushed the doors to his office open.

It was a rather spacious room, fitting for the head of one of Vale's top PMCs. A fifteen-by-fifteen foot square shaped room with a dark wood and steel desk sat at the back in an elaborate L-shape. Starting from left to right was an artificial waterfall built into the back wall followed by a series of bookshelves and paintings. At the far end lay a black and gray double-doored locker with an electrical keypad on it. On the left side of the room sat a large dresser with a collection glass and stone models sitting across the top.

Two occupants were already standing at attention in front of the desk. Azana shyly looked away from him as he entered but the male simply held up his hand.

"Hey dad." He said as Giovanni took his seat.

"Ortho," he replied getting comfortable. "So how was your day?"

"Eh, could have been better. Went to the place where Vale grows its food, played with some rats, mostly sat around and did nothing but make sure nothing went boom. Pretty boring, you?"

With a shrug Giovanni regarded the twenty year-old male. As previously stated there wasn't a scratch on him due to the nature of his mission. He wasn't blind to the fact his son was considered drop-dead handsome both women _and _men. In stark contrast to Giovanni's ebony-black hair his was a golden yellow that was kept cut as a reasonable yet fashionable length. Unlike his blood-colored eyes Ortho's were bright blue as the sky though some people said despite their purity they carried the same "hollowness" Giovanni's did. His body was the epitome of what men his age desired-not too scrawny or bulky, a perfect balance between lean and muscle. Not a single scar was visible from the exposed portions of his body which were his face, neck, and hands. As many of the base staff said, "he knows how to wear a uniform" and to a degree Giovanni agreed. Dressed in PESTILENCE's off-duty jacket and slacks his son seemed like a fresh young military recruit with the face of a model.

Of course all these things completely flew over Ortho who often remarked that he looked "average" whenever he looked into a mirror or was questioned about his appearance. Rather or not he was fully aware of his looks or not was a question very few could answer.

"Average, as for your boredom I hope Operation Lighting Thief will make up for that." Answered the PMC leader. Ortho, Adela, and Azana had taken theirs seats while Thong and Vesuvius chose to remain standing. "With the completion of Operation Memorial we can now move onto our next objective which is the acquisition of Vale's latest secret weapon, the Ukken warhead. Our intelligence tells us we're less than a month away from their completion meaning we won't have to worry about any finishing touches once we have them, we'll be able to jump straight to modification. All that aside, I wanted you here so we could go over what Ozpin plans on throwing at us."

"From what I observed it wasn't much worth watching." Adela drily spat leaning back in her chair. "Honestly is the man going senile? An academy of over four-thousand little WMDs in training and he baits the game on a few yellow-bellied preschoolers?"

"He hasn't made it this far without guessing right Adela." Giovanni chided pulling up the battle data on his built-in terminal. Despite simple-look Giovanni designed his desk to include several high-tech features such as holographic displays, wireless communication, high-speed analysis, and for personal use the best Blu-ray abilities possible. In a flash of light in-depth images of teams RWBY, JNPR, IONC, CRDL, and CNBR were playing for all the mercenaries to see. "These are the rookie teams that I believe we must keep an eye on. If Ozpin sees something of worth in them then so must we."

"I'll grant you there are a few jewels in the pile." Thong was the first to admit.

"You got me there Thong." Vesuvius whistled with an easy-going smile on his face. His flame-colored eyes watched every move made by the red-haired leader of team RWBY with a twinkle in his eyes. A hand fell on top of Azana's seat as he leaned in close to get a better look at the fifteen year-old's scythe work. In his mind he spotted all the flaws in her style but kept them to himself. "Damn, it's like watching a mini Summer or Qrow at work. I'm glad to see the talent didn't skip a generation."

"Neither did Summer's Silver Eyes." The blond-haired biologist cackled with a glint in her eyes. She didn't give a damn about the girl's combat abilities, she'd seen better scythe fighting from Vesuvius and Leilah so the girl's abilities were nothing to write home about. Her Silver Eyes though, practically had Adela watering at the mouth. "Can you believe our luck Giovanni? A live one! A young one whose abilities aren't even close to being fully developed!"

"Yes Adela, I'm well aware of Ruby Rose's maternal gift." He replied having already pulled up Beacon's file on the scythe-wielder. "I can see she's definitely Summer's daughter and Qrow's niece, but with none of Taiyang's personality or ability. Those apparently went to her sister." In his right hand he held Ruby's holographic file and in his left was Yang's. A growing sense of deju vu began to take place as skimmed through their respective histories. Suddenly a hand tore away Yang's leaving him with Ruby's, a single finger pointed at her face. Looking up he saw the dark glint in Adela's eyes.

"I want her Giovanni. I want her in my lab now, arms bound and all my tools at the ready. I want those eyes floating in a scanning chamber! I want all the time in the world to take her apart until I know what makes those eyes tick!" With every word she leaned in closer with an ever widening grin and growing shine in her eyes.

At this point Giovanni could practically feel her heavy breathing brushing over his face. He looked into her crazed eyes with his unwavering calm red orbs and said, "I'll see when I can get to her."

"Thong!" Adela shouted spinning towards the ex-Specialist. "Bring me that girl, alive! I don't care if you have to remove a limb or three, just bring me a still breathing body!"

"Yes ma'am." Was her answer.

Ignoring the insane drama his father's second was engaged in Ortho enlarged the recording displaying the battle at Conley's Torch. Since the start that fight had captured his interest and he wanted the others to know why. "Hey dad," he caught his father's attention just as Jaune released the radiant light that completely changed the tide of the battle. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes Ortho, it is." The ex-army doctor answered with a hint of satisfaction in his voice but no smile on his face. "Who would have thought Aegis would present itself to us out of the blue like this."

"Want me to bring him in for experimentation?" Came the Mistral-native's question with nary an expression on his face.

"YES! GOOD GOD YES!" Adela shouted practically jumping out of her seat in excitement. "Aegis! Aegis Giovanni! The Ultimate Shield! This is gold! Pure, beautiful gold right for the taking! We have the Ultimate Shield and the Silver Eyes right in front of there just _begging_ for us to take them!" Pulling up a holographic dial she scrolled through the list until she found Pox. Just as her finger was about to hit the connect-button the screen went dark killing her smile. Wearing a sour frown she looked up to find her boss giving her a disapproving look.

"While I can understand your joy Adela I think it'd be best if we waited a little bit. Let's see how far he can progress before we make an attempt at grabbing him. Besides," Red eyes narrowed at the list of names listed under Jaune's family category-too many jumped out at him and too many were likely to cause problems. "Young Mister Arc's sudden disappearance would draw too much attention. We'll wait until next year, if he survives that long."

"Damn, and I was going to enjoy tearing that pretty boy face of his apart." The green-eyed woman pouted.

"Anyone else catch your eye boss?" Vesuvius questioned stifling a yawn. "I mean we got a few heirs that can actually pull their own weight and a handful of would-be heavy hitters that could become major players if we let them."

"Which is exactly why will wait and see Vesuvius." Answered the leader with a tone that made it clear there would be no arguing. "Ozpin's cultivated a good crop we'll wait to harvest, if nothing is worth picking then we'll simply move on. Remember we've got a wide range to pick from. That is all, everyone save for Azana is dismissed."

Without a word they flied out until only the young woman was left. Throughout the entire debriefing she'd been silent keeping her hands tucked in her lap. She couldn't meet her superior's eye for fear of what she would find in them. There wasn't any need to look up to know the only thing playing now were recordings of Izaak's battles, theirs probably being the main one. Slowly she found the strength to look up, not surprisingly Giovanni's attention wasn't on her but on the video. Sympathy grew on her face watching the joy and sorrow mingle within his red eyes.

"…How was he?" Came his solemn voice after what seemed like an eternity.

"He'…well." She started finding her voice again. "He's been trained well, I mean he took a direct hit from my Andesite and got right back up like it was nothing. You don't find too many people like that, Huntsmen included."

He nodded in understanding before shutting his eyes. "Did he…have to stop and take any medication at some point during the battle?"

"None that I could see. Give or take he looked like he was in perfect health."

"Ah, thank you Azana, you're free to go."

With a quiet bow the young woman left the officer leaving Giovanni alone with nothing but the quiet noise of his mock waterfall. He sat quietly in his chair watching the footage over and over, engraving every move his nephew used into his memory. "He looks like you Rikard but he fights a little like Erna." He mused with a ghost of a smile on his face. "He's thick headed like both of you. When things get tough he doesn't panic, again, just like both of you." The first smile, though it was small, came to his face once he saw the bronze-haired teenager bravely combating the Ethm Wyvern while his allies made a run for it. "You two would be proud of him, I know you'd be Rikard. He inherited your heart. Erna, you'd probably yell at him for such a stupid act then praise him saying he wouldn't be your son if he didn't do it."

_Ring! Ring! Ring! _

Pausing the videos Giovanni took a quick glance at the caller ID on the incoming call. Pressing the talk-button he started, "Sorry about swamping you over there Anthony. I'll find some way to make it up to you."

From the other end came the smooth voice of his second confident and friend. "Don't worry about it. I actually like, reminds me of the good old days. Is everything still on schedule?"

"No changes on our end. When can we expect a report from you?"

"That's hard to say Gio, you guys really hit the nail on this one. Based on what I've seen today things are going to be hectic for the next three or four days. I'll get back to you as soon as I can but it might be a week or two at worst."

"CuraGen?"

"Your powers of foresight never cease to amaze me. Little over half an hour ago their people barged into the place carrying vaccines for what they _think _might have been on the battlefield. As we speak every patient, hell, every person in this place is getting a shot to make sure no one drops dead in or out of this place." The doctor replied with a bit of a chuckle.

"I can imagine it now believe it or not. Now that they've seen IRA they're going to be on guard. Odds are once they realized what it was Rec went straight to Moribus and demanded he send a unit's worth of private virologists and medical examiners over to make sure no's caught Swan Flu." Giovanni shallowly chuckled. "Look, just get back to us when you can, in the meantime watch yourself."

"I will, you too." Anthony answered then ended the call.

He was alone now with nothing but his thoughts and the silent harmony his office brought him. He turned the holographic displays off leaving his desk looking the part of a simple well-designed piece of furniture. Sitting back he did nothing but watch the water trickle down the wall until he found the strength to move his body. In less than a minute he was back at his desk with a bottle of mead in one hand and a glass in the other.

Before he finished filling the cup his eyes fell to the collection of photographs to his left. There were six of them in total, each mementos of a life he'd wished he could return to. "I guess this is it huh Rikard? What they call in astrology as the "moral even horizon" from which there is no return. You could say I crossed that line almost twelve years ago but hey, I think today was the part when I took my big leap." The photo was aged within the smooth wooden frame but is picture was still clear as day. It was as if the photo had managed to capture the tropical rays of sunlight just as it did the three men standing in it. "What do you think Rikard? What would Scele think? Was today it for me? I don't believe it was, I think that night in Eboracum was, that was when I became the villain of this story." All three of them were somewhere in their mid-twenties dressed in military clothing: plan t-shirts, camouflage pants, boots, and a set of dog-tags hanging around their necks. The man on the right end possessed midnight black hair that sharply stood out in contrast to the bright colors around him. His red eyes cackled with a soft joy that manifested in the kind smile he wore. On the other end stood a man half-attempting to look away with a sly smile on his face. His bright, almost rust-colored hair also contrasted to the greenery around them yet in a less extreme manner. It was somewhat long almost reaching down to the base of his neck, not to mention the man seemed to be growing something of a stumble. Like the man opposite of him his hazel-eyes with an outer rim of silver with alight with suppressed joy he was failing at containing. Lastly in the center with his arms wrapped around the two men stood a dirty-blond with the biggest grin of them all. Everything about his face from his semi-kept hair to his sapphire blue eyes down to his infectious smile seemed to bleed out into the other two resulting in their own minor yet no doubt less happy expressions.

Giovanni could feel a tear clawing at the edge of his eyes as he held up the first glass to the photo. "I suppose when all this is over we'll find out if you were right Rikard. Are you watching me Ri? Are you laughing at me, cursing me, or weeping for me? Heh, by this time next year maybe you'll be doing all three."

The first time he'd ever tried mead he plainly stated it would be the last time he'd ever drink the stuff. Today marked his twenty-eighth bottle.

* * *

_**Vale General Hospital, Three Hours Later…**_

"Are you…you're not making this up are you Ren?"

"I don't understand why you think I would. If there was a reason for me to lie it's not like I have an active imagination."

"It's just…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha was the first to cut in placing her hand on top of his. Beyond concern it was hard to read exactly what the Spartan was feeling. When Jaune realized she could barely comprehend what he'd done he knew things were serious. "We're telling you the truth. I…we're not sure how but, you saved us all, twice. The first was at Conley's Torch and the second was-"

"You bear-wrestled the Lockjaw to ground!" Nora exclaimed bouncing out of her seat with a cheeky grin on her face. "Most guys would have been pancakes after taking that kind of pounding but you held on Jaune! The more you kept stabbing into that ugly bastard's head the more powerful your Aura became then boom! It was awesome!"

Jaune looked at his three teammates with bewildered eyes that gave away the shock he was experiencing. When he first woke up Ren informed him he'd been out of it for almost nine hours as the doctors worked to piece him back together. During those nine hours he briefly awoke to painful intervals of conscious only to fall back asleep either through his own lack of strength or the anesthetics the doctors had injected him with. Even when he woke up for good he felt like he was trying to stand up while chained to a cinderblock. It didn't get better when his teammates attempted to explain what had happened while he was out of it. He didn't need to say it for them to know he was questioning if they were telling the truth.

"Do you at least remember fighting the Lockjaw?" Pyrrha had asked him when his skepticism was getting too much.

"Like I'm ever going to forget that one." The blond said with a painfully shudder. From what he could tell there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't bandaged. Apparently while he was out they even needed to stitch some of his wounds closed, Jaune didn't want to know where until they were back at Beacon. "What I do remember is wishing like hell that thing would go down."

"Oh you brought it down alright." Nora chuckled a little. "Everyone saw it Jaune, you played bucking-bronco with that thing, and then you stabbed it straight through the brain. Using your Aura." She made sure to stress out that last part knowing fully well it would catch Jaune's attention. "Congrates Jaune, your Aura's got a light attribute to it."

"I'm a…I…" He looked at his heads then back at his teammates.

"You're more than free to ask the others once you're able to." Ren offered. "They'll tell you the same thing we saw."

It was a lot for Jaune to digest at the moment. When he actually started paying attention in classes he discovered Auras could have various "attributes" that defined their nature and were unique to each person. His mind flew to images of Ruby and Yang, two of the greatest examples of this. Yang for instance, fitting of her personality, had an Aura that was akin to a golden flame while her sister's manifested in the form of rose pelts. Other variants included what few times he saw Neil visible summon his Aura, it was all wind and lightning with a little bit of ice and water thrown in matching his Semblance. _And my Aura looks like light, not something cool like lightning or mysterious or Ruby's. Just regular old light. _His inner voice huffed a little disappointed. "What about at Conely's Torch?"

The smile fell from Nora's face while Ren and Pyrrha looked away. He'd barely had any account of what had happened at the battle besides seeing hundreds of men and women die in droves until he felt he could take it no longer. After that he remembered Adelhard asking him to hold strong then, well, he couldn't exactly recall what happened next short of waking up feeling like he'd just been run over by a Goliath.

Pyrrha's eyes were nervous and shifty when they finally acknowledged him. Her bandaged fingers were wrapped into a nervous mess she kept untangling. "Jaune, there's something I have to tell you. I…It's-"

"I think I can answer his questions." Came a male voice from the doorway.

The heads of team JNPR snapped over to find Vale's strongest knight standing in the doorway hands in his pockets. He wasn't wearing his traditional armored coating or carrying Dracheträne. All he wore was a plan black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some dark slacks that barely made a sound as they shuffled him into the room. None of the four teenagers could find an eye-catching wound on his impressive body leading them to believe they'd all healed. From what they could see it barely looked like he'd just gone toe to toe with a class-nine Grimm at all, instead having just come back from a peacefully walk about.

Being somewhat experts at reading the atmosphere Ren and Pyrrha instantly knew why the professional Huntsman had decided to grace their teammate's hospital room. Grabbing Nora they trudged out of the room without a word leaving their leader alone with his idol.

Said leader was staring at the closed door with his mouth agape. "G-Guys…" He was sweating up a storm as Adelhard took a seat by him. _I'm not ready for this! What do I say to him? What if he finds out my secret?! _While Jaune was having his inner breakdown he did his best to put on a brave face for the sake of the man he idealized, who'd just saved his life. _You can do this Jaune, slow and easy. _"I…I-uh-You…I…thank you for saving me and my friends." He finally managed to get out bowing his head.

"Think nothing of it, if anything I'm the one who should be thanking you." Came his hearty reply. "If you hadn't loaned me Aegis at the Torch my fight with the Ethm Wyvern probably wouldn't have gone over so well."

Uh…yeah, sure. No problem happy to help." _God, can this get any worse? _

Adelhard looked away with a chuckle escaping his lips. "Was that the first time using your Semblance?"

Jaune didn't know how to respond at first. His history with his Semblance was rocky at best and after the day's battle he wasn't sure if he now gained the ability to call it at will or not. "It sort of was, well, you see sir it's hard to explain." Against his better reasoning he told the blue-haired man the complex story of his Semblance usage, minus a few details that needn't be pointed out. By the end Adelhard had given him his full attention complete with an understanding look in his eyes. "So you see, every time I use it's always more of…instinct did anything. I can't really control it so much as just dig really deep and pray it comes out. To be honest with you it's kind of…embarrassing." The blond finished looking down at his bandaged hands in shame.

"You make it sound like not being able to use your Semblance is something to be ashamed of." Was the man's neutral reply. "Let me guess, you look around and you see the abilities your teammates can do and you feel jealous because you have nothing to offer."

_You don't know the half of it. _"My partner controls magnetism, my former crush can do just about anything with her Glyphs, the first friend I made at Beacon can cover a mile in the blink of an eye, my…enemy, rival can cause anything he touches to turn into an incendiary grenade, and one of my friends can manipulate gravity. Compared to those things I-"

"Your friend Ren seems to get by just fine without resorting to his Semblance." He gently cut in.

At that Jaune felt his cheeks heat up at the realization in a roundabout manner he was lumping Ren in with himself.

"How many of your teachers do you see use their Semblance?"

"Not that many, then again most of them are so skilled they don't need to." Instantly he caught his smile. "Ah, I'm sorry about that."

"See? It's not the Semblance that makes the warrior, it's the other way around, same story with weapons. I know that may sound hypocritical coming from me but trust me, I've seen my fair share so I know."

"Um, Mr. Adelhard if you don't mind me asking, what is your Semblance? I mean I've never seen anything like that before."

A tension filled pause took up the space between them causing Jaune to think he'd made a mistake in asking. "It's been called a lot of things but now a days it's called Dragon's Pulse. Like the Glyphs of the Schnee Family it's a Semblance that's been passed down through generations of the Von Blu family. Jaune, have you heard of the Dragon Veins of Remnant?"

"Y-Yeah I have." The young blond responded recalling fond memories of his mother and father bouncing him on their laps. "They're the Dust-filled ley lines that run beneath the surface of Remnant. My mother always use to tell me stories about them, that anyone who managed to control them held the power to raise mountains out of fields and reshape the landscape itself." As the words finished leaving his mouth he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. His memory of the past day may have had holes, but he clearly remembered watched a brightly colored laser reduce half the battlefield to a charred wasteland. Two and two came together instantly causing Adelhard to nod approvingly. "That's what they used to power that Dust fragment isn't it? Aemon Strip, the entire park was built over one over three hundred years ago wasn't it?"

"Not little stories anymore are they?"

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! _

Both men sensed the sudden chill that blew into their room and reacted with a tensing of the muscles. In a flash Adelhard was on his feet and standing defensively over Jaune. His eyes went to the bespectacled man waiting at the door with a briefcase in hand. Maybe into his late forties or early fifties with cold blue eyes that were half-hidden by the shine of his glasses and with a wrinkled face. Going from his face to the logo on his lab coat Adelhard felt his hands tighten into fists immediately.

"Ah, it's good you're here too Mr. Von Blu." He started not waiting for an innovation to walk in. "It saves us the trouble of tracking you down ourselves." His hidden eyes flickered to the quiet teenager watching the man with a hint of suspicion. "Now, now Mister Arc there's no need for all that. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm chief of CuraGen medical and commercial branch of operations, Edmund Styner. A pleasure to meet the heir to the Arc Family in person."

* * *

**Author's Notes: There you have it folks, a chapter's worth of foreshadowing, scheming, and build-up that will lead into what I call the main bulk of the story. Compared to what I originally charted out the last twenty chapters or so have pretty much been a prologue to set the stage for who's who and what's what. Still I had a blast writing it and now I can't wait to get to main events! **

**Jaune-You mean events that'll involve me getting dissected! That lady wants to dismember me! **

**Ruby-And she wants to carve my eyes out! **

**Sky-Ah yes that, see when I wrote the draft for the story Jaune was the only one Adela was going to be interested in then we all learned about Ruby's supposed "Silver Eyes" power and thought why not throw that in too! **

**Ruby-(cocks Crescent Rose) **

**Sky-Blame the canon writers for giving it to you, not the fanfic writer. **

**Ruby-(goes off to pout) **

**Sky-So yeah, this chapter introduced most of the Big Bads of the story including the higher-ups of PESTILENCE. Besides the heroes they're going to be some of my favorite characters to write. Concerning Adam and the White Fang, I have no idea how far canon goes but in this story Adam is NOT the leader of the White Fang, as stated in-chapter he's just the "face" of the organization and the leader's favorite. Going off of canon there's said to have been a change in leadership prior to the story's start so I'm going to run with the possibility Adam was merely a supporter in the leadership change rather than the leader of an outright coup. Feel free to tell me what you think of the decision in whatever comments you post. **

**The last portion of the chapter dropped a few more hints about what Jaune's Semblance is. At first he's not going to be too pleased about I can tell you that, but Adelhard's going to be one of ones who helps him accept it. Oh and he is going to get some recognition for slaying the Lockjaw, along with a scolding about almost dying while doing so. **

**Jaune-Can't you let me do one cool thing without having someone chew me out or nearly die in the process? **

**Sky-Ah Jaune, where'd be the fun in that? One reason you're one of my favorites is because like the average person you get a mix of good luck and bad luck. Leave a review in the comments and have a nice day folks! **


	36. Chapter 36: Huntsmen in the Hospital

**I do not own anything except the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 36-Huntsmen in the Hospital**

Jaune wondered if now would have been a bad time to mention how scared he was of needles. The thought of looking like w wuss in front of his idol suddenly seemed less scary when confronted with an _extremely _creepy corporate doctor. While he knew, or rather hoped, Adelhard wouldn't let this man do anything unsightly to him he had a feeling what was coming was something even he couldn't prevent. He could have screamed, but that probably would have done more harm than good. His eyes darted from Adelhard to the newly introduced Dr. Styner with increasing unease. _I'm pretty sure if did this guy did try anything I could stop him, if he doesn't paralysis me with some stative or something._ Prior training had at least taught him enough to read and observe anyone who made him feel uneasy. There weren't any visible weapons on his person; he couldn't see inside of his lab coat so he couldn't say for certain this Dr. Styner was totally unarmed. Having read more comics than he could count he knew better than to believe the bespectacled man wasn't hiding some kind of drug or such from either of them.

Adelhard seemed to come to that same conclusion as he'd taken a defensive position in front of Jaune. Everything about his posture told Dr. Styner if he made one wrong move towards the young blond wasn't going to live to regret it. "Unless there's a reason I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'm in the middle of discussing an important matter with this boy, one that is for his ears only."

"Oh that's perfectly fine. Whatever it is you were discussing you can get back to," The blue-eyed doctor waved him off with a slight chuckle. "As soon as you've both been given your inoculations."

Jaune flinched, Adelhard didn't.

Reaching into his coat he pulled out a Scroll which he handed to Adelhard with a straight frown on his face. Jaune couldn't see what was on the device but based on how Adelhard's eyebrows forwarded he was guessing it wasn't good. While the Dragon-Blooded Knight was busy looking over the message Dr. Styner walked back over to his briefcase and cracked it up; from where he was sitting Jaune could see several vials and syringes arranged neatly in three rows. Taking one out he began preparing a dosage of some bright green liquid while Jaune began nervously twitching.

"Relax Jaune," Came the blue-haired knight's voice instantly calming Jaune's nerves. His eyes more than conveyed his disdain for the doctor even though his face was directed at the blond. "There have been sixteen cases of unexplainable disease surfacing in patients coming in from Aemon Strip with a steady climb. CuraGen's analyzed and identified it to be a modified strain of the old Conflit plague that swiped through the Vale-Vacuo boarder."

"I think I've heard that name before."

"You should Mister Arc," The doctor cut in taking his first steps towards them. "It was one of the highest causes of death during the Crimson Age, a plague with a morality rate in the upper seventies. It's believed to have originated somewhere around the Vale-Vacuo boarder, mostly likely in some little off shoot village before spreading out to the rest of Remnant. It had the populace of Remnant quite terrified until a cure for it was discovered at the crisp of the Delta War, quite an odd stroke of luck if you ask me." Temporarily removing his glass to wipe away whatever impurities they'd collected Dr. Styner shot Jaune a sharp condescending glare. Huntsman or not, student of Beacon or not, it was clear his opinion of Jaune was quite clear. "It still crops up from time to time though this is the first someone's actually weaponized it." In a flash his pale-blue eyes went from the nervous Jaune to the stone-faced Adelhard. A coy smile came to his face as he pushed his glasses upward causing an unusual shine to mask his eyes. "I'm afraid you'll have to save the praises for us Mr. Von Blu, we at CuraGen were the ones to analysis the victims and come to the conclusion a hundred year old-year plague had been dug up and weaponized. As well as the ones who had a vaccine for it on hand."

Once Adelhard stepped aside giving Dr. Styner a clear path to Jaune his whole body flinched. "Um, wait! Don't you, uh, need like parental conceit for this?"

At the very least the mysterious doctor stopped in his tracks, granted it came with a completely blank stare. "I have confirmed conceit from the Vale government."

As if to prove this Adelhard gave Jaune a view of the doctor's Scroll. Jaune didn't need to be able to read every inch of the letter, he just needed to see the kingdom's seal of approval to know there was no getting out of this.

Putting on the bravest face he could Jaune held out his arm which Dr. Styner took a hold of a little too quickly. His hands were cold as ice, even with gloves on. It felt like he was having a block of ice continuously pressed against his skin, and that was before he saw the needle moving in to penetrate his skin. What seemed like an eternity to the teenager was only a second to the two grown men in the room; neither of which reacted when Jaune winced in sudden shock at the needle's entrance into his skin. The Dragon-Blooded Knight's steel-blue eyes carefully watched the green liquid within the syringe drain out into the Arc's body. His near telescopic eyes noted the intense shiver that ran through Jaune, but nothing else came after that. The needle was removed and the tension in the young blonde's body drained out like air out of a balloon.

Putting away the syringe the doctor turned to Adelhard. "Now it's your turn Mr. Von Blu. I know how strong your family's Dragon Blood is but you know the old saying, better safe than sorry."

He didn't return the doctor's smile, holding out his right arm he waited passively for the injection to come.

"That will be all for today gentlemen." Dr. Styner concluded picking up his briefcase. "I wish you all a safe and pleasant recovery."

Once he was gone Jaune realized he'd been silently holding his breath the entire time Dr. Styner had been in the room. Flopping against his pillow with a groan he rubbed the spot where the needle had pierced his skin. "Is that even possible? Getting authorization from the government to inoculate an entire hospital in less than a day?"

"It is when you're the top pharmaceutical company in all of Remnant." Replied the older knight.

"Even after your company's been accused of providing black market medical operations for criminals?" Jaune inquired with a raised eye. Without warning the Knight of Brightroar broke out into contained laughter. "Hey! I do read the new from time to time!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry Jaune." He waved it off. "Getting back on point while yes, were it any other company the answer would be yes. Unfortunately the government's unspoken partnership with CuraGen Pharmaceutical is enough protection to keep them from getting something more than a slap on the wrist."

Seeing that road was now closed to him Jaune decided to move on to the next topic of conversation. "Have there been any…leads on the attack yet? I mean I know there had to been White Fang survivors to be…" He couldn't say the word torture even though he knew perfectly well that's what was probably happening at this moment. While he and his friends were lying in a safe hospital bed licking their wounds some half-dead Faunus was probably being water-boarded in some windowless room or being electrocuted to death.

Catching the unease in his admirer's eyes Adelhard responded with a heavy sigh. "Jaune, as highly valued as I am even I'm not privy to that sort of information. Baring Ozpin, and even that's a stretch, no one you ask will know the answer to that question." Without warning he placed a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't think about those questions Jaune, just focus on the fact you and all your friends are alive. Each of you acted bravely-"

_**THUNK! **_

"You finally proved me right little brother!"

Jaune's mouth couldn't have dropped any lower at the sound of the feminine voice he recognized so well. He blinked absent mindedly until his mind recovered enough from the shock, turning to the door he felt his heart do a mini-back flip inside his chest. Standing in the doorway was not only the first sibling who'd discovered he'd snuck off to Beacon but also the only one who'd been supportive of his decision to go there, even if he'd lied his way in.

Jacqueline Arc was not the picture one thought of when they conjured up an image of a brim and proper lady nor was she the pop media image of a badass female warrior in a skippy outfit. It was because of that and her open personality that she was able to make friends with some of the most unexpected people. Her blond hair never grew past the middle of her back, and seventy-percent of the time it was tied in a somewhat spikey ponytail that belayed her somewhat noble heritage. Jaune remembered how often people including his parents would wish she'd tie it into a proper braid, claiming it would make her look much prettier like her sisters. He was one of the few who knew it was for that same reason she refused to do so. She really didn't need the braids anyway, she already had golden curls framing her youthful face. They really did more to highlight her sparkling azure colored eyes. It was often debated which one of the three oldest Arc siblings were the prettiest: Jeannette, Joséphine, or Jacqueline. To Jaune it had never really mattered because at the end of the day they were his sisters and they were all equally beautiful in his eyes.

Something else that made Jacqueline stand out amongst her siblings was her choice of clothing, she almost _never _wore any sort of jewelry or fancy outfits. Yes she owned her fair share of designer brand clothing but that was it. Nine times out of ten it was a plain pair of jeans, either running sneakers or military boots, and a designer brand jacket she'd…modified in some way as evident by a cross or two on some part of the clothing. Speaking of crosses the only constant piece of jewelry she did have was a cross-shaped silver necklace Jaune knew she valued more than her own life.

Coming to a stop right before his bed he felt his breath halt at the sight of her right arm in a sling. Before he could even open his mouth to speak his third oldest sister had enveloped him in a warm and overbearing hug he quickly surrendered to. He didn't know what kind of fighting she'd been involved in but it hadn't wiped away that almost familiar smell he'd grown accustomed to growing up. "I heard my little brother killed a Class Seven Grimm," she started pulling away with a cheeky grin on her face. "Oh and before you say anything I've got proof." Digging into her pocket she retrieved her Scroll. In seconds Jaune was watching a video of him holding onto the Lockjaw on the academy website.

The current viewer count was in the hundred thousands, and still rising.

_Okay, first all who the hell was recording me playing rodeo with a Grimm, and secondly how the hell did it get so many views? _Were Jaune's primary thoughts as he watched the video play back. "Well, um, you see Jacqueline I sort of…I'll be honest here, I had no idea what I was thinking there."

"No need to make crap up little brother." The older blond chuckled falling back in her seat. "You're an Arc, as you may know we tend not to think when crap like this happens." He didn't like the Cheshire grin that came to his sister's face; so much so Jaune actually scooted back a little closer to the wall. In return she leaned forward, her wounded right arm causing her no apparent discomfort. "So what's her name?"

"What? Who? What are you talking about?" Jaune rattled off a little too quickly.

Reading her brother's increased breathing and frantic eyes Jacqueline pressed onward. "The girl you Grimm-wrestled an Alpha Lockjaw for. Before popping in I had a chat with some of the younger students, they all told me it was only after it went after a certain girl you decided to play rodeo." Her grin made every hair on Jaune's body stand on edge, almost to the point he felt like a porcupine. "So come Jaune, tell your big sis, did all of dad's stupid tips actually work?"

"Ja-Jacqui, wait please! You have to understand it wasn't anything like that! Honest! I was just, everything just sort of, I-I-I had to-I just had to protect my friends!"

"Including a certain female friend?"

"No! I-I mean it's not like that!"

"A brunette?"

"No!"

"A blonde?"

"Nope"

"A platinum-blonde?"

"Really?"

"Just don't tell me it's a Schnee."

"…Why does that…" An unexpected tremor shook Jaune's heart at the mental image of Weiss. A cartoonish raincloud appeared above his sunken head then ruthlessly released its contents onto him. "That…ship…never left….the harbor."

With an understanding nod the older Arc placed a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder. "Don't fret little brother for there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Maybe an older more experienced one perhaps?"

Okay that one crossed a line in Jaune's mind. "Jacqui! Seriously!? Is that what you think I'm interested in?"

"I'm just saying Jaune, when it comes to romance you never know until you explore. What one person likes another may be turned off by. If you ever hope to have any luck in that department you have to get out there and socialize." Popping one azure-colored eye open she made sure to stress the next words carefully. "When I say socialize, I mean talk to people, not _flirt _with them."

Honestly Jaune found it rather hard to argue with that one, matter of fact, as far as he could remember his sisters always hated that piece of advice their father gave him. Looking back Jaune knew he owed each of them an apology because they turned out to be right, his wannabe flirting had done nothing for his love life. Well, what miserable excuse of a love life he had.

"A redhead?"

He slipped up and she caught it. Once again a Cheshire grin consumed her face.

"So now I know who to look for next time I see, tell me, what's she like? Sweet? Bossy? Clingy? Charming? A flirt?"

"If I say something can you stop?" The younger sibling asked downcast.

"Of course." She replied with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Alright she's…she's nice, one of the nicest people I've ever met." There was a pause as he let the softness of the pillow take full hold freeing him of all his doubts and worries. "She was the first person to actually have some faith in me at Beacon." When a prolonged silence followed his answer he breathed a quiet sigh of relief that his interrogation was over. "What happened to your arm?"

"Oh this, just a little price I had to pay to keep Fionn Hall standing." Jacqueline answered shaking her apparently broken arm. In doing so she'd answered the next question which was where she'd been assigned to. It didn't come as a surprise she ended up protecting the seat of the building the kingdom's council met in. "You're lucky you weren't there Jaune," she started with a distant look in her eyes that told him how brutal the fighting had been. "At last half of died and that was before we'd even seen Conley's Torch activate, of course yours truly wasn't among them." She winked at him. "Most of the west wing was destroyed before the White Fang decided to pull out. I guess it doesn't really matter what state Fionn Hall was in, everywhere you looked all you could see were bodies."

It felt like a load of sand had been dumped into Jaune's mouth. "Believe me Jacqui, I know how you feel. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget what happened out there."

"…I've already heard about what you did at Conley's Torch, the way you saved everyone." The swordswoman suddenly spoke catching Jaune's eye. "Don't deny it, don't you dare deny it Jaune because on my way here I had people telling me to congratulate you."

Jaune was perplexed at the strange mixture forming within him. Praise, the one thing he'd so desperately longed for was being heaped upon him…except at the current moment he couldn't care less about it. Once his sister had brought up Conley's Torch all Jaune could think about was the miles upon miles of blood and carnage he'd fought through. Bile churned within his stomach at the grotesque images that had been burned into his mind and would stay there until death claimed his soul. "What happened there was just…I don't even know where to start Jacqueline. Have they at least collected the dead?"

"You should know that's going to be a lot of collecting little brother. Everyone's still trying to get over the shock of what happened." Jacqueline quietly answered looking away. "We're just happy you weren't among the dead."

Strange as it was Jaune only just then noticed Adelhard had quietly vacated the room leaving the Arc siblings alone. The man did seem to be pretty experienced when it came to reading the atmosphere. "I take it…mom and dad know about what happened."

Following a solemn nod Jacqueline raised her hand than suddenly brought it down on top of Jaune's head. A stone mask went up as her brother groaned in slight pain at the sudden blow though he recovered rather quickly. "That's so you'll be ready when mom, dad, Joséphine, and the others go off on you asking what the hell were you thinking."

"I know, trust me I can already hear them screaming in my ear the minute they find out I'm here." Jaune stated.

"You can bet your ass they'll be pissed off when they hear about it." Like the first the second hug came without warning. "Of course once everyone's finished yelling they'll get around to this part. You know how our family is."

"Yeah, now a days I'm starting to appreciate that a little more." Jaune spoke letting the warmth of his sister wash over him. Darkness was tittering at the edge of his vision and he didn't have the willingness to fight it off. All his questions from the battle to the continuing aftermath could be answered another time.

* * *

It was telling how Yang was basically able to waltz right into Blake's room without anyone saying much. Granted everyone was running from one spot to another barely paying the seventeen year-old blond much mind anyway. Finding her partner's room was easy, finding Sun sitting by her side wasn't unexpected either. What did surprise Yang were the extent of the monkey-Faunus's injuries. His left leg was both bandaged and propped up on another chair while almost his entire abdomen was covered from head to toe in stained bandages. His right arm was in a shady looking cast while his other was gently pushing strands of hair from Blake's sleeping face.

Upon opening the door the tan-skinned male immediately turned to see the blond brawler sliding inside. "How is she?" Were the first words out of her mouth before she even thought of seating down.

"She's…they said she was going to live." Came the usually upbeat teenager's somewhat morbid response. It didn't take a degree in medicine for Yang to tell Sun's skin was paler than usual and his breathing was unusually labored. "B-Besides the toxin in her system they're still working on the concussion, i-it took some time but they got her out of death's reach."

While that brought elation to the boxer's heart it left her with a new concern. "What about You Sun? I'm looking at you now and it looks like you're a second from passing out on the floor."

"Oh me? Come-on Yang. You know how tough I-OW!" His hands shot towards his abdomen were an increasingly splash of red was spreading causing Yang to jump out of her seat in surprise.

In a heartbeat the boxer was at the team leader's side. Taking one look at the blood sipping through the wounds Yang immediately knew Sun's injuries hadn't been treated properly, now that she had a closer look at him she found even his propped leg was showing signs of swelling and reddening. "Sun? Sun!" Her eyes went from her friend to the various cabinets within the room to the door. "Don't die on me or Blake!" She was out the door calling into the endless stream of bodies buzzing about. "Hey! Hey! I need some help in here now!"

"Yang!"

Twisting to the left she saw a seemingly pissed of Verde marching towards her. Before he could even a word out she'd grabbed him and dragged him inside. "Verde, please tell me you can handle this!"

All pretexts for his anger dropped at the sight of Sun clenching his abdomen in apparent pain. At first his face was full of shock then it twisted into a vengeful snarl. "Oh for Oum's sake! Now? Today?" Rushing over he briefly examined Sun's condition before gently lying him against the floor. "Yang, grab everything you can from the cabinets then go outside, find a trolley!"

Though her body still tinged with pain she did as commanded. Grabbing everything that fit Verde's description, even if it meant yanking it out of someone's hands, without a word of apology. Dropping all the items within his reach then plopped down on the nearest seat available. "What the hell happened?"

Verde never turned to face her as he removed the sullied bandages around Sun's body. "He wasn't cared for properly."

"You guys…are…blowing this out of…ow." Came Sun's pain-staked voice. "Really you're making this…sound worse than it is. I've had worse, ow! Damn Verde, can you be a little gentler?"

"Can you pipe down while I properly stitch this wound shut so you don't bleed to death?"

"Got any tape? Or a banana? When I'm with him that's the only way to keep him quiet." A third voice half-heartedly joked.

Six eyes turned to find the team RWBY's feline ninja sitting up in her bed with a deadpan expression aimed directly at Sun. The team SSSN leader smiled while the Y of the previously mentioned threw her bandaged arms around her partner. "Blake! I knew you'd make it through!"

"Yang, air." Came the Faunus girl's short and cold reply. "Yang. Yang please!" Neither Verde nor Sun did much to stop the blond from crushing the fledging life out of Blake leaving her to attempt to pry her off herself. "Yes, yes I'm alive Yang, no thanks to you trying to remedy that. Now…what about him?" Seriousness laced her amber-colored eyes that fell on the males.

Beyond Sun's constant yeps of pain and frustration Verde remained mostly silenced and focus. The once white-hot aura of angry that had surrounded him when he entered the room had melted away into an almost icy exterior that showed on his face. "First off his wounds weren't properly stitched shut nor were they cleaned as they should have been. All they did was just slap a few bandages on him and send him out, speaking of which they should have given you a room or wheelchair to prop up your leg."

"Oh trust me they had rooms available, problem was they had too many people who needed it. This one for example." Was the blonde's toneless answer.

"…This was supposed to be your room wasn't it Sun?" Blake questioned feeling a cold fist tighten around her heart.

"You needed it more than I did."

"Damn it Sun, you shouldn't have done that!"

"It's not like I could just stand by and watch you die and I could have done something about it!"

"HEY!" Boomed the B of team RWBY. Her head was still a little sore and the escalating spat between her teammate and not-so-secret admirer wasn't helping things. "Does this have something to do with the fact every time I look out the door I see Faunus lying against the wall, half of them bleeding more than usual?"

A thick silence fell over the hospital room. Verde said nothing as he continued to put the finishing touches on Sun's abdomen before moving to inspect his leg. Blake looked away from her partner for a few minutes before responding.

"Yang, given the gravity of what just happened…do you think the doctors in this place are willing to treat Faunus?"

"Does it matter that they're dying right in front of them? That they didn't do anything or were involved in any of this?"

"It doesn't matter," Sun spoke. "They see furry ears, wings, gills, or a tail and they tell you to get the hell out. There's a reason a good number of Faunus know first aid or how to treat a wound."

"They had to because most doctors don't take their oath seriously." Verde snorted.

"The common claim is they're not veterinarians." An impossible clogged and rude voice sounded from the direction of the doorway. The three of the four young adults were stunned to see a pot-bellied doctor standing in the doorway with a sneer on his face. He was a Faunus, a pig based on his large physique, snot-like noise, and ears. "Stupid cat, don't move around too much or your organs will burst or your brain will. Have you any idea how much of a mess that would make? Do you realize how much of a fuss Kruger would make to save your already short life?" He barked in Blake's direction.

As one would expect Yang rose to meet the dark messy-haired doctor's harsh words.

"Oh save what little energy you have girl." The Faunus doctor snorted proceeding over to Verde and Sun. "If you think I'm going to be frightened by a hot-headed Huntress-in-training who can barely stand then I might as well drop dead here and now. Something all three of you will be doing if you aren't careful, especially you feline." He directed his words again at Blake with a noticeable tone of disgust.

Despite the disdain being aimed at her Blake did the noble thing and bowed her head in appreciation of the pig-man doctor. "Thank you Dr. Boyle."

"Thank me when Beacon stops forcing us to work overtime."

"Hey, student of Haven lying over here!" Sun playfully yelled.

"Verde, get going, I'll handle this three death-seekers." The pig-noised doctor proclaimed.

"But Sus-"

"I can handle a cat, a monkey, and a human flame thrower. You are needed elsewhere, now get moving." Dr. Boyle boomed pushing the young doctor out the doctor.

"Wait!" Placing both hands against the door frame the green-haired man yelled to the three students, "Please one of you tell me you've seen Izaak!"

"Eh? You mean he's not in his room?" The boxer questioned raising her eyebrow.

While Dr. Boyle propped up his leg Sun released something of an amused chuckle. "Oh that figures, no offense Verde but you might as well give up on finding."

"Not in his condition!"

The grave tone of his voice was what got Yang up and moving. She couldn't remember how badly Izaak had been wounded but given that he'd volunteered to stay behind to hold off the Ethm Wyvern he probably wasn't in walking condition. Fear or not if he was in any state like Blake he needed a soft bed to rest in. "I'll go with you to find him."

"Don't drop dead in the middle of the hallway." Dr. Boyle stated.

"Geez doc, I'm walking and talking even with some broken bones and ruptured organs. Don't you think that's enough reason not to get so _stitched up_?"

"Yang!"

"What? I haven't been able to make a joke in like forever!" She groaned moving after Verde. Her right foot was out the doorway when she craned her head back with her characteristic grin. Instantly Blake felt her blood run a little but colder. "You two make sure to play nice once Dr. Pig-Face is done."

"_Yang!" _

"Blondes"

"Hey!"

* * *

"What you did out there was stupid dangerous and reckless. I've already talked to some of the teachers who were there."

"…"

"Be that as it may I might say I'm impressed, you showed you have our father's grit. Cursing out your teacher, your superior, that takes balls. Certainly proves you have the willpower needed to succeed father."

"…"

"Ah yes, that's right, willpower isn't enough. I suppose if you can't defeat one lousy feathered no-name terrorist how can you hope to defeat your dear old dad, the head of the Winchester Family. They say scars make a person stronger when reflected upon, I do hope that holds true for you Cardin."

Though he heard the words Cardin knew better than to react to them. His second eldest brother may not have been the most hated member of his family but he still wasn't anywhere near his favorite relative to be around. Aside from that he knew whenever Bishop Winchester offered someone praise there was usually an insult or two hidden away, or an ulterior motive. Not that his brother had offered him much praise. Cardin kept his gaze situated on the scenery outside the window, a parking lot filled to the breed with vehicles of all sizes and types. More than a few medical tents had been set up in what spare space was available. From his spot on the building's fourth floor they all looked like ants.

Sitting at his bedside perfectly content was a cherry red-haired man in his mid to late twenties with a growing beard on his face. Combed back hair, well-trimmed and cut like Cardin's own. His eyes were shamrock green in comparison to Cardin's indigo irises. There was a butterfly bandage on the left side of his forehead and a few more around his neck and cheeks, otherwise his face was seemingly untouched by the physical damage of the battle. Even his clothing spoke something about how little scars he'd endured. Mostly clean dress pants, slacks, and a red and white undershirt. His entire left hand was bandaged for reasons Cardin didn't know and didn't care for. As always the air of calm and composed air of an aristocrat heavily cloaked him warding off anyone who might have had something to say. Most people were warded off by it; Cardin having grown up around such people was used to it. That's why he was able to so blatantly ignore his brother's cold gaze whereas most would have folded.

"You could have gotten yourself killed Cardin." Bishop quietly stated.

"You make it sound like that would have mattered." Came the first year's reply. "Put a little more effort into it and you could have made it sound like someone would have cared."

"You can imagine the fuss that would have been made if the youngest Winchester male was killed in action against a piece of White Fang scum. Heh, father would have fought off death himself to bring you back so he could kill you himself." Chuckled the older Winchester. Cardin imagined his brother took some amusement in that imagery, though Kindle might have enjoyed it a little more. "Lucky for all of us that didn't come to pass."

"Yeah, so now that you've made the family visit can you get the hell out of my room?" The mace-wielder half snarled.

"Hm, I don't think I will, you may not know it but there's not much to do out there." Bishop laughed with a shake of his head. "Besides you know how much I enjoy talking to you little brother."

"…"

"Cardin," Bishop called with a noticeable change in his tone. At last he turned his head to face his second oldest sibling. Brief and small as it was Cardin was able to detect the faint hint of worry in his brother's eyes. "You know how serious this is, everyone, including father were worried about you."

"Could have fooled me."

"That's not too hard to do."

"I thought you were here because you were worried about me."

"I'm just checking to see if your sense of humor survived the beating you took."

There came the body wide flinch Cardin feared his brother would induce. The color momentarily drained from Cardin's face and the strength drained from his knuckles. As quickly as it had left anger flooded his system manifesting into his usual snarl. "Get the hell out of here Bishop. If you don't have anything useful to say then just get the hell out so I can get some sleep!"

His brother didn't move nor did his expression change. His hands remained folded patiently in his lap while his left foot quietly swung back and forth. "…You can't let anything those animals say get you riled up."

For a long time Cardin remained silent simply staring at the bedsheets he gripped as tightly as he could. The pure white of the bedsheets was all he could stand to look at; he was too scared to look into the green eyes of his older brother. "You're…you know that's the last thing anyone should say to me Bishop."

Green eyes examined every inch of the younger boy, the frown on the Beacon instructor's face made it clear he didn't like what he found. "I see," he sighed. "In that case I'll drop it." Some of the tension left Cardin's body as evident by his eased grip on the bedsheets and slight heat buildup around his body. "Father and the rest of the family are uninjured just in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't."

"Not even for Mar-"

"Bishop!"

"She's fine Cardin, she's been dying to come visit you but you know how everyone is. They aren't letting her out until they can be sure no one will come after her."

Cardin snorted. "Yeah, in case you haven't noticed Bishop we're going to be waiting a while for that."

"Aren't you curious about how the White Fang managed to get this close to things and do this much damage?"

"I am but it's not like I can do anything about; I can't expect you to tell me anything either even though you're a DIA agent." The younger Winchester spoke turning his head back to the window. "If there's something you want to tell me you'll come out and say it or give me a hint. Since you haven't done either I'm guessing the heads of the agency are still trying to understand how a pack of rapid animals managed to launch a wide scale attack on a national landmark, _and humiliate _the entire nation on live TV."

Bishop Winchester's laughter was an ominous thing that most people would have been better off not hearing. It either meant something horrible was about to happen to someone or had already happened. It was rare for his laughter to actually be cheerful. Cardin wasn't hearing his brother's cheerful laugh; it was close to but not the real thing. "I knew Beacon would smarten you up."

"No thanks to you asshole."

"Heheheh, I'll leave you now so you can get your beauty sleep. If anything comes up you know I'll be the first to let you know." Bishop affirmed rising from his seat.

Cardin refused to look at his brother's departing form even as he spoke to him. "Don't do anything stupid or embarrass the family."

"When did you turn into Kindle?" Were the last words Bishop said to his brother before softly closing the door. _ That could have gone better. _The part-time Beacon teacher thought beginning his walk down the semi-crowded hallway. His noise wrinkled in slight discomfort at the heavy metallic taste of blood that permeated the entire building. He could imagine the time it would take for the heavy fog to dissipate, and that was on the assumption they didn't suffer another major attack as they had barely twenty-four hours before. While he'd been trained to never underestimate his enemies he had a hard time believing the White Fang were capable of pulling off another major operation such as this, especially given the staggering number of causalities they'd no doubt suffered. _This PMC, PESTILENCE, on the other hand is a different matter. What would cause a band of top notch mercenaries to all but declare open war on the entire nation? No amount of money or financial gain in Remnant would be enough payment to do such an idiotic thing. Of course that's banking on the possibility money is involved, no, something of this magnitude couldn't possibly be fueled by sheer avarice. _So many theories and possibilities were running amok in Bishop's head he almost lost track of his surroundings. It wasn't until he was within arm's length of the elevator did he spot the characteristic mop of white haired tied in a bun along with the neatly pressed white suit that went with it. _Ah, speak of the Devil, or his mistress, and look what happens. _"I trust you managed to avoid any serious injuries Winter?"

Shock was barely able to stay the minute it arrived before the eldest Schnee child put her mask of profession back on. You could say for all the differences they shared that was one thing Bishop admired about Winter Schnee. "Ah, Bishop," she began nodding her head in recognition. "I heard one of your siblings had been injured in battle, I trust they're doing alright?"

"A little grouchy but yes, my younger brother will live to fight another day." He responded taking his place beside her while the elevator took its sweet time to arrive. "I heard your sister and her team encounter some serious trouble during the battle. Something about a White Fang swordsman being able to cancel out her Glyphs. It sounds like the old Glyph Breaker Semblance has finally resurfaced, and in the hands of the enemy no less." Her involuntary stiffing and twitching didn't go unnoticed though the second oldest Winchester heir chose not to say anything. "Bad timing, almost everything about this year."

"I…agree. Of course my sister's inexperience with our family's Semblance is partly to blame. In the future I'm hoping I'll be able to help her remedy that problem." Was her calculated and modest reply to his inquiry.

"Interesting, the way you make it sound you sound as if you'll be coming to Vale more often. I know the life of an Atlas Specialist isn't easy but I don't imagine you having that much free time."

"When it comes to my sister's safety I can manage."

"Ah, I knew you Schnees had a heart beneath that prim and proper shell you put up."

Winter knew what Bishop was doing. Though she had an open respect for the second eldest Winchester male she wasn't always willing to play his little games. Now that both their countries had suffered something of a stinging blow she needed him to have his head in the game. "Has the DIA found any leads to who assisted the White Fang and how they managed to get so close?"

"Sadly no, we've brought in a good number of prisoners from the battlefield, at least after we managed to keep death from claiming them, but so far no one's told me if they talked or not. Personally Winter, I don't believe we'll find anything by interrogating some low-level grunts."

Her eyes went cross at that. "Big game Bishop," she clarified heatedly. "Did you catch any or not?"

"…No, they all killed themselves or had someone else do the deed before we could get to them. Before you ask…forget about the mercenaries that were there fighting with the White Fang."

Winter bristled, something that spoke volumes about the sudden shift the conversation had taken. In all honesty Bishop didn't blame her for the reaction; he'd felt something of a stomach ache when he watched the soldiers' bodies…break down right before his eyes. "So…it's…true then."

_Ding! _

"You have my word Winter it's true, I saw it happen with my own eyes." The redheaded male affirmed being the first one in. "Our people in the labs are examining the remains but it's going to take some time."

"We don't have time Bishop." Winter bit back. "What we need are results, leads, names."

"We have one, PESTILENCE."

"You really expect me to believe some pathetic mercenary company managed to get the best of the combined power of two of Remnant's strongest nations?"

"…It seems while they were treating you they neglected to examine your eyes or hearing."

That got him a nasty sneer that stayed on her face for the entire ride down. The fact Bishop's smile never left his face only made it deepen. That infuriating smile was the one thing anyone who knew Bishop could say they completely hated about him, and that's exactly why he never stopped doing it. Personally he considered it a victory every time he managed to make Ironwood's favorite underling lose her temper, perhaps he'd gone drinking with Qrow too often. Either way he was quite pleased with himself. Once the elevator door opened she was the first one out, barely pausing to look back at him.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again and I wish you good hunting."

"And I you Wi-"

_**Boom! **_

Both adults simultaneously went wide eyed at the sudden sound of destruction and chorus of shrieks that came with it. Wordless they hurried down the hallway pushing past dozens of shocked doctors, nurses, and patients to get to the sight of the explosion.

Once they came to the edge of the crowd they both stopped dead in their tracks to stare at the sight before them. The exact same words came through their lips, "_What the hell?!"_

* * *

"Call us just in case you see him Neil." Verde finished closing the door after Yang leaving the gray-haired young man alone in his hospital room.

"Sure thing Doc Verde." He complied with a simple wave of his hand. Once the door safely fell shut he turned his bandaged head to the ceiling. "You're clear Zaak."

With the release of his long held breath the axe-wielding Viking dropped from the ceiling into a crouch. "I can't remember the last time I had to hold my breath that long." Casting a cautionary glance at the door he waited for the turning of the knob just in case Verde and Yang came back. When it didn't he took a seat beside his brother. "How're you holding up?"

"I feel like shit, but that's better than being dead." He dryly answered with a shrug of his shoulders. There was little he could do to deny the lingering pain that persisted in making moving ill-advisable. People had always called him lazy and low-energy; however, the first may have been true most days but the second was always far from reality. He hated it when he wasn't able to move his body as he liked. Groaning he remembered the warnings his doctors had given him, move too much and he ran the risk of having his organs burst inside of him. "How about you?"

His earlier nightmare ran across his body resulting in his whole body tensing up. "I'm staying as long as you guys are here. I've already checked in with Olivia and Chicahua, they're fine."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yeah I did, I said I'm staying until you guys can check out."

"Izaak." The older boy spoke sternly.

Sighing Izaak dropped his head into his hands. He hands ran over his messy bronze-colored hair as he always did when frustration ate away at him. "I freaked out okay. There I said it, happy?"

"Just tell me you didn't crush anyone by accident."

"Well, you see…"

"Did you kill anyone?" The young knight questioned.

His answer was as toneless as the expression on his face. "I may have traumatized someone."

At first Neil said nothing, then at last he rolled his shoulders and shrugged. "Eh, good enough."

"Sorry about that though."

"You're alive, that's all I'm asking for." The scar-faced teenager spoke leaning back into his pillow. Not for the first time Izaak could understand why so many women, and some men, of all ages seemed attracted to his older brother. In battle his expression was always fierce, his eyes practically miniature thunder clouds in their darkness and intensity. Outside of battle that was a different story, especially in times like this. His face was softer, almost as alluring as a freshly bloomed rose. Even with the sizable scar beneath his right eye many still considered him cute and handsome in his own right. Izaak had little doubt as they got older and his brother's face matured his popularity with the opposite sex would only grow. "I know you're thinking about what that woman said." He started without opening an eye, even when Izaak's mouth sprung open to speak. "Save it for another day deartháir, we're in no condition to go clue-hunting or confront whatever the hell we find."

The Viking's silence gave Neil hope he'd ended the argument before it'd begun. Knowing how he was Neil knew once he gave him an inch he'd take the whole mile before he could stop him. There was no denying something about PESTILENCE had been unnerving. Devotion was one thing but the way some of the mercenaries so silently sacrificed themselves…to him it seemed almost robotic. This hadn't escaped Izaak either. "Got any theories?"

"I do…but can they wait until I can actually move my arms?" The knight of team IONC cracked with a smile. It did the trick in getting his brother to join him. _This _was the kind of healing Neil had needed, the only downside was Olivia and Chicahua weren't able to join him. Odds were they'd be up and active before him; it stung a little he would be the last one out but that was acceptable.

_CRICK! _

"Hello? Um…I this is sudden but…" As if a winter chill had come over him detective Danial Alton stood completely frozen in the crosshairs of the I and N of team IONC.

Neil's eyes couldn't have been any bigger while Izaak felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. In a heartbeat he'd taken a defensive stance in front of the bedridden knight. The kind light that had sparkled in his hazel-colored eyes was killed and replaced by an almost feral gleam that would have frozen any lesser man.

"I…um…I thought…" Obviously Alton had no idea where to even begin or how to proceed. In truth neither did Izaak or Neil. He took one look at Izaak and knew if he so much as shuffled one foot towards Neil without the boy's approval he was going to be needing a body cast. "I…I'm sorry for intruding. I just wanted to-"

"It's fine." Neil spoke up surprising both the Viking and detective. Their duel attention went to him; it said something about his character when he didn't so much as flinch. "Izaak, it's okay." The brothers met each other's eyes in a silent but heated exchange. At first it seemed like neither would give until hazel eyes withdrew to fall upon the bewildered detective.

"I'll be back in ten minutes." He stated excusing himself from the room leaving the older man and young man alone in the hospital room.

He scooted the chair a few feet further away from Neil when he took Izaak's place. He couldn't blame him for wanting to put some physical distance between them, anyone who'd associated with him learned that lesson the hard way via his parents. When they were alive Cian and Asiling Liath had no issue killing anyone who got too close to their only son, especially if that person wore a badge. Or in this case that person nearly killed him when he was barely six year-old.

"I…wanted to make sure you were alright." Alton started putting his hands on his knees. "You…didn't look well when I dropped you off."

"Inhaling a couple tons of toxic air will do that to ya. What about you? How's the left leg?" He finally found a place to start. "That Oniyanma was pretty intent on making sure it left with souvenirs."

Running a hand over his bandaged leg he felt a slight pain linger in the wounded limb. "I've faced worse than an overgrown mutant fly. Your parents for one." He'd hoped that little joke would bring a smile to the teenager's face.

It did.

"You know I can almost imagine mom and dad going off on me about that." He laughed while shaking his head. "I can almost imagine my mom scolding me, asking me what the hell I was thinking getting caught up in such a shit-show. Same thing with my dad though he'd probably be telling me to get my name out there so the White Fang would put a bounty on my head."

"Heh, that definitely sounds like the Gray Phantoms. Have you gotten your inoculation yet?"

"Just got mine about twenty minutes ago. Granted I would have liked it if it came from an actual doctor instead of a corporate one. Thank you for saving Sun and Neptune."

"It wasn't a problem, those boys actually have a future ahead of them if they ever decide to pursue law enforcement."

"Hah! Sun and law enforcement, that's a combination I never thought I'd see. Then again today I did see some crazy shit, a giant laser cannon hidden in plain sight, giant fighting robots, a city-leveling Grimm, and lastly I saw a scrawny greenhorn slay a twenty-foot killer croc. Guess they weren't kidding when they said you see some strange shit on this job." The youth concluded.

A grunt came before the detective continued. "I heard about your…transfer from Haven to Beacon after the…incident in the Avenio Underground." suffocating silence rolled over the detective and in-training Huntsman. Within his own thoughts Alton quietly mulled over the fact he was sitting across from a boy who he not only nearly killed, but was also responsible for busting one of the biggest Faunus trafficking rings in Mistral. God, he could still remember the utter disgust he felt at reading the story of how several of Mistral's most prominent politicians and socialites were involved in…in…he couldn't even begin to describe it. "Your team did the right thing." Alton finally said releasing a labored breath.

"I know we did." Was all he said in return. "I don't care who they are or what they say, I know we did the right thing bringing that entire building down." The cotton sheets in his hands were nearly torn to shreds by his ever increasing grip. "I just wish those bastards, those monsters got what they really deserved."

"Of the four heads of the trafficking ring five of them were given the death penalty sentences." Alton offered hoping to cheer up the boy's spirits. "The other five may not have but you they're never going to see the light of day or hurt anyone ever again. On top of that Neil, your team, what you guys did was shut down a gladiatorial ring as well as an illegal human trafficking and gambling operation." At first he hesitated but eventual he was able to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You guys saved two hundred lives that night, and probably countless more. You have nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of." Alton concluded never breaking contact.

For so long Neil had wondered how he would react if the man who doggedly pursued his parents all over Vale ever touched him or praised him. Disgust, horror, and honor were just a few of the three things he always thought he would feel. As it turned out honor was the winner, though it may have been because of the subject matter they were discussing. _What would either of you have thought of me? _While they may have been ruthless criminals Neil knew his parents still worked by a code of ethics, he'd seen with his own eyes, and that code in no way involved human trafficking. He had the nightmare inducing memories of his third kidnapping as proof. _I don't know if I made either of you proud today…but I'm hoping you're both happy I at least held my own. You two always taught me that. _

_**Boom! **_

"Stay here!" In seconds Alton had knocked the chair over, kicked the door open, and bolted out the door.

Neil looked wide-eyed at the opened door before attempting to force his body upward. As if to spite him pain tackled his body back down into the sheets resulting in a pained groan. "Hey! What the hell's going on out there?"

Alton turned the corner through the crowd of people preparing for the worse.

What he got was a runner up for the weirdest shit he'd ever seen.

Standing calmly in front of the gaping hole in the wall was a conservatively dressed young girl with puffy orange hair. Directly across from her, smacked against the wall were two CuraGen doctors practically shitting themselves under the girl's near emotionless gaze.

Alton stared numbly at the scene along with the countless others, doctors and patients alike. Like them he dumbly watched the girl advance closer towards the frightened doctors while behind her, garbed in nothing but a hospital gown a redheaded girl desperately cried for her to stop.

What happened next would stick in not just Alton's mind but the mind of every man and woman present.

A white haired teenager stepped onto the scene with her face almost as pale as her hair. "Ruby!"

The young reaper snapped to her left to find her partner standing amongst the crowd. "Weiss!"

Beside her Ruby's sister and doctor caught sight of a certain hazel-eyed young man looking between the reaper and closest android. "Izaak!"

"Shit."

"Yang!"

"Buruan?"

"Busted."

"Olivia?"

"Sun?"

"Penny!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"YOU SPINELESS BASTARDS!"

"COCO!"

Back in his room Neil jumped at the sudden sound of compound screaming. "Sun? Neptune?" Thanks to the pain in his body he could do no more than hunch himself upward and listen to the horrific beating that was taking place barely a few feet from his hospital room. Though by this point everyone had started screaming Sun and Neptune were the loudest, their voices drowning out all the others save for the enraged yelling of one Coco Adel. "Can someone please tell me what's happening out there?" He desperately called into the hallway.

"Coco's angry and beating the hell out of Sun and Neptune!" he heard Izaak call back.

"Ruby's scared of needles!" Buruan echoed.

"I AM NOT!"

"_AARRRRRGGGHHHH!" _

"_SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!" _

_CRA-ACK! CRA-ACK! _

"I think Coco just broke Sun's left arm again!" The Viking added.

"And cracked Neptune's skull!" The canine swordsman continued.

* * *

**Don't hold back guys, I know horrible that last bit was. Most of the best RWBY stories I've read have had totally awesome comedic portions so I thought I'd see if I've learned a thing or two. Personally I really don't think I did, writing comedy isn't something that comes easy to me. Let me know what you guys think in the comments and reviews. I'll save the story notes for next chapter when a few things discussed this chapter can be explained more thoroughly. Until then stay safe readers! **


	37. Chapter 37:Farewell November

**I'm back from almost half a month's worth of writer's block! Well to be honest more like having a mixture of writer's block and overworking myself. Ugh, not fun at all. Enough of that though, time to get this story moving onto the next stage! **

**I own nothing but the OCs save for one. **

**Chapter 37-Farewell November**

* * *

**_Two Days later, Ozpin's Office… _**

In truth Ozpin wasn't that surprised when word came from Vale General his students had caused a scene. In truth he would have been more surprised if there hadn't been an incident of any sort. It came as no surprise to him to learn Ruby Rose had been at the heart of the little scuffle that had destroyed a hospital wall, caused forty-thousand lien in property damage and ended in two Haven students being forced to stay an extra four days or so in the hospital. A sit down would have be arranged with Coco Adel as to why she'd manhandled the two Haven youths. Apparently from what he'd heard it involved an instance of battlefield cowardice.

When Andersen arrived they'd shared a good laugh or two over the incident. Then things moved to a more serious direction.

"I must say despite the circumstances I'm glad I got to be meet Summer's daughter and Rikard's son. Both of them are practically the spitting images of their parents." The head councilman mused taking a sip of his tea. "Everything from the way they look to how they talk and act. Ruby's fighting style greatly resembles Summer's scythe work though she still has quite a way's to go before she's on her mother's level. Izaak was extremely interesting to watch, the Egilson Family combat instinct, refined and focused. It wasn't as thrilling as I wanted it to be but I was impressed. You've crafted fine chess pieces Ozpin."

"I would prefer it if we could avoid using that term Aldrich, it makes them sound like they're less than what they are."

"Characters then, and to think we're barely past the prologue."

"And that Aldrich is what worries me." The gray-haired huntsman mumbled clasping his hands together.

"If the first page scares you then how will you find out how the story ends? How will you know who changes and who doesn't, who lives and who dies?" The blue-eyed author chuckled. "This isn't the first time we've seen something like this." That was another difference between Ozpin and him; Andersen was seasoned enough he could actually afford to joke about these things. Ozpin couldn't, or at least not to the extent Andersen could. Really it was just as hard to surprise Aldrich Andersen as it was Ozpin as both men had seen just as much as their age had let on, and then some. "As much as I'd love to sit here and converse with you on this year's crop I'm afraid we don't have time for that Ozpin. We have a serious problem."

"Yes, I imagine it's going to be quite a challenge to gather the money needed to repair Ameon Strip and pay for your ear surgery."

"You won't be needing any yourself?"

"I've gotten quite used to people screaming at me."

"Even Versailles?"

"Compared to the roar of a U-Rex his screaming might as well have been a piano recital."

That was the last bit of light hearted banter the two men shared before the atmosphere in the room shifted to a much darker tone. This was reflected in the increasingly gray weather outside. The rain had come and gone for the past days with little to no warning. Some people thought of it as a sort of blessing while others took the downpour as a sign that the heavens were displeased with the White Fang's attack. Either way it perfectly represented what the nation was enduring. Whenever it rained Ozpin's tower always afforded him both the best and worst view of the watery sky. Each time Andersen's visited during the rain he was constantly amazed how breath-taking the view was tainted by rain and lightning.

Each flash of stray lightning illuminated the comfortable lit room, revealing the cold and almost mechanical expressions on the two men's faces. Between them on the table lay two cups of half-empty coffee, a stack of files with classified printed in bold red letters, and an enlarged Scroll.

"I don't need to tell you how unsettled I am at the prospect of Project Caffa returning to haunt us." Andersen mused activating the projector.

"Need I remind you how against it I was in the beginning?"

"Yes, and that matters as much as it does now. The results from the labs have already come back positive, it's a scaled down version of M-Serum that was canceled in early development. How the enemy got a hold of it we're still investigating."

"It was my belief all known samples, failed and otherwise, were secured in Fort Hilling. Has there been a breach?"

"No, but that's not the problem here. This is," he started adjusting the Scroll to project the footage that had been dubbed classified above top-secret. "If you want to laugh I recommend you do so with me, not many of the others will react as nicely as I will."

Dead bodies was nothing new to Ozpin, he'd seen more dead and maimed than many would have imagined. Seeing the ground littered with them barely fazed him in the slightest. What they'd died of was anyone's guess: bullets, impalement, burns, freezing, brute force, and slashing were only a few a small taste of what he saw. The uniforms and clothing they wore announced whose side they'd been on, but it didn't matter because they were dead all the same. Except for the mercenaries. Within two minutes of the video Ozpin saw what had concerned his government so greatly.

Retrieval of one of the bodies of the unknown men was going smoothly until the body started jerking from side to side. He heard gasps from the unseen corners and crewmen as the body twitched and turned right before their eyes. Right before their eyes and Ozpin's the body suddenly began to break down. Flesh blackened and stretched before beginning to bubble and burn as if it'd just been dropped in a tube of acid. Skin rapidly fell away with smoky cocktails alongside organs and intestines liquefied. The shocked and revolted voices of the men and women dispatched to retrieve the body were little more than annoyances to Ozpin who carefully watched the body's destruction play out. First went the skin and then the organs and that was it. In the span of thirty-six seconds the mercenary's body had been reduced to a moist skeleton in the middle of a pool of fleshy juices and goo the headmaster would have guessed were all that remained of the man's organs. In the background he could hear the disgusted gagging and barfing of the clean-up crew.

When said crew started shouting in alarm that they had another one was when Ozpin's interest was increased. The camera panned away to reveal another body undergoing a similar process, then another, and so forth. It didn't matter how mangled the body was as they all underwent the same horrifying process. Even disconnected limbs that had been thrown yards away from the main body weren't spared turning into smaller puddles of goo. For the next three minutes Ozpin watched an endless series of bodies eroding into nothing but moisty bones.

Once the video ended the headmaster and councilman sat in uncomfortable silence with nothing but the soft paddle of the rain and turning gears creating a sound. Their faces reflected the grave thoughts running through their minds; the only question was which one was going to voice them first.

Andersen went first lightly tapping his fingers against the metallic table. "Before you ask, yes, we already have taken in the bones for study and analyzed the bodily fluids. It was as if every cell in the body began to self-destruct causing the entire body to break down. Even the bones were well on their way to becoming brittle by the time they arrived at the labs for study."

"Nanomachines?" Ozpin offered having seen such a thing once before when nano-technology was still in the early stages of development.

"We're still trying to figure out what happened. From what some of the early reports said the answer is no, these men weren't injected with nanomachines, at least none we can identify."

"So you're saying they had some sort of biological self-destruct feature inside of their bodies?" Against all reason Ozpin was hoping Aldrich would shake his head and say no, but he simply nodded. Sighing he took another sip of his coffee hoping the leftover warmth would wash away the unnerving knot in his stomach. "There are only six people capable of such performing such a thing, and five of them are dead." With narrowed eyes he did not mince words when he threw his first accusation towards his superior. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"More than you can imagine, but then again this isn't anything new for us is it Oz?" The blue eyed author didn't back down from the heated gaze of the seasoned Huntsman nor did he hold back on the sarcasm his words carried. "As far as _I _am aware any and all details and results of Project Caffa were sealed, destroyed, and or scattered to the wind. I can at least promise you that after this I will personally have my own people look into things."

"You know you're not going to like what you find."

"What do you think I thought when I saw this footage? It's a shame ghosts can't stay buried in the ground."

"If they did then the two of us wouldn't be here." The headmaster countered.

"Yes, I supposed you're right about that." He affirmed with a smile. "They do help to keep the story interesting."

"Aldrich, what of the White Fang?"

Sighing Andersen rubbed his forehead in annoyance, "Really Oz? It's barely been four days since the attack happened. We're still running damage control. Some people are still in disbelief the White Fang even managed to pull off an attack of this magnitude." The eighty-three year-old councilman said nothing as he watched Ozpin's body tense with controlled anger at the mention of the shell-shocked masses. As much as he sympathized with Ozpin's anger he needed his head huntsman focused and ready. "The DIA is squeezing every source of information available to find out what happened. You already know once they have something you'll be contacted and given your orders. Until then what we've discussed stays between us, no teaching staff, no star students, and no close friends will know of this."

Confirming his acceptance with a nod Ozpin then asked with a heavy voice, "What will you have us do once the students have started coming in from the hospital?"

"Send them out. Every lead, every breadcrumb is to be followed to the source. I want team IONC out there as well, in fact the minute they're out of the hospital I want them searching."

The response was immediate. "Absolutely not."

"Last time I checked I do believe you could be fired over saying no to an official order from a councilmember."

"Aldrich," Ozpin pleaded already knowing where this conversation was heading.

Again, Andersen could understand where Ozpin was coming from and would have otherwise agreed with him, but he had a job to do. If what they'd just seen was any indication of things to come they needed every chess piece they could get. "I'm sorry Ozpin, but this is a threat to national security. It's our job to handle those as quickly and efficiently as possible, by whatever means necessary."

"…How do you know Izaak will take the bait?"

"He will, believe me Oz. He's an Egilson, once they've set their sights on something they'll pursue it to the ends of the earth, through heaven and hell if they have to." Gathering his things Andersen pushed himself out of the chair so he could make way for the door. "Oh and Oz, it's just a thought but you might want to consider moving Amber to a more secure location. If Cinder does come after her I doubt you'll be in any position to stop her without collateral damages."

"That's not exactly an easy thing to do." Ozpin responded evenly.

"We have facilities over the country that can keep her on life support until we can neutralize Cinder. If she does come for the other half of the Fall Maiden's power you know she won't stop or hesitate to kill anyone who gets in her way. You probably will be able to stop her, but you nor I want to talk about the cost of doing so."

Though he didn't like the concept of "other facilities" Ozpin had to admit the head councilman had a point. Cinder knew Amber was sitting beneath the academy barely onto her life. Despite possessing one half of the Fall Maiden's power he knew she could be stopped, but like his old friend said, the cost would be too great. There was no way he could send any freshmen teams at her, not even Neil, Pyrrha, Chicahua, or Olivia who all stood the best chance of stopping her. The second years would fair little better leaving only the third and fourth years. He could clearly picture how the battle would go, a spectacular yet horrifying series of clashes that would kill a handful but save many in the long run. No, he couldn't take that option when they were safer ones before him. "I'll consider it."

"Good to know. Goodnight and take care of yourself." With that Andersen disappeared behind the elevator.

By the next sip Ozpin realized what little coffee he had left had gone cold. It was fitting considering what the last ten minutes had revealed to him. "Here I thought the Vytal Festival was going to be rough waters." From where he was standing suddenly the Vytal Festival seemed like a far-off dream or setting sun he longed to reach out and touch. Turning his back to his desk and the elevator door he watched the rain begin to slack off giving the illusion the storm had finally passed. Contrary to the weather Ozpin knew the storm was just beginning and he had much to do before it came in earnest. Already he could imagine the uproar from Qrow and the others when he told them he planned to move Amber. James would no doubt be the least pleased, especially since it was his systems that Cinder had hacked so any on book locations he had in mind were compromised. Then there would be the little issue of moving a semi-conscious woman with magical powers off campus without anyone noticing. With a groan Ozpin began refilling his cup. _This is going to be a long four months._

* * *

_**Vale General Hospital…**_

Ruby almost half an hour after the rain stopped before she decided to go out. Ever since the…_incident_ involving Penny the hospital staff had been scared to let her wonder off. Apparently some of them were scared she would somehow cause a Beowolf to suddenly appear and start wrecking everything. All of this because Penny happened to be in the room when the CuraGen representatives tried to give her an inoculation shot. Even now her cheeks burned with embarrassment over the whole incident. Never mind that Penny was nod forbidden from ever returning to Vale General Hospital unless her life was literally hanging by a thread. Ruby gave something of an inward chuckle since she alone knew Penny was an android therefore she wouldn't ever need to go to a hospital for treatment. She also felt a tad bit guilty her fear of needles had indirectly led to Sun and Neptune getting the living snot beaten out of them by Coco.

And that was only the start of what turned into a three-hour long mess that involved shouting, screaming, and even more people having their stay at the hospital extended. Izaak wasn't among, matter of fact him dropping by to tell her he was free to go was why she was currently getting ready to head to the roof. She hated how in a day's time most, if not all of his wounds had healed while the rest of them were going to be stuck in the infernal building for another two or three days. She'd done nothing but lie around and watch TV for the past three days; what she watched wasn't exactly good for her either since the news did nothing but broadcast the battle over and over again. Like Izaak had said every time she turned the channel she found someone picking the battle apart from a tactical, political, and social view.

Long story short she needed some fresh air and she was getting it, even if it meant standing in the middle of a puddle for the next hour or so.

Bit by bit the hospital had regained control of its staff and patients so there weren't injured and wounded lying against the wall. Then again most of the blood that had been splattered against the all hadn't been cleaned up either. Passing them made Ruby feel like she was in a horror movie just waiting for something horrible to happen. Wrapping her hands around herself she shuddered with the realization she had practically lived through a horror movie. That thought stayed at the back of her mind as she navigated the network of hallways and stairs that led to the rooftop.

Gently pushing the door open she was greeted by a pockets of clear blue sky slowly being revealed by fading gray clouds. A few rays of sunlight were attempting to break through casting light on some far and in between areas. Walking up to the fencing she could see that and it brought the ghost of a smile to her face. She couldn't see Aemon Strip from the rooftop of the six-story building but she still had a good view of the surrounding area. Somewhere inside Ruby was actually gratefully she couldn't see any of the damages the attack had inflicted as she'd seen and heard enough of it.

"Focus any harder and your brain will probably explode." Called a familiar voice that was echoed by the splashing of water.

It wasn't a surprise Yang had followed her up to the roof, barefoot no less. Like her she was decked in nothing but the hospital gowns they'd been given. If there were any males with them no doubt they would have tried to steal a glance at her since the gown left little to the imagination, especially concerning her sister's chest. Speaking of which if one did they might not have noticed how the blond barely seemed to mind the autumn wind that continuously blew through the moist air. Just further testament to the fact she truly was the powerhouse behind team RWBY.

"After today I actually wouldn't mind that happening. Least it would stop all the headaches I've been having." The younger sister bemoaned.

"Boredom getting to ya?" She questioned crossing her arms over her chest as she too stared out at the horizon. "Do you wish you were out there trying to find the people responsible for this?"

That was a hard question to answer for her at the moment. On one hand she truly did want to find the people responsible for the disaster yet at the same time one image halted those thoughts in their path. "Yang, if I tell you this…do you promise you won't tell anyone?"

Taking one look at her sister Yang knew what it was that had really brought her sister up to the top of Vale General. "You're scared." The resulting flinch was all she needed to confirm her suspicions. Without a word she grabbed her sister and pulled her into her arms not caring if she gave in protest. She did protest in the form of a short struggle but eventually it ended and Ruby let herself be lost in her sister's arms.

"Do you…do you think I still deserve to be team leader after that?" The reaper asked in a quiet fearfully voice.

"After what?" Yang responded genuinely puzzled.

Burying her face in her sister's golden locks Ruby snuffled before answering. "I…I-I…I choked Yang. That was the biggest battle we'd ever been in, one that was being broadcasted to the whole world and I just…I just…" Whatever else she said was muffled by the sound of tears at least following and a depressive sob.

Understanding where her sister was coming from a soft smile found its way to Yang's face as she lightly patted her sister's hair. It shouldn't have surprised her that Ruby's self-esteem had taken a hit just as strong as her body had. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of Ruby. No one can or will ever hold what happened out there against you."

"Yang," The redhead began with a shiver. "I've faced down Grimm and killer robots that could have killed me in a second but, that lady was…I don't even know how to describe it. I was scared. As in really, _really _scared when she looked at me. I've never seen anyone look so angry before. It felt like that time we were in the woods when the Beowolves attacked and Qrow had to save us."

Ruby really shouldn't have brought up that incident as it did the trick in temporarily shaking the full-chested brawler. Suddenly the fall wind that had been lightly blowing hit her with full force; it reminded her of the night she'd come so close to getting the two of them killed. The fact of the matter was as she lay in her hospital bed she'd thought back to that night once or twice with the cold realization the mercenary had filled her with the same terror those Grimm had done. _Except for Izaak and his team she knocked us aside like we were nothing but flies. Everything about her from her weapon to just her sheer physical strength was unbelievable. _The Y of team RWBY inwardly bemoaned behind her passive face. _If she wanted to she could have killed all four of us. _Though she'd been preoccupied she'd definitely taken note of how she was able to endure Izaak's G-Cage; she herself was barely able to move while caught in it yet that woman was still fully capable of fighting back. It was only a miracle they weren't her real target so she didn't see any reason to kill them. Deep down she could understand her sister's worry and fear, yet that was also why she knew Ruby had no reason to beat herself up over it.

"It's not just that," she added reminding Yang the woman caked Azana wasn't the only thing bothering her. "Everything about that battle had me scared out of my mind. While I was gone Blake and Weiss were nearly shredded and roasted like pork chops and I couldn't do anything about it." Pulling away now she could see the streamline of tears running down the fifteen year-old's face. "Seeing them being treated and looking back on it makes me feel like I'm…like I'm….a failure."

_This is Mount Glenn all over again._ "What could you have done Ruby?"

"Huh?"

"You had a job to do, one that was given to you by our teachers, besides you're overlooking one big thing." With a great smile she cocked her head and laughed. "We all survived. Yeah we got a little banged up but in the end each of us made it out of that hellhole alive."

"Yeah but-"

"We could be dead Ruby." Yang added with serious tone complete with a stern frown. Placing both hands on her sister's shoulder she made sure they were eye to eye for her next words. "One way or another we survived that mess when thousands of others didn't. White Fang, mercenaries, Grimm, and a giant fire-breathing dragon, we survived all of that. Take some pride in that."

At last it seemed her words had some effect. A frail smile graced her lips at last. "I guess we did do pretty well out there considering the odds against us. Plus we had Izaak with us."

Together the sisters threw back their heads in laughter at the mention of the axe-wielding Viking. Both of them may have had differing opinions on how the battle went, but there was one thing they could both whole-heartedly agree on-Izaak Egilson had proved himself in their eyes. And then some.

"I always thought you could be crazy sometimes, but that guy took the cake if you don't mind me saying." The older sister chuckled placing her hands behind her head as she leaned back to watch the clouds part.

"So have you finally found the perfect guy for you?" Ruby questioned with a cheeky grin much to her sister's annoyance. "Give me some credit Yang, I'm not as blind to romance as you think. In case you haven't noticed I've been brushing up on all things romantic." The reaper proudly proclaimed.

"Comics and cheesy romance novels don't count sis." The boxer laughed.

"Says the one who watches cheesy soap-operas."

Playfully bonking her sister over the head the blond snorted. "Let's slow it down a little here Rubes. I'll admit out of all the guys I've meet Izaak has definitely left a better impression then the others. That's all I'm going to say at this point. But enough about me, let's talk about you and Vomit Boy." As she expected Ruby's face did a complete one-eighty. Really, she shouldn't have been surprised, Yang always found a way to turn their discussions around. "He was pretty heroic out there wouldn't you say? And to think he did it to keep you from becoming a Grimm snack." As she continued rambling she noticed how Ruby did her best to look away which only caused her grin to widen. "So how'd you thank Vomit Boy? Kiss on the cheek or did you go the full mile?"

"I-I-I…uh well, I haven't e-exactly talked to Jaune yet." She finally confessed twiddling with her fingers. "I-It's not that I'm scared or anything! I-I-It's just he had a lot of broken bones when that Lockjaw rolled over on him and I just wanted to…y'know, give him some time to heal."

"Riiiiiiight Rubes." Yang agreed looking away. "I'm not too hot on becoming an aunt until I'm twenty-one just to let you know."

"Yang!"

Despite the pouting face the young reaper put up she was smiling on the inside. She hadn't been able to think straight or focus on anything in the past few days without the battle constantly rewinding itself over and over in her head. Thanks to Yang all that had come to an end leaving her free to enjoy this little moment of peace. _Next time I'll be ready. _She thought confidently staring at the sun making its rocky descent towards the horizon. _Next time._

* * *

_**August Harbor… **_

Most people weren't able to pick up the winter-like chill that came from the sea, but Izaak could. He had a habit for picking up on things most people ignored. That chill told him fall was well on its way to leaving and winter was steadily taking its first steps towards the Kingdom of Vale. Izaak didn't like that, he wanted fall to stay just a little while longer yet he lacked the power to convince it to do so.

This would be his first winter in Vale. Winter in Mistral was rather lackluster as due to the country's climate and position on the planet's equator snowfall was rather rare and usually didn't last long. Up north towards Yamachi it was common but Izaak had only made two trips to the homeland of his olive-haired teammate, both of which had been during the spring and late summer. Despite the impressive scenery Vale boasted Izaak wasn't looking forward to seeing the entire land covered in white nor the streets assaulted by freezing winds. Looking out over the collection of ships docked in the harbor he pictured how many would be making voyages out to see once winter arrived. None of the moderately sized yachts or cruise ships would be out. He heard quite a few people were able to get part-time jobs maintaining them until spring arrived and they could see use. If he had any spare time he might take one even though water and cold weather were his least favorite combination.

That was why he was spending what little time he had left at one of his favorite places in the city. August Harbor was one of the oldest and most used harbors in all of Vale City, a large crocked U-shaped harbor that hosted anywhere between thirty and forty-eight ships. For a commercial harbor that was quite large though half the property was owned by the city's wealthier class. Given the fact the harbor sat at the western intersection of the commercial and upper class districts that wasn't surprising. Because of this the miles long stretch of land saw an influx of people form the wealthy, middle, and lower class. Izaak had done nothing but sit by the sea-facing bench and silently watch the waves and multitude of people pass him by. No Faunus of course, he'd spent nearly the entire day walking in the rain yet he'd yet to spot even one. Given the White Fang had just made their boldest move yet not even five days ago he imagined it would be a long time before Faunus were able to walk the street without being mobbed and beaten to death. By staying quiet and listening he'd learned that had already happened to countless unknown Faunus mere hours after Aemon Strip was attacked.

A salty breeze brushed up against his noise giving him reason to look up at the colorfully water being painted by the sun's setting light. With the rain only recently passed and moisture still so thick in the air it was easy to see rainbows if one looked around. There was no greater rainbow then the distant arc of light that stretched from the sea up to the brightly colored sky. Thanks to a combination of parting clouds and the setting sun the horizon had been painted a beautiful myriad of red, yellow, violet, and orange. All around him countless people momentarily paused in their daily walks to take notice of the view with a faint smile on their faces. Being one of them Izaak reached over to the side and flipped open one of the three notebooks stacked by his left side.

"Not quite so hazy this time." The axe-wielding Viking laughed plucking the top book off from the stack. Flipping the first few pages open he was greeted to his semi-faded yet still readable black ink.

_So dull and dark are the November days. _

_The lazy mist high up curled, _

_And now the moron quite hides behind smoke and haze; _

_The place we occupy seems all the world. _

Smiling with a little hint of sadness in his eyes he flashed back to a quiet forest being overwhelmed by morning mist then of the same forest being invaded by the evening shadows. Flipping a couple of pages he at last found a blank sheet for him to begin writing. First went the date and time then the words came like the breeze carried by the waves.

_The sun kept setting, setting still: _

_No hue of afternoon _

_Upon the village I perceived, _

_From house to house 't was noon. _

_The dusk kept dropping, dropping still: _

_No dew upon the grass, _

_But only on my forehead, _

_And wandered in my face._

_My feet kept drowsing, drowsing still: _

_My fingers were awake: _

_Yet why so little sound myself? _

_Unto my seeming make? _

_How well I knew the light before! _

_I could not see it now. _

'_T is dying, I am now: but _

_I'm not afraid to know. _

Taking a small break to set his eyes on the setting sun again he sighed. Most people who whispered under their breath thought they couldn't be heard. Izaak could hear them as they passed and what he heard amused, annoyed, and slightly sickened him.

_Look back on time with kindly eyes, _

_He doubtless did his best; _

_How softly sinks his trembling sun _

_In human nature's west! _

Perhaps it was ten or eleven meters away but Izaak's ears heard the sharp bark of a dog followed by its heavy footsteps advancing his way. From his notebook his eyes went to his far left to see what he believed to be a fully-grown German Doberman heading his way. In mere seconds the dark haired canine was at his legs and he was staring into a pair of deep brown eyes that hungrily searched his. The Viking was calm despite the dog's sudden appearance and violation of his personal space. He allowed the Doberman to continuously sniff him and examine him feeling no sense of danger whatsoever.

At last cracking a smile he reached out with his right hand which caused the mammal to go completely still. Gently and quietly he brought his hand to the dog's forehead and began to lightly rub it. While the Doberman at first seemed unsure in seconds it was licking his palm with affection. "Good girl." He cooed having already deduced the black canine was female with but a few glances. "I take it you're not lost and just got a little curious am I right?"

"Midge! Midge!" Called a male voice that instantly caught the guard dog's attention. The dog's owner was a well-built man in his early forties with a scarred face. Some parts of his combed back brown hair had started to come loss due to the rain though he otherwise looked like he'd remained quite dry. One of the scars ended just above his right eyebrow while two more ran from his left cheek down to his jawline. Upon having his dog return to him he lightly scolded the animal though there was little anger in his tale colored eyes. Looking up with those same eyes Izaak saw something flash through them: shock. "I-I'm sorry about that. She gets a little wild when something catches her interest."

"It's no problem." Izaak offered waving his hand. "You've taken good care of her." He offered.

Smiling in gratitude the man pointed to the empty side of the bench. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all, in fact I actually would kind of like the company." The Beacon student answered welcoming the return of the Doberman apparently named Midge.

Countless people passed the teenager and adult who continued watching the beautiful sunset in easy silence with only the occasional bark or noise from Midge. Neither had to say anything nor move to examine the other. Both knew of the untold connection they shared, one of them was going to voice it.

Izaak called that connection dad. Daciano called him Doc Ri and from time to time Captain Shakespeare.

"My dad once told me about this cool soldier he knew during the war." The first year started still not facing the hitman. "A tough as hell bastard who could shoot his way out of almost any firefight or smash his way through using nothing but his fists. This guy was actually pretty cheery most of the time, even when he'd just had a shit day which included half his unit getting killed. My dad said he was one of the first friends he made in the army. His name was Sorriso, Sorriso Monti." At the mention of her master's true name Midge looked up from the boy to the retired soldier. She gave something of a sad howl when the tale-eyed man refused to shift his gaze away from the waterfront. "Apparently I met him once when I was two years old, freak chance my parents told me." Another long stretch of silence came about with only Midge's annoyed barks breaking things up. Clearly the Doberman was smarter than he thought, and more in tune with her owner's emotions. "Was Aemon anything like what you guys went through?"

"Old Ri never talked much about the war did he? Can't say I blame him," The older man stated reaching into his pocket for a cigarette. "I'm actually glad I was out of town when the White Fang pulled their little stunt. Reminded me of the old days in the jungle."

"It took balls to do what they did. Even after seeing Conely's Torch go off a few of them were still willing to stay and fight to the last breath." Izaak said.

"If you knew about half the things we'd done to them during the war you'd have stayed too."

"I have an idea."

"So your father _did _tell you stories about the war?"

"Yeah, he did, didn't like to though, but I kept asking." The bronze-haired teenager shrugged leaning forward with both hands laced together. "My uncles told me stories to when they came by." When their eyes finally met it was clear both were dancing around certain issues. Both had made somewhat of a good impression on the other and neither wanted to ruin it with one careless jab. "All of them basically told me that the war sucked ass."

"…They were right kid, don't ever let anyone tell you any different." Daciano confirmed blowing out a puff of smoke. "How'd you guys do when the shit hit the fan? I heard…when an Ethm Wyvern showed up you were the only freshman who stood his ground and faced the damn thing in a one on one." If his scars did anything they made the veteran's grin all darker and somewhat menacing. "You got balls kid, I'll be honest I like that about you."

Rather than be unnerved Izaak actually found the man's grin a little charming. Meeting it with his own he quipped, "I am an Egilson ya' know. Besides it's not like I killed the thing, I just reduced some of the baggage it had to carry for flight. Not that I think I could have killed it though."

"You could have." Daciano countered exhaling another cloud of smoke. The brown-haired hitman didn't bat an eye when the axe-wielder's gaze turned serious and his face morphed into a frown. "Not saying you would have survived the battle, but something tells me you could have taken a Shadow of Death if team ATHM hadn't beat you to it."

"…You…you really think I could have done that?"

"Like I said, you're a tough kid. Ha, even Midge agrees." Daciano laughed noting how the canine seemed to have taken a strong liking to the Viking. It was rare to see his beloved pet so affectionate with anyone other than himself. Considering who this boy was and where he came from Daciano wasn't that surprised.

"Did you guys ever get a view this good in Menagerie?"

"Sometimes kid, sometimes we didn't. Wasn't at all as enjoyable as this moment here now is." Answered the former soldier who gazed at the far off horizon with a distant look in his tale-colored eyes. What he was seeing Izaak could only guess, but he was sure the man who now lived under a false name wasn't looking at the same sunset he was.

When he spoke again more than half the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon line taking with it a large portion of the evening light. "I know what you're going to ask me Izaak, and the answer is there isn't one."

"I haven't even gotten around to asking the question."

"You really think I needed you to? You were going to ask if I could point you towards Cinder Fall, and that's not an easy question for me to answer."

"The fact you even know her name tells me you know _something_."

"Well, when Roman Torchwick starts playing second to an even bigger and worse criminal than himself names tend to travel fast. Besides a name and a face I can't give you much kid."

"But, you can give me _something." _Challenged the axe-wielding student with passionate eyes.

Midge sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere and whimpered in response. Even bystanders walking by seemed to notice the tension-filled air growing between the would-be-Huntsman and the soldier turned hitman. A noticeable handful began to veer away from the bench they sat at out of fear some act of violence would break out. Given the nation was still raw from the White Fang's attack it went without saying violence had become contagious disease to be avoided.

Daciano knew one or another this kid wasn't going to stop until he got an answer. He wouldn't use violence, not when he had a much more effective weapon he had little hope of defending against. Getting up and walking away would do little good as Izaak would continue to hound him even then. _God damn it, _He huffed throwing away his now finished cigarette. "What happened a few months ago in the sewers, when the cops tried to do that Dust bust in the sewers, it was a set-up."

"No, you don't say?"

In spite of all things Daciano found himself smirking. "By some extension this Cinder has a strangle hold over the Aguello Family. Word is she promised them a way to crawl back on top if they did as she asked. If the Liath kid has told you anything you should know that hasn't happened nor is it going to happen. She's been using the family as runners, moving something through the city and countryside. You'll have to ask Ermanno that question."

"Heheheheh."

"Something funny?"

"You're making it sound like we can just walk up to his private mansion, ring the doorbell, and have a nice little chat with him."

"Hah! You've got a better sense of humor than your old man kid. I appreciate the gesture but let's be real here; I've heard what kind of team you lead. For most people walking into a heavily fortified mafia stronghold would be suicide, but…for people like you, it might as well be a walk in the park."

"Here I was hoping we could do this without having to send someone to the ER." The teenager muttered with real sadness in his voice.

"When you choose to do this sort of work you'll find that's rarely an option kid, at least the ER's better than the morgue." Daciano countered gently nudging Midge. "It was a pleasure meeting you Izaak and if possible I'd like to talk with you again."

Midge whimpered at having to say goodbye to the seventeen year-old and she showed it with a pitiful howl. "Hey, hey, chin up a little. I'm sure we'll meet again." He said lightly scratching the dog's neck causing her to lick his face in glee.

"By the way Izaak," Daciano called turning his head to face him. Pointing a single finger at the stack of notebooks he asked, "You have any plans on publishing those? Your dad never got the chance to publish any of his works and I'm a little disappointed he died before he could."

Hearing the hitman asked him that caused Izaak to do a double take. Looking from Daciano and to his books he felt a rumbling in his gut. Honestly he'd lost track of how many times people had asked him that question, but answering it never got any easier. "Maybe if my future as a world-class Huntsman doesn't pan out." As usual he laughed it off putting up the mask of a guy who didn't have a care in the world.

Rather or not he bought it Izaak couldn't tell, he'd find out one day if their paths crossed again. Once the duo disappeared into the crowd he found himself alone in a nameless flow of people muttered a hundred meaningless words. Beyond the sea the sun had fully disappeared taking the rainbows with it, yet residual light remained turning the darker shades of the sky just a little lighter. It didn't make much difference to Izaak as darkness was still darkness. His face remained an expressionless mask as he gathered his notebooks into his bag then slung he bag over his shoulder. He had quite a walk to get back to Vale General and he enjoyed the fact he would be doing it alone. As he made the journey it occurred to him just how normal things looked on the surface. Few people were smiling though, shifting his hazel-colored eyes around he found not that many people were even attempting to put on a brave face save for children. He doubted schools would reopen until next week, especially integration schools. Most of them had most likely been vandalized. Nearly every shop he passed now had a rather prominent anti-Faunus barring them from entry. Then again, most of those places already had unspoken anti-Faunus attitudes to begin with.

_So in the long run I guess nothing's changed._ He thought blankly as he awaited the first bus that would take him to his destination. _Over six thousand people just died for nothing._

* * *

**Story Notes-I've been putting some of these off for way too long and it's time I finally got around them. **

**Team ATHM (Pronounced Anthem) Theme: National heroes and cultural heroes, be they real or mythological. **

**Adelhard Von Blu **

**Inspiration: Seigfried, the dragon-slaying hero of the **_**Nibelungenleid **_**which is based on the Norse legend of Sigurd, hero of the **_**Volsunga Saga.**_** No matter the name or source he's have been revered as national hero of Germany. (Again, those who watch the Fate series might see his as an expy of Saber of Black.) **

**Weapon: Dracheträne (A combination of the German words for dragon and tear, thus "Dragon Tear"), a two-handed broadsword that is actually infused with dozens of tiny nanites that allow it to change its shape into carious other melee weapons. **

**Semblance: Dragon's Pulse, the ability to manipulate the Dust-filled Ley lines of Remnant allowing for a wide myriad of uses from offense to defense. (P.S. I know it's another Pokemon related one, but I couldn't think of a more fitting name). **

**Color: Cobalt Blue **

**Naming: Adelhard is German name that roughly translates into "Battle Hard" or "Hard Battle". His last name is the German word for the color blue. **

**Emblem: A horned dragon head pointed downward exhaling flames from the nostrils that trail upwards, turning into tucked in wings. The background is blue while the design in white. **

**Tomoe Akamori **

**Inspiration: Tomoe Gozen, a 12****th**** century female samurai of Japan. Outside of the **_**Tale of the Heike **_**there's little evidence supporting she was an actual person. Regardless, in story she's depicted as one of the best warriors on either side of the conflict and quite a beautiful woman. There's some speculation she and her master, Yoshinaka Minamoto had more than a professional relationship, some accounts saying she was either his wife or one of his concubines. What happened to her after Yoshinaka was defeated at the battle of Awazu was never answered with some guess being she either became a nun, took revenge for her master then committed suicide, or was defeated and made a concubine herself. **

**Weapon: Harukaze (Japanese for "spring wind"), a razor-sharp katana and multi-action sheath that can combine with it to form either a **_**naginata **_**or bow, all weapons **_**onna-bugeisha **_**were trained to wield. **

**Semblance: Senbonzakura, the ability to manifest thousands of supernatural cherry blossoms and manipulate them as she sees fit. They can become a torrent of razor blades or be compressed to form solid objects like barriers or even body parts. **

**Color: Reddish-Pink **

**Naming: Her first name obviously, her last name is Japanese for "red forest". **

**Emblem: A five petaled sakura blossom with a five tomoe arranged in a circular fashion. The background color is reddish pink while the design is more of a whiter shade of pink. **

**Harto Batee **

**Inspiration: Cut Nyak Dhien, a female leader of the Acehnese guerilla forces during the Aceh War fought in modern-day Indonesia between the Acehnese people and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the late 1800s. Growing up she had many men proposing to her on account of her beauty until her parents set her up in an arranged marriage. After the death of her first husband she married Teuku Umar on the condition he would allow her to fight. Together they greatly boosted the resistance's morale and continued fighting until she was captured and exiled, eventually dying in exile. In 1964 she was posthumously declared a National Hero by the president of Indonesia along with her husband. **

**Weapon: Teuku Umar, named after Dhien's real life husband, a pair of warglaives that can be thrown and used as melee weapons. They can be combined to form either a giant fuma shuriken or double-ended halberd capable of cutting nearly anything. **

**Semblance: Kibr (Islamic term for pride or arrogance), the ability to increase and decrease the density of herself or anything she touches. People affected by her Semblance will have a stylized K appear somewhere on their bodies in the form of a glyph or a golden glow around them. **

**Color: Golden Brown **

**Naming: Harto is an Indonesian name meaning "treasure" and her last name is the Acehnese word for "stone" or "rock". **

**Emblem: A diagonal tiger's paw print with diamond-shaped claws scratching at the background. Background is dark brown while the paw itself is a more golden shade of brown. **

**Marshal Williams **

**Inspiration: William Marshal, 1****st**** Earl of Pembroke, soldier and statesman of medieval England. Described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" and the "flower of chivalry" he defeated over five-hundred opponents in single combat, knighted two kings, served as a Regent, defeated the French army, and basically made sure all of Europe knew his name. He served five kings including Richard the Lionheart who he was enemies with yet had enough respect for his abilities to leave him alone. Outside of battle he was a wise statesman who knew when to call it a day and make peace with his enemies. **

**Weapon: Irenrugio (Combination of the Anglo-Saxon spelling of iron and the Latin word for roar or bellow), From the surface a plain-looking Adamantine broadsword. To a degree it is, like Crocea Mors it's a weapon that's been passed down from one generation to the next except it's more cool looking. As a trade-off it can cut through almost anything and be infused with Dust or Aura to increase its attack power via a series of runes inscribed on the blade. **

**Semblance: Pembroke, the ability to break down solid matter and condense it into a type of armor that protects the user. Depending on the substance being broken down Marshal will gain different abilities. **

**Color: Harlequin green **

**Naming: Basically his name is William Marshal reversed; however, his first name can actually be read as martial as in martial arts or martial prowess. **

**Emblem: A red lion standing upright while grasping a downward facing sword with its paws over a green background. Look to the real William Marshal's coat of arms to get an idea. **

**Aldrich Andersen**

**Aldrich is an English name that means "aged and wise ruler" referring to the fact in-story Andersen is one of the oldest characters around as well as the overall ruler of the Vale council thus the entire kingdom.**

**Andersen comes from Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author remembered for his many plays, poems, novels, and fairy tales which include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling", and "The Little Mermaid" among others. In this story Andersen is both an author and a man with **_**many **_**connections to characters that allude to the fairy tales. **

**Midge is derived from the English name Madge which means "pearl" **

**Sorriso is the Italian word for "smile" and Monti is an Italian surname that means "mountain" or "hill". Kind of fits given Izaak's first name means laughter. **

**Poems Used in order of appearance… **

_**November **_**by John Clare **

_**The Sun kept setting, setting still **_**and **_**Look back on time with kindly eyes **_**by Emily Dickinson. **

**Jeez, that was a load of notes to get through. Next chapter should be a little shorter and little-hearted compared to this one. Until next time! **


	38. Chapter 38: Orbit

**As something of a break from the previous chapters, this one's going to be containing a chalk full of fluff. As one guest reviewer expressed a desire to see a chapter focusing on Izaak and Yang it just so happens this one was already planned out. Long story short the two pay a visit to our favorite night club owner! **

**I own nothing except the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 38-Orbit**

_**Three days later… **_

In light of the recent events peace and quiet was something almost every man and woman in the Kingdom of Vale needed desperately. Apparently some divine deity had smiled upon the shell-shocked nation and for the most part graced them with that. Aside from the expected anti-Faunus riots breaking out all over the country there hadn't been any sort of major incident, nothing that would take up a whole week of news broadcasting. There were still running footage from Aemon Strip, some of it new and some old, with little to no end in sight. Aside from that the White Fang had been largely silent in the eyes of the public, as many suspected still high off their grand-scale hijacking of the Faunus's Rights Revolution anniversary. For most people that was a blessing as it left them free to continue their daily lives. The many policemen, law enforcement, and Huntsmen were among them. The Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training were especially grateful for the uneasy calm that followed what as for many of them the biggest battle of their lives.

Sadly that calm was brought to an ear-screeching halt one late fall morning.

Ordinary people unfamiliar with the grading system of Beacon Academy were quite surprised when every student's Scroll started going off one after another. A city-wide bing that caused me to momentarily pause and take notice of what had just happened. In some areas the collective bing made the students jump a few feet in the air. Some feared the worse that another attack had happened while the smarter ones knew the moment of judgement had finally arrived.

Professor Goodwitch had just finished reviewing and grading the last of the students.

All over the city countless young adults looked up to their Scrolls to see the letter that would impact the rest of their year.

At Vale General Hospital things had greatly quieted down since the…_incident _involving one secret cyborg and little reaper, and for the most part many were happy for it. Five days of uninterrupted peace suddenly came to an end as a series of bings reverberated throughout the hospital's painted halls. What came next was a moment for the history books-nearly every student in the hospital opened their mouths and in perfect coordination screamed four seemingly seven words, each one of them with the force of a bulldozer.

"**WHAT-" **Roared one white-haired heiress in her hospital room.

"**THE-" **Screamed a wolf-eared swordsman on his way to the cafeteria.

"**FUKKLLLCCCLLIINGGG-" **Gurgled a Mohawk-haired knife-wielder with his mouth filled with snuck-in sweets.

"**HELL-"** Seethed a fashionable min-gun user.

"**IS THIS-" **Snarled an olive-haired samurai.

"**SHIT!?" **Exclaimed a busty blond moments before her beautiful mane erupted into a towering mass of golden flames blowing a hole in the ceiling.

High in his gear-themed Ozpin noticed a crack appear in one of his beloved coffee mugs. A supernatural chill ran up his spine as he turned to face the window with a grim frown on his face. "Oh Glynda, what have you done now?"

* * *

"Hmph," Scoffed the leader of team CRDL with a dismissive breath. "Yeah, and people wonder why everyone hates school, even Huntsmen." Looking up he took in the respective emotions that ran through each of his teammates. As usual Sky was the most composed of the group, his face being a hard frown at best as he read down the list of reasons for his C. He had the highest grade among them. Beside him Sky's always closed eyes were cross at the C- he'd received and his nostrils flared up every now and then. Russel was something of an odd case as his mouth full of food made his reaction one part funny and one part stupid beyond words. Most of his words were muffled thanks to the food though Cardin could pretty much make out what his best friend was saying. Apparently his grade was D+ which wasn't out of the ordinary for him. Cardin himself had received a D…double minus. _Disobeying direct orders from a Beacon professor and ranking officer, abandonment of allies on the battlefield, reckless endangerment, blah, blah, blah. _For the mace-wielder this wasn't anything knew. In the aftermath of the battle when the fog of hatred and adrenaline had left him he was able to add up the damages and come to the correct conclusion his grades were going to take a hit. A trip to the guidance office was all but assured in his future, maybe two weeks' worth of detention, or a mountain of homework that'll leave him buried alive too. Cardin didn't care about any of it though, his grade was nothing but a letter stacked on there by a collection of cold analytical adults who couldn't begin to understand what was going on in his head. His first semester grade would drop, but not enough to cause him to fail, he owed that to Velvet.

While their leader was having his own internal monologue Sky was carefully watching his face for any signs of anger. _Typical,_ He concluded when his old friend's expression never shifted beyond annoyance. Contrary to what most people believed Cardin was far from stupid, Sky, who was generally accepted as the team's smart man, had learned that long before becoming a Huntsman had been a thought in any of their minds. _For you all this might as well be another lecture. _"Anything about disciplinary measures?" He asked neutrally.

"Yeah, I got to pay guidance a visit next Thursday, and the day after, and then the following Tuesday." Came the snark-filled reply. "At the rate this is going I'll barely have any time to do Christmas shopping."

"You're not alone in that boat though." Countered Dove who looked positively downcast with a metaphorical raincloud over his head.

"Eh? What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Barked Russel who didn't like the tone of voice his friend was using.

"Well it just occurred to me, what if we weren't the only ones who got grades this bad?"

"Bad? Dude, I may be tempting fate here, but I think we actually did pretty well out there. I mean we managed to avoid getting killed, we did our jobs, and none of us got an F." Cardin's partner proclaimed buffing his now healed chest out rather proudly. "Think about it for a minute, we all could have gotten flat-out Fs and failed the semester."

"You're missing the point here Rus," Sky corrected shaking his head. "Of those students that _weren't _able to make themselves useful how many do you think are going to take this lying down? All grades for the first semester are collected on December 18th, just before the whole academy leaves for winter break, that's less than a month away. In between then everyone who got a grade lowering than what they wanted is going to be scrambling for whatever mission they can get to boost their grade. By the time that day gets here I doubt they'll even be a cleaning job up on the mission board. That means no chance for us to raise _our _final grade."

And like that the Mohawk-haired teenager's face fell turning into twin waterfalls much like how Dove was now moping in the corner drawing circles on the wall. While Sky looked between the two with twitching eyes Cardin felt the angry knot forming on his forehead growing bigger and bigger. "Not if we get there first." His voice was just loud enough and angry enough to grab the three's attention. "If we stand here and do nothing but whine nothing's going to get done, so why don't we all, ya know, actually go do something about it? Do any of you want your parents screaming in your ear about that D average when we all promised them a C?" As the leader it was Cardin's job to motivate his team in times of crisis, having known each of them since childhood helped. As soon as he mentioned parents each of his teammates flinched. He didn't like bringing up the invisible sword that hung over their heads, but if he needed to then by all means he'd do it. "I thought as much." Cardin concluded when the silence dragged on long enough for him to confirm their answer. "Ready to leave this place Rus?"

A combination of his old friend's words and his hidden smile were enough for the knife-wielder to kick off the sheets and stand up with a proud grin on his face. "Thought you'd never ask boss man!" Besides a few grazes to his forehead and the sides of his face it was hard to tell Russel had been in a serious fight; his ability to always bounce back from any beating was what he considered a point of pride. "I say we go grab some real food then head back to Beacon to snag whatever missions we can before some other shmuck takes them."

"Russel had his bright idea for the month, now all we have to do is wait until December for the next one." Dove laughed spinning on his heels leaving his teammate to shout at his backside.

With a laugh Sky looked away from his teammates back to their well-built leader, it didn't surprise him that he too was smiling, as in really smiling. The joyful cackle in his eyes was unmistakable and a sight few outside of team CRDL got to see. Wearing a similar smile he followed his teammates through the door where they would make their way down to the administration office for their release papers.

The moment they stepped out the door the good mood of team CRDL disappeared into thin, coffee-scented air.

Someone had brought Coco an extra pair of shades while they were staying in the hospital. Many a brave student at Beacon had joked about them, but never right in front of Coco herself. Team CRDL had been among them giving her another reason to hate their guts. Each time she saw them she did her best to glare the four boys to death, and when her whole team was there they joined in too.

Anyone and everyone within the hallway felt a chill run up their spine when the all-male team opened the door to find the second year team right in front of them. Those wise enough to read the mood shuffled whoever they could out of the way for fear of a repeat of the Penny incident. Never mind the fact the eight teenagers were all weaponless, they were Huntsmen-in-training thus they didn't need weapons to cause destruction.

"So Beacon's dumbest team of birdbrains is finally ready to leave the nest? Are you guys sure you don't want to stay a little longer? Enjoy the scenery?" Coco chided.

"Can it shades," Cardin snarled using the rather annoying nickname the mini-gun user had been branded with since the year started. "In case you haven't noticed we've got better things to do then sit around a building full of sick people when there's work to be done."

"Work? Oh my, so it seems the rumors are true! The mighty team CRDL actually want to get off their butts and act like professional Huntsmen!"

"As opposed to you who cares more about her damn shades then she does killing Grimm, yeah, we're the just the poster boys for poor behavior."

"Big words coming from a guy who spent the first quarter of the year harassing anyone with furry ears, a tail, or anyone he could intimidate." Heatedly replied the leader of team CFVY with a sharp glare that was echoed by Fox and Yatsuhashi. "You're the last person who should ever lecture me on being a Huntsman Winchester."

Having grown up in a rather cold and ruthless household Cardin was no stranger to death glares being aimed his way. It didn't matter in the slightest that standing before him were three second-year students who could easily break every bone in his body with half-strength. He returned their glare with full force letting them know if they wanted a fight he was more than willing to give them one, hospital or not.

What came as a surprise to Coco was when Cardin's teammates straightened up and stood firm beside their leader. Behind her shades she actually blinked. Thanks to word of mouth the cowardice of the R, D, and L of team CRDL had spread throughout the school causing the three boys to lose a hefty amount of respect. The same three boys who left their leader to fend for themselves were not the ones returning the death glare of her and her teammates. Russel's body was crotched slightly as if at the drop of a hat he would lunge at the nearest target despite being unarmed. His eyes were actually pretty threatening when Coco spared him a glance. Since Dove's eyes were always closed it was hard to read them though his tensed up body told her he was ready for a fight. Exactly how long he'd last was debatable, but she knew he'd do everything in his power to sway the battle their way. Sky as usual was the outliner, though he stood further back his face held no less tension and a promise of violence. He was the smart one of the bunch so it was only natural he'd run the odds then pick the best route to attack. _They've actually manned up a little. _The brunet remarked in her head with a mental nod. _Maybe Velvet's right, maybe they ARE trying to make some progress. _

"You want to call us out fine, but let's be real here, it's not like you did any better than us out there on the battlefield." Chuckled Cardin with a cocky grin. The slight drop of Coco's face was the exact thing he was aiming for and seeing it emboldened. "Yeah sure, you may have that big badass mini-gun to carry around, but let's face it, out there you were pretty useless. You're walking artillery unlike us who are suited for that sort of thing. That and once you ran out of ammo you had to have your boyfriend cover you half the fight."

"You want to see how hard I can hit Winchester? Come on!" Barked the female leader taking two threatening steps forward only to be held back by Fox who held no less than a furious expression on his face. "At least I know how to follow orders unlike you who just does whatever the hell he wants! Even if it means abandoning his own teammates!"

Cardin mirrored Coco in taking a few steps forward until Russel and Sky held him back. Unlike Coco though the outlines of Cardin's flame-red Aura began to manifest raising the temperature of the hallway a light. Those still present suddenly smelt explosive gases and sparks dance around their noises. Among some there were calls for security to come while others moaned they weren't equipped for this.

The seven teenagers were all blind to the growing concern manifesting on V of team CFVY. Though she had little love for the all-male team she absolutely despised fighting, especially when it was in a public area like a hospital. Still, she wasn't surprised it had happened; Cardin and Coco were actually quite alike even though they refused to admit to it. Whenever they crossed paths either alone or with company their fiery tempers always flared up promising disaster if action wasn't taken quickly. At the current moment Velvet was trying to figure out how to defuse the situation before another fight broke out; at the rate they were going she wouldn't be surprised if the staff banded Beacon students from ever being admitted. Every second that passed seemed to make the growing spark stronger and stronger causing sweet to break out along Velvet's brow. _Where the hell's an air horn when you need one? Or a whistle? _Suddenly her eyes fell to her slightly shaky hands resulting in an idea forming in her head. Looking back up she found everyone had largely forgotten about her which actually worked to her advantage. It caught them all by surprise when she placed both pinkies within her mouth and released a sharp whistle that completely blindsided everyone in earshot.

Shocked by the sudden noise all the tension evaporated out of the air and then all the focus shifted to the formerly quite Faunus girl. Straightening up immediately she moved in between her leader and former tormentor. "Can we all just take a second to cool down? This is a hospital, not a battlefield." She began putting an arm out in front of both of them. Cardin and Coco's breathing eased up a little, but Velvet could sense the impulse to act going strong in each of their Auras. "We can settle this another time and another place. Cardin," Looking him in the eye had gotten easier. No longer did a sneer paint his face when they exchanged words nor did his eyes narrow in disgust. "You guys said you've got work to do, don't you want to get started on that? Coco, we have better things to do then hang around here right? Weren't you the one who said she didn't want to spend another minute in this place?"

After what seemed like an endless silence both team leaders relaxed thus giving their teammates the sign to stand down. Their eyes held no less disdain for each other, but their minds had refocused on the larger matters at hand. With a snort Cardin led his team down the hall away from the coffee-themed team.

A collective sigh escaped the hospital staff, patients, and Velvet herself once they were out of eyesight.

"I could have taken them you know." Coco chided crossing her arms. "Really Velvet, you let that guy off too easy after all the things he's done."

Velvet said nothing as her team began to make their way out. Maybe her friend was right but she didn't feel it was their place to do so, especially when Cardin already had a literal wave of trouble coming his way. _Why do I even care about what happens to him anyway? It's like Coco said, he has it coming. _Having tutored him for the past few weeks she'd noticed a steady change in the mace-wielding knight's attitude. For starters he was far more subdued and humbler than at the start of the year. _Again, it's not like I should care or anything. _She thought looking one last time in the direction the all-male team had gone.

* * *

"Breath Weiss, breath, slow deep breaths. We don't need you flash-freezing the entire room while we're in it." Cheryl urged Weiss while rubbing her shoulder and holding her hand. Ordinarily she would have joked about her skin had become paler than usual if there wasn't a chance it would give her a heart attack. Even the sweat pouring down her skin felt ice-cold.

"Cheryl's right, look Weiss, I was able to save you a few leftover chocolate apples." Ruby offered pushing the half-empty box of chocolate-covered deserts towards the Schnee heiress. Weiss barely even noticed them as her face was still glued to the C- that had been e-mailed to her Scroll.

"You know I think you're taking this harder than you should." Orfeo pimped in taking one of the apples for himself. "From what I hear you guys actually did pretty well in surviving. Besides you still got a C, last I check that was a passing grade."

"Unfortunately for Weiss, a passing grade means nothing short than a B." Blake groaned while her ears twitched back and forth. They couldn't hear it or feel it but she could. In just a few short moments the whole of team RWBY would be gathered in that tiny little room, she could hardly wait to see what happened next. "Three…two…and…"

_**BANG! **_

"Have you guys seen this shit!?" Yang screeched practically kicking the door down with one foot then marching in with flames still trailing off her hair. Upon seeing Weiss's near catatonic state the raging aura seemed to die down a little. "She heard?"

Hearing the boxer's voice seemed to snap the heiress out of her stupor. Quickly she turned on her teammate with narrowed eyes, "No, I'm just overcome with joy Cheryl asked me to be one of her bridesmaids at her wedding next year."

Seeing the smile that creep up on Cheryl and Orfeo's faces actually were enough to get Yang to overlook her teammate's sarcasm. "That's great!"

Acting quickly Ruby threw her hand over Weiss's mouth preventing her from launching into another angry rant and spoiling the mood. "Yeah Yang, she saw the grade report. Our final team score was a C+."

"You guys passed, you survived, isn't that enough?" Cheryl bemoaned.

"You've obviously never had anyone like Glynda Goodwitch for a teacher." Blake calmly retorted.

"Sounds like a real hardass." The only male sighed.

"Again, if only you knew." Snarled the Y of the team. Turning her back to them she suddenly drove her fist into the wall, not only punching through it but creating a wide series of spider-web cracks in the process. "This is bullshit! A C? Really? We nearly get killed out there and this is what we're rewarded with? I'm marching right up to that lady's office the moment we get back."

"NO!" Shouted Ruby, Blake, and Weiss all at once with wide eyes.

"Like any of you are okay with this?" Barked the blond in response.

Coughing once the dark-haired male caught her attention with a few choice words. "Not that I know much about how Beacon's academics work, but I highly doubt threatening a teacher is going to get them to change your grade. From the sounds of things this teacher is not only fully capable of holding her own but apparently she's no stranger to people hating her for her decisions. Given the…little earthquake we had barely ten minutes ago I highly doubt you're the only one pissed off so odds are you're going to be waiting in line to get at this Professor Goodwitch, long story short you'll be wasting your time."

By the time Orfeo was done all the girls in the room were staring slack-jawed at the dark-haired man. Ruby and Blake in particular simply blinked at him without saying a word while Weiss seemed to be studying him as if he were some chemical equation.

"You picked a good one." The Schnee nodded to the shipping heiress.

With a squeal the older girl latched onto her fiancé's arm rather affectionately.

That left just one unhappy camper in the entire room who made no attempt to hide her displeasure. "Can we go now? I'm pretty sure this place has started to lose its charm."

"Here I thought you'd never ask." Weiss answered throwing off the sheets before hopping to her feet. "Cheryl," The white-haired girl began with the beginnings of a smile on her face. "I don't quite know how to say this, but thank you for coming to check up on me. I know I haven't been the…easiest person to get along with; however, I'm happy you stuck by me and asked me to be one of your bridesmaids. It makes me feel honored."

If there was a mushiness meter in the room Weiss's words caused it to go from a three to a ten in a heartbeat. Releasing another squeal the redhead engulfed Weiss in an all-consuming hug the younger girl had no chance of breaking out of nor did she have a desire to. She didn't care that her entire team was seeing her and wearing such a cheesy grin it should have been criminal.

"Are you and Ruby still up for that shopping trip next month?" Cheryl asked finally pulling away.

Almost instantly Yang's eyes lit up like stars. "Shopping? When? Where? Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"Because it was a private affair and Ruby desperately needs something to wear for the winter besides a stupid Beowolf hoodie." Retorted Weiss slipping back into her ice queen persona. Ignoring her partner's pouting she continued on, "No Yang, this is a private affair that was pre-arranged and you will not be spoiling it under any circumstances."

"And here you were making so much progress." She huffed marching out the door without another word.

"Oh great, she's gonna be in a mood all day." Blake groaned with a shake of her head.

"Is she usually like this?" Orfeo asked examining the see-through hole in the wall the blond had made. "I mean has the girl ever heard of anger management? Has anyone ever told her that it's a thing?"

"…They've been sent to either to the hospital or nurse's office." The Faunus and heiress responded jointly.

* * *

"So you've eaten at this place before?" Alton asked casually making towards the door.

"No, but I've heard it serves decent food. Nothing too fancy or too poor, and it's in a good location for us to get too when our work day's over with." Replied the teenager flexing his left wrist.

Five years ago the idea of sitting down and having lunch with the man who doggedly pursued his parents over two continents wouldn't have sat well with Neil. To a degree it still did, though now he had the benefit of knowing said man a little more personally. He'd stopped by the hospital every chance he could get being Neil's most frequent visitor besides his teammates. Neil had to admit it was a little creepy, but he could tell Alton was trying in his own way to befriend him after their…less than pleasant history. Besides it was nice to have someone to talk to when his teammates were unavailable.

His teammates were waiting for him beyond the door with his papers signed and at the ready. Breathing out a sigh of relief he led the way down the hallway and through the elevator. Like his foster brother he wasn't a big fan of hospitals nor did he enjoy spending more than a day inside of them.

The four transfers had actually taken their grades rather well, at least compared to their classmates. Each of them could vividly remember where they were when an unexpected explosions rocked the hospital, in a heartbeat they knew who had caused it and they were dreading running into the muscle of team RWBY on their way out.

"There's actually something I need to talk to the four of you about." Alton said suddenly as the soft elevator music began playing on their way down to the ground floor.

"Oh why am I not surprised?" Olivia huffed leaning against the elevator wall. "What is it detective? A special case you need us to look into? A crime boss too big for the VCPD to tackle without some help?"

Chicahua shook his head with a loud groan that filled the small space. "Are we going to have to put up with this for the rest of the evening?"

"Hey, compared to some people I'm actually being pretty laid back."

"Least you're not blasting holes in the ceiling." Alton offered handing a stack of tightly sealed papers to the team leader. "These papers are…coming from the chief himself. He wants you on the case investigating the attack. We already ran this by your headmaster so technically it counts as official academy business."

With a weary gaze the Viking accepted the papers into his already decently packed satchel. "Humor me."

Alton and Neil shared a sideways glance that made the knight and heiress chuckle quietly to themselves. "Doesn't miss a beat does he?" He whispered before turning his attention to the bronze-haired young man. "The truth is your team is, in a few words, better equipped to handle these matters. You all share a history with some of the prime suspects thus you're our best option for tracking them down."

That was all the answer the four teenagers needed. Though he'd spent years pursuing some of the worst criminals Remnant had to offer Alton always managed to run across someone whose face he couldn't read without seriously trying. Meeting four of those people was a new one. _These kids are too young to have faces like this. _Were the sadden musings of the veteran detective. Each member of the team was calm despite the dreadful news they'd just been handed. None of them had gotten above a C+ according to Neil though they weren't letting it get to them unlike a vast majority of other students who were exploding all over the place. _To you guys they're just letters to be printed out on a sheet of paper. _Alton stated looking from face to face. They truly were an odd bunch: an Egilson, an arms heiress, the son of two world-class thieves, and a Faunus prince. All of them had shown more maturity in the last four hours than Alton had seen from some throughout his four years at Beacon.

Five simple steps out the elevator door and Danial Alton came face to face with another reminder of his school days.

The eight teenagers immediately knew something was off with Professor Bennett and Detective Alton lay eyes on each other. Their bodies might as well have been frozen solid with an invisible chain connecting them. Yang, Olivia, Weiss, and Izaak all saw that chain; they noticed the way their respective breaths caught in their throats and the slight flush of their cheeks.

"D-D-Danial." Bennett began after a few telling blinks of the eyes. "I-I…thanks for escorting my kids down."

At this the whole of team IONC raised an eyebrow though Alton brushed it off. "N-No problem, I just had some things I wanted to talk to them about. I assume this is the last batch? Everyone else's moved onto Beacon?"

"Cl-Close to it. Oobleck took the last batch back to the academy little over an hour ago. They…you weren't in the blasting range when Glynda dropped her little bombshell were you?" There was no mistaking the sideways glare the dark-skinned Huntress directed in Yang's direction.

"I was safely out of the way. Glynda's still a hardass I take it?" The blue-eyed gunblade-wielder questioned with a grin.

To his secret joy she returned the grin with a small smile. "Even harder since Ozpin took over. You know how she loves acting tough even if it means making everyone else in the room hate her guts."

Like that the two adults engaged in what could only be described as part reminiscence part flirting in one half of the hospital lobby while the two teams merged together.

Ruby couldn't understand what was happening. From the outside it looked like they knew each other; she'd figured out the dark-haired man must have been a former Beacon student based on where the conversation was heading. Still, the young reaper could sense something more based on the body language of her chemistry professor and the detective.

All at once several heads leaned in close to hers and whispered, "Exes."

"Oh." She said loudly causing both adults to stop and turn to her. Immediately all the heads withdrew leaving her alone with a dumfounded expression on her face. The shame and embarrassment burned through her cheeks too quickly for her to contain. "U-Uhhh, um, nothing! Nothing! Don't mind us! We're just-hmpp!"

Alton couldn't help but laugh at the Schnee heiress muffling her reaper teammate. "They're a good group of kids." He whispered to his former flame.

"You have no idea." She giggled back. Putting her serious face back on she addressed the eight teenagers in a regal voice. "In just a few minutes a bus will be coming that'll take us to an airport where we'll board a ship that'll take us back to Beacon."

"What we can't walk back ourselves?" Izaak questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Doesn't this seem a bit excessive?"

"It would be if half the students haven't been reported to explode or meltdown somewhere along the way back. It was decided this would be much easier." She responded.

"This is all her fault Professor Goodwitch's fault! I mean come on, Cs and Ds for everyone? What would it have taken to earn an A, stopping the invasion single-handedly?" Yang roared looking like she was a second from catching fire.

"You want to take it up with her once we get back?" Came the testy reply that was daring the blond to answer.

If not for Neil's subtle manipulation of the air conditioning the entire left side of the hospital lobby would have been a baking furnace. A handful of the hospital staffers actually seemed to be on the verge of tears at the prospect of another fiery eruption.

It took a minute for Yang's temper to cool down if only by a fraction. As it did the sorrow frown on her face deepened, "You guys head back, I'm gonna stick around town for a little."

"And the many bars wept fresh tears and bar owners screamed they should have bought insurance." Olivia laughed already making for the door.

Before Yang could even give off a word Professor Bennett raised a hand to call her off. "Fair enough, though you're in no mood to be left unsupervised."

"Unsupervised? Do I look like a ten year-old to you!?"

"No, you're just the girl who goes ballistic when so much as a sliver of your hair is removed from your head." Came the samurai's voice.

"That's it! Come here Olivia! We're settling this now!" Screamed the blond as she thundered towards her target with fire licking at her heels.

_**THUNK! **_

"…Let go of me Izaak."

"Hospital Yang, not a boxing ring."

"You tell her that."

"Don't blame me you don't know how to keep your temper in check."

"Still think they're a good group of kids?" Bennett asked as she leaned in close to Alton.

"They could…use some work. Her last name's Xiao Long right?"

"Tai's oldest."

"Wonder…ful." The detective joked watching the boxer struggle to free herself from whatever invisible grip Izaak had on her. He had to give the Viking credit, he just kept grinning even when she started turning up the heat on her Aura in an attempt to break free. "Hey, here's an idea, why don't you have him go with her? Guy certainly seems to know how to keep her from going on a rampage."

That was when Izaak's smile, along with his Semblance fell like a drop of rain. "What?"

"I agree!" Weiss, Blake, Neil, and Chicahua suddenly shouted in unison.

"Sounds like a perfect match." Olivia added turning to face the group with a smile. She continued smiling right up until she was within Yang's striking distance. For a brief moment the samurai and brawler actually shared a smile. And then…

_**WHOSH! **_

Every man and woman nearly jumped out of their skin when the olive-haired heiress disappeared in a flash of green light leaving her attacker to punch nothing but empty air.

"Okay you gotta admit Yang, you walked right into that one." Weiss dryly remarked watching her teammate stare dumbly at the empty space where her target used to be. "You really have to learn how to control your temper."

Snarling Yang marched up and grabbed a still-dumbfounded Izaak by the wrist. "Let's get out of here before I blow another hole in the damn ceiling."

"PLEASE DO!" Screamed the entire frightened lobby staff.

"Wait! How come I have to watch her?!" Cried the teenage Viking. "Ruby!"

"Ehhh, sorry Izaak," The redhead laughed waving her hands in front of her face. "I actually have a…thing…weapons…with Buruan back at Beacon. Extra credit class."

"Weiss!"

"I've got better things to do than play babysitter."

"Blake!"

"Too much to do."

"Making out with Sun doesn't count!" He countered in a deadpan manner causing the feline to blush.

"Just accept it dude," Neil moaned. "Think of it as a mission, an ultra-high class life or death assignment only you can accomplish." He finished with a sly grin.

"Have fun boss." His Eagle Knight teammate added with an unflinchingly innocent grin.

Izaak's death glare never left his face as he was dragged through the lobby. It actually seemed to intensify when he spotted Olivia sitting cross-legged on one of the benches wearing the same "innocent" smile Chicahua did. It was actually the first time any of team RWBY could claim to have seen the usually go-lucky boy annoyed.

Once the two had disappeared behind the door Ruby let out an impossibly girlish sight with clasped hands. "They're going to make such a cute couple."

"Provided Yang doesn't kill him." Weiss snorted.

* * *

_**Three hours later… **_

It had taken maybe thirty minutes or so for Izaak's bad mood to dissipate, Yang not so much. Seeing she was still too hot to handle he elected to silently follow her lead through the many streets and boroughs of Vale City. While his…charge huffed and puffed her way through the thickening crowds the Viking walked quietly beside her hands in his pockets with his eyes scanning the ever changing landscape. Slowly a smile began cropping on his face with each new addition to his mental library. Names and places sometimes blended together in the erratic pace Yang set for herself causing Izaak to make a mental note to go back over some names and locations. Some of the stores they passed actually looked quite appealing to him. A gross majority of them were clothing stores that sold items at prices he imagined would make any man die of a wallet-related heart attack. No doubt Olivia would be going into them once things settled down. Every few steps offered what he believed to be more of the same, electronics, clothing, food, and what have you. It actually surprised him a little so many stores with similar interests managed to stay in business so close to each other. With each passing minute he began to chalk that up to the increasingly large turnout of people filling the streets. Grand as it was the city's attractions still fell a tad short in comparison to the glamor and scale of Mistral's various cities.

Yang wasn't blind to her travel companion's unapologetic sight-seeing while she stormed through crowd after crowd. Truth is she was rather annoyed with how easily the boy had slipped back into that stupid happy-face he went through most of the day with. It reminded her too much of her sister's. "How the hell can you be so cherry after getting a freakin' C?" She asked countless times in a voice so low she was sure Izaak couldn't hear her. Keeping pace with her she continued stealing straw glances at his well-dressed body, dark blue jeans, black Vans, and a dark and violet windbreaker he wore with that stupid satchel slung over his right hip. He looked so pain-staking normal it made Yang wonder if he was the same battle-hardened warrior who'd faced down an Ethm Wyvern. _How does he do it? Less than a week ago he was staring death in his face fully knowing he was going to die, and now he's carrying on like a damn tourist! _

Maybe it was another hour or half an hour of aimless walking that finally did the trick in cooling Yang's still raging temper. While waiting at the light she released a tightly held in breath, "You know you don't have to follow me around. I've cooled off enough so you don't need to babysit me."

When she turned to the hazel-eyed teenager he merely shrugged and laughed. "I know, but I'm still getting used to the city and you're the best tour guide that I know."

Dozens of people passed the two of them. Yang studied Izaak carefully, waiting for the stupid pick-up line or jab, all Izaak did was continue to smile good naturedly. It was serene. "You're a nice guy you know that?" She laughed. "I've been a pretty bad tour guide to you, showing you all the crappy sites, I owe you something better."

What made the seventeen year-old smile was the fact the blonde's temper had finally cooled down. "Just remember it's a school night, I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting chewed out for ditching curfew."

"Oh relax, I'm trying to show you the town and all you can do is worry about getting in trouble." She playfully huffed. Unlike Ruby who simply stared wide-eyed at anything and everything she showed him Izaak maintained a calm face with only the soft twinkle of his eyes giving any sign he was impressed by what he was seeing. "Not as majestic as Mistral is it?" She questioned.

"What gave it away? The lack of uahs and ahs? Don't get me wrong Yang, I like the city, bright lights and all that, but I guess you can say I'm just feeling a little homesick."

"I figured that. I heard Mistral cities are some of the oldest and coolest in the world, I've always wanted to see some of them like Asímipolis and Cyreucia. Have you ever been to any of them?"

"A few." He noted stopping in his tracks to look out at the calm water below them. "There was a nice bookshop I heard about called Tukson's Book Trade. I was actually pretty sad to find out it had to be closed due to the death of the owner."

"You know every time I hear you talk about books you come off more and more like a male version of Blake." Came her cheeky response. Leaning back against the railing of the bridge she spied collection of emerald colored neon-lights. A sneer developed on her face in seconds, "How the hell do you put up with her?"

"How do you manage with Weiss?"

"Not true, Ice Queen can be pushy, but she's nowhere near as bitchy as little-miss-samurai." Yang retorted with a frown. "I hate people like her. Almost every battle we're in she takes the lead ordering us around like we're her damn minions. You're her leader, aren't you supposed to be the one in charge?"

"You have a point, when she wants to be Olivia can be a grade-A bitch." He laughed much to her annoyance. "That's only one side of Olivia though, the reason why I always let her take the lead in those times isn't because I'm lazy, it's because at the end of the day I know she's smarter than me when it comes to tactical combat." The smile became distant and his eyes cackled with an amusing light as he gazed down the color-stained river. He wished he could tell her all the little stories he knew of Olivia's earlier days at Sanctum, the only thing keeping him from doing so was Olivia herself hunting him down and beating the crap out of him for it. "She cares Yang, every time she takes command it's because she doesn't want to see the people around her die. I know you've probably met a lot of people who talk the talk but can't back it up, I can tell you Olivia isn't one of them. She's one of the sharpest people I've ever met and I'd trust my life with her any day of the week."

Hearing Izaak say all those things about the arms heiress did sway Yang's opinion of her a fraction. Internally she admitted those times Olivia took charge of them they had managed to come out of the situation with all their limbs intact. Looking inward she realized Ruby was an important factor in the equation. _All this time you're comparing yourself to her. _"I don't understand why she isn't a team leader." She admitted. "Sure her attitude can use a little work but with her brain I'm pretty sure she'd be able to lead a decent team through."

"You already have the answer Yang." He sighed "Olivia's personality is the exact reason why she _herself _denied leadership of a team back at Haven."

At that the brawler had a visible double-take. "She what? Turned down a leadership role? Why? What for?" When those hazel eyes settled on her she knew Izaak was challenging her. It was actually a little unsettling seeing as all forms of positivity had dropped from the silver-rimmed eyes. Silently she racked her brain around every aspect of Olivia she knew of. What was it? What could be reason enough for her to turn down her own team? More than that, what could cause her to actually be humble enough to bend to it? Suddenly a light buble turned on in her head, a dark colored one. "Oh," came the quiet response. "I…never thought her…well I thought her family, er dad's side would love the idea of her leading her own team."

"It would if the Asker Family would even acknowledge her existence. Olivia's…not good when it comes to personally dealing with people. Especially when they see her all they can think of is a botched assassination, a public scandal, and a divorce that made the evening news for a solid week. Yang," Izaak began with a serious frown. "I'm not asking you to give her a free pass, trust me I don't, but I'm saying don't roll her out just because she doesn't want to look vulnerable to someone she sees could be a friend."

A heavy silence hung over the teenagers while countless citizens passed them by on the thirty-foot bridge and cars zipped by. Finally a sight escaped the blonde's lips signaling a decision had been made. "Alright fine, I'll try to play nice with her…if she plays nice with me. Besides she can't be all that bad if she gave the top spot to a guy who deserves it." The last part came with a grin that momentarily caught the Viking off-guard. "You just sat there listening to me bash your teammate then you rationally defended her without shouting or throwing a fit." Playfully punching his arm she laughed, "If you ask me that's a how leader acts, that's how a friend acts."

Within seconds a dual smile was shared between the young warriors that was only interrupted by the ringing of the steel clock that had been built into the base of the bridge.

"Now that you're finally free of the torture poison called hospital food do you feel like grabbing a bite?" He coolly asked.

With an ear to ear grin the blond grabbed his arm and immediately began pulling him to the other side of the bridge. "Oh boy is there a place I've been meaning to show you for a while. Trust me you'll love it!"

Izaak had no idea what this place Yang was talking about was but he was hopeful it'd be a nice quiet place for him to sit down and write. Somewhere in the back of his head a harsh laugh could be heard. Barely twenty minutes later and he wanted to find that voice and beat the hell out of it.

"Yang…what is this place?" He managed to spit out while eyeing the black and white flashing sign above their heads. _Black Bear? Who the hell names their…bar…shit. _

"The best club in town that's what!" She called dragging him up the jet-black stairs through the doors. One short corridor later and she released her classmate's hand allowing him to bath in the multi-colored glory of the dance floor. "Hey guys! I'm back!"

In the first five seconds Izaak knew he should have said no when every man in the incredibly spacious night club dropped what they were doing to stare at Yang. His eyes squinted at each absurd detail of the place he drunk in. Red, white, and black dominated the entire interior, including some of the people. Half-packed in the center was a well-designed dance floor with a collection of spotlights solely trained on the now frozen occupants. It might have been his imagination but hundreds of rose petals seemed to be gently surfing the desolate wind that blew through the club.

He could hear the crickets chirping which made him sound all the dumber when he turned to Yang. "Why did you bring me to a nightclub?"

"What? I told you I'd show you all the best places to hit up while you're in town." She grinned.

"SHIT SHE'S BACK!"

"I DIDN'T DO SHIT I SWEAR!"

"THE HELL DO YOU WANT NOW!?"

"SHOOT HER!"

One half cleared out, the other made a grab for their firearms. With a joyous cry Yang rocketed from her place beside Izaak on to the dance floor. Her impact caused a seemingly ripple effect to spread out along the dance floor knocking the would-be criminals off their feet. After that well, it really was less of a fight and more like watching a lion going after wild gazelle.

"…" Spinning on his heel Izaak was surprised to find himself staring into the faces of two opposite clad twins, one in red and the other in white. They were not happy in the slightest. "See I'm with her but I'm new here, matter of fact I was just lea-"

"You're with the sword-wielding birdbrain that came through here a couple of months ago aren't you?" Snapped the red-clad twin.

"Don't even deny it."

"And if I was?" Izaak questioned sizing up their weapons, a pair of claws and bladed heels.

"Our boss would like to have a word with you." They said together.

"ENOUGH!" Boomed a male voice so loud it actually managed to drown out the impossibly cheery music that was playing.

Hazel and violet eyes snapped up to the podium to see a black bearded man stomping towards the dance floor. In a heartbeat he was standing directly across from Yang with a tick mark the size of a baseball on his forehead. His enraged eyes went from Yang to the idiot gangsters crawling along the floor before moving up to Izaak.

"Junior!" Yang happily cried dropping the goon whose throat she'd been holding letting him hit the dance floor with a thud. "Just in time for introductions. Izaak Junior Xiong, Junior Izaak!"

The twins practically marched the young man down the stairs up to their boss who sized him up in a few short glances. "I'm new here." He offered seeing the tick mark recede a little.

Slowly the frown on Junior's faced morphed into something more closely resembling annoyance, particularly when he turned to Yang. "Finally got a boyfriend eh Blondie?"

"Friend." The Viking corrected.

"He's getting there." Yang winked.

"…The usual Blondie?"

At least the place had a decent selection of drinks, granted legally speaking he was underage for some of them. Didn't stop Yang though. "So am I ever going to get the story of how you seem to be on friendly terms with a guy who owns a club which is also a criminal hangout?"

Before Yang could answer Junior cut in, "If you want the _real _story I'll tell it to you someday kid."

"Now that's not nice Junior, you act like I'd give him some BS to make you look bad." Leered the blond.

"I just don't want you omitting the part where you walk right in here and start beating the crap out of everyone without so much as a word."

"You and I both know there's more to it than that." She challenged. "What I want to know is how do you know Izaak? How do you know Chicahua?"

"Just a little after the earthquake I heard the son of Cian and Asiling Liath was in town, apparently he'd transferred over to Beacon Academy." He started shooting a glare in Izaak's direction. "After that the underworld dug up whatever they could about him-he was on a team with some brown-haired Viking, a Faunus who's also some prince or royal, and the bastard child of the Asker Family." Now throwing a harden gaze in the boy's direction the club owner waited for a reaction. When nothing came he viewed it as a safe sign to keep going. "You fit the bill, speaking of which I would charge you for the damages your feathered friend caused but the guy was nice enough to pay for them right there. Unlike _some people_." Not surprisingly the most he got out of Yang was a cheap grin. "Please try not to wreck anything else tonight."

"He seems friendly enough." Izaak stated once the two of them were alone at their side of the bar. "I'll admit this place is actually pretty nice."

"See? Told you you'd love this place!" Yang exclaimed. Between the thumping lights and soft drink overwhelming her senses Yang felt like she was in her own personal haven. "Out of curiosity you don't have anything like what Professor Bennett and that detective had do you?"

"Jealous?"

"Not in this life time Zaaky." His grin was crooked while Yang's couldn't have been any wider. "Okay fine, what about Neil? The guy's got half our grade going moon-eyed for him so I know for a fact he had to have someone back at Haven."

Unknowingly Yang had just driven a sharpened stake through the Viking's good mood and it showed on his face. All kinds of alarm went off within the blonde's head seeing the rapid shift. "He…did. You see Yang, Neil has…terrible, and I mean _terrible _luck when it comes to girls. He's still trying to bounce back from his last…relationship." There was something in the wording that made her suspicious.

"Bad break-up?" She questioned with a raised eye brow.

"Yeah, you could say something like that. He's pretty much sworn off of dating."

"You've got an odd team you know that?"

"Says the girl with a closet Fauns, a Schnee heiress, and weapon-sexual for teammates."

Sharing a laugh the two downed their drinks before ordering another. No one bothered to question the teenagers nor did they cast a second glance to anything going on around them. People talked behind their backs, but they didn't care what they said. For them little else existed or mattered besides each other. A silent collective sigh of relief flooded the club when the teenage male mentioned how it would be a good idea if they started heading back to which Yang agreed. Once they were safely out the front door Junior poured himself a fairly large glass he downed in the span of a few short seconds while Melanie and Miltia watched the Beacon students leave.

"So how long do you think this one's going to last?" Melanie questioned her sister.

There was a ghost of a smile on the red-clad twin's face when she answered, "I don't know, this one seems different, nicer. His last name has me worried though, Egilson, I could swear I've heard it before."

The white-haired one suddenly looked up with eyes the size of dinner plates. Her eyebrows arched together in a serious expression of thought. "Egilson, Egilson Egilson…as in those cross-breeding slasher-freak Egilsons or that hot army doctor who died a little over seven years ago?"

Suddenly getting his sister's drift Miltia's expression closely matched that of her sister's. "I thought they were the same."

Junior was completely and utterly blind to the somewhat frightened looks the twins were giving the doors which the boxer and axe-wielder had disappeared through.

* * *

"Thanks for showing me the town tonight." Izaak offered taking his seat beside Yang as the ship began to take off.

"Thanks for putting up with me. You know not a lot of people besides my teammates are willing to stick around when I lose my temper."

"I know a thing or two about losing your temper, trust me on that one."

"You're not going to give me some kind of lecture on how I need to keep my temper in check are you? Seriously, everyone from my uncle to my teammates have been telling me for as long as I can remember." Yang huffed. "I get it but it's not that easy for me."

Izaak shrugged, "Takes practice, that's all I can say. Rather or not you can control it depends on you, nothing else." He was stole a glance at her before continuing, "It's not that the C doesn't bother me, it's just that compared to what we could have gotten it's acceptable. I've been thrown into some shit situations and gotten chewed out for not getting out fast enough or with enough style."

"Sanctum and Haven were that tough huh? Come to think of it you never told me what Haven was like. Whatever happened that made you guys transfer to Beacon in the first place?"

Rather than look at Yang directly Izaak faced the adjacent window. His eyes told the story of memories that were less than pleasant yet somewhat fond. "It's not that we hated Haven Academy, it's just…let's just say the staff never took a strong liking to us." There was something about that thin smile that made Yang all the more curious about the boy's murky past. "Haven, no, Mistral is a place that places emphasis on order and discipline, following the rules to achieve the best outcome. We tried, but in the end we couldn't do that. We were at the heart of a lot scandals and made a lot of noise and made a lot of people angry. That's why we had to be transferred to Beacon."

Yang decided it wouldn't be a good idea to press the topic any further. One day she would though, Izaak was too much of an enigma for her to leave alone. Not to mention stopping at this point would have killed all the fun.

* * *

**Not exactly the fluffiest chapter I could have written, but hey, I prefer the gradual journey from friends to lovers. Sometimes that can take some time. I tried to sprinkle a few bits of** **foreshadowing regarding team IONC's past along with the fluff. For future references I'll come out and say it, they share a history with Cinder, a violent one. The reason Ozpin and the company know about her is because team IONC went forward with what they knew about her (read Chapter 7). **

**See ya next time readers! **


	39. Chapter 39: Gray Sky, Grayer Sunshine

**As I expected college life has been a major blow to my writing schedule. No worries though, I've finally found some free time to write, and just in time since Volume 4's right around the corner! **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 39: Gray Sky, Grayer Sunshine**

* * *

"_**All sins cast long shadows." **_

_**-Old Proverb**_

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_**Northern Section of the Kingdom of Vale**_

_**January 6, 1575 **_

Since she was born in the desert Azana the concept of snow was somewhat alien to her. For residents of the Vale-Vacuo boarder winter just meant it being maybe some twenty degrees below the average hundred or so. Whenever night fell that was when she was introduced to the concept of bone-freezing weather, yet the scenery never changed. All her previous experiences were nothing compared to her first true test of winter as simply seeing images of snow falling didn't do reality justice.

"You're not a fan of the cold?" She remembered a bystander once asked her when she spent too much time lost in thought.

As the years had gone on Azana had come to the conclusion she didn't have a taste for winter weather, snow including. Privately she always counted down the days until spring would come bringing with it the warm breezes that reminded her so strongly of home. Until then she had a feeling all she was going to be seeing were the gray skies sprinkling white powder across the land. All she could ask for was that her assignments at least took her away from the coastlines and mountains were the artic-like air from Mantle was carried across the sea. That contributed to the snowfall she despised, and it would only get worse once winter officially set in. Personally she was dreading that time though for her superiors the onset of true winter would only further their plans. Disease, paranoia, and the cold weren't not nice things to have in one place at one time. Usually when the three came together a lot of people tended to start dying. Looking out at the scene below her she realized that was already happening.

Even if it there wasn't almost two feet of snow beneath her feet she could still hear the approaching Faunus coming from almost half a mile away. She could thank anything she wanted, her enhanced senses, her hellish training that left her with even greater abilities, or her guest's lack of subtlety. Azana had actually begun to believe he'd stopped trying to mask his approaches because as he'd painfully learned, he was _never _going to get the drop on her. At least it seemed like he'd warmed up to her a little, she was unsure if the sentiment was mutual.

Like her he was dressed for the harsh cold the mountains hosted, thick coat, cap, and snow boots. Thanks to a rather sudden boon in funding the White Fang could now afford to have their logo emblazed on more articles of clothing. Word of mouth was the White Fang had finally found someone who understood the finer points of marketing and propaganda. On the sleeves and hoods the feral head of the organization was printed in bright red in stark contrast to the dark wool. "What do you want? Is everything going according to plan?"

Fiskal continued walking until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with her; it had taken almost four months of tip-toing around each other until they were comfortable enough to stand side by side. At first he hated her like he hated every human, the kicker was she could not only stand up to his hateful gaze but return it in full force. "I…wanted to make sure you hadn't wondered off. You never know if some prick decided to stick around if torching the town wasn't enough for them."

"If there had been I'm sure one of your people would have killed them," Azana replied producing a chilly cloud of air from her lips. "What do you really want Fiskal? Is there a problem serious enough I need to step in?"

Very quickly the condor-Faunus had discovered the young woman didn't beat around the bush when it came to dealing with people. She didn't like interacting with people period, human or Faunus. Her orange-like eyes eerily reminded Fiskal of dancing embers, if focused they became contained infernos that could frighten anyone, even fully-trained Huntsmen. Admittedly he found her the easiest to be around, unlike the other mercenaries she wasn't outwardly insane, racist, or belittling, just cold to everyone around her. Now standing in the crosshairs of those eyes Fiskal found his words frozen in his mouth. As he struggled to thaw them out he became rapidly aware he was losing more face in front of the human girl.

"Will you be able to take care of them?" She suddenly asked point-blank after motioning towards the village below them.

"Ye-Yeah, we've got plenty of space to take them in. They'll be taken care of." The tanned skinned Faunus answered looking over the cliff. Smoke was still trailing from the several or so fires that had decimated the quiet mountain-side town. He knew she could smell the various chemicals that had been used in the sudden and brutal attack. "By the last count there were eighty-two survivors." Said the axe-wielder with balled fists.

_Eighty-two out of four hundred and fifty-eight. The OSS hasn't been pulling punches lately. _"Just make sure we're ready to leave by the time the authorities get here. Since this mine belonged to the Schnee Dust Company they'll be a little quicker in getting here." It went without saying the company wouldn't be coming for the safety of its workers but for the security of the Dust mine the town had been built on. They would be fresh out of luck as the fanatics that had raided the town had also stolen all the Dust they could out of the mines then collapsed them.

"You're not going to ask how many women and children were killed?" The male inquired a little put off by her silence.

"Does it matter Fiskal?" There was a time she couldn't picture an armed group rolling into an unsuspecting innocent town and murdering its inhabitant; now she could take one look at the burning ruins and perfectly see the horror unfolding before her eyes. She was sure the men were the first ones to be killed, that's how it always had been in the old days when Faunus tolerance was at negative zero. "We need to move fast or else we're going to have the Grimm to worry about."

"We already intercepted them, we're moving in the next minutes before something big and ugly crawls out of the forest." The White Fang member answered with a look of deep contempt on his face. Like her he knew the standard procedure when human masses came upon Faunus settlements. "Does it ever disgust you? Do you even care?"

"Does my answer matter to you? I am a human after all." Azana quietly fired back hardening her face against his glare. "If you guys were really serious about this "all humans must die" mantra you would have stuck a finger to our faces the minute we approached you. Why in the hell should I tell you what I'm feeling?"

With that cold glare Fiskal felt the instinctive urge to draw his weapons threaten to override his mind. He knew if he picked a fight with Azana it would end with him lying in the snow with two broken arms, a few cracked ribs, and one hell of a concussion. If it were any other opponent besides her he might have tried to test the boundaries further, but he couldn't and wouldn't. What chance for understanding there was between them had been blown and he had better things to do than try to rekindle it. "Let's just go make sure the evacuation is going according to plan. The Grimm are closing in now and when they get here the civilians are going to start panicking." Snorting he turned away from the Vale native and began making his way down the mountain slope with her silently tailing behind him. _Maybe that's why it's so hard to talk to this chic, when she's not fighting there's nothing there. Unless you're associated with the Vale government or council she's not anything towards you. _As if the snow wasn't bad enough darkness was setting in faster than he'd expected. Pretty soon the fires would be the only light on the mountain.

Several minutes later and the two were standing before a group of six airships, all of them had been filled to the brim with survivors. Despite their being gone the masked terrorists were still working to get everyone loaded onboard. As they'd suspected there were still quite a few still suffering from shellshock. Surviving parents were keeping their children huddled tightly against their chest in a bid to not only calm them down but calm themselves down as well. Some of the children had to be the ones to take charge for parents who had gone catatonic, those that were often had splatters of blood all over their bodies or were missing appendages, be they a limb or animal part. The medics they'd brought along had their work cut out for them as they had to deal with gunshot wounds, stab wounds, third-degree burns on top of chemical burns, and whole lot of broken bones that were going to need to be mended. All that said nothing of the mental scars they all cared.

Standing a little ways off from the rest gave Azana the chance to thoroughly examine the traumatized Faunus. As she suspected there were few grown men among the survivors, no doubt they'd taken the traditional option to stand and fight while their families and loved ones could escape. A short glance towards her right gave her a view of the remains of the mining town, their death place and burial ground. _How many of you are going to have to carry on without your husbands? Brothers? Fathers? Sons even? _The bandana-wearing girl wondered turning from the town towards the gray sky. There was no lightning or rumble of thunder to signify divine anger at the unwarranted act of genocide that had just taken place. Looking back at the frightened masses Azana wondered how many of the survivors were religious. How would children who were raised to believe God is merciful look back on this incident? Would they come to the same conclusion she did? None of the children were taking things well, many of them were probably going to spend the next several years having nightmares about this night. With her own enhanced sight she could see many of the children being strapped down clearer than some of the Faunus could, fear and shock dominated their faces as did blood stains on their clothing. _Maybe a year or two, who knows with some of these kids, maybe after a month of crying they'll be ready for revenge. _It may take time but eventually a majority of the surviving kids would learn how to turn their fear and despair from this night into anger and hatred thus giving them strength to use in the White Fang's future battles. Or at least somewhere inside Azana hoped these kids would find the strength to do so.

_**RRRRAAAAAGGGGAAARRRRRHHHH! **_

But first they'd have to live through tonight. "Begin take off! All transports that are at brim-capacity are to take to the skies immediately! The rest of you hurry up with evacuation!" Her voice was like thunder and her words an undisputed command the White Fang followed without a second thought. Behind her the first aircraft began to leave the ground and ascend towards the sky where it would then be free of the approaching Grimm wave. "Fiskal!"

"What?" Yelled the condor-Faunus.

"I'll be on the last ship so don't stand around gawking like an idiot! Get these people out of here _now_!"

How she'd known instead of helping he was watching her brandish her impossibly heavy claymore was beyond him. He supposed he'd have to dial it up to whatever genetic enhancement she'd been given. Knowing she'd be on the last ship to leave he ordered the hatch closed and held on as his ship began take off. Just before the hatch closed he got one last look at the girl with flame-like eyes, _So she does care after all_.

The Grimm were at a crossroads on who to go after. On one hand they felt an instinctive drive to attempt to destroy the human aircraft, the countless Faunus on board being a mere bonus. As far as they could tell every Faunus on board was terrified beyond reasoning, for the Grimm it was like smelling roasted stake then spotting it lying in the open. They wanted so desperately to go after it, but that meant ignoring the sole human standing between them and their fleeing prey. Her hatred alone was enough for each shadow creature to pause and give her focus. It was rage, not fear that oozed out of every fiber of her body. Like a magnet it forced their collective attention away from the ships and towards her.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I thought you call came down here looking for a meal? Don't tell me now that you've found it you're too chicken to do the deed of killing it yourself!" The human girl snapped gesturing with her hand.

There was a flare of murderous intent and the Grimm made their decision. From the forest shadows the dark creatures surged forth tearing the snow apart in the process. Their howls did nothing to frighten the girl whose face morphed into dark expression of feral fury that could rival that of the Grimm. The older members of the horde saw something materialize as they drew closer to the girl, a vintage, an avatar if you will. A pair of clawed paws stomped the earth in defiance and a canine maw expanded to reveal a row of sharpened teeth. The canine avatar howled as its producer swung at the first wave attackers.

* * *

_**Beacon Academy, Three days later…**_

"Come on Rubes, there's no use in faking it, so you might as well get up and get dressed." Yang moaned shaking her sister through the covers. "Classes are still in session."

"No they're not." Came her muffled voice.

"Do we have to drag you out of bed and put you against the window to make you see the truth?" Sounded Weiss who ruthless tore the sheets off much to Ruby's annoyance. "Now start getting dressed, today isn't one of those days you can take it easy."

There was something in Weiss's tone of voice that Ruby didn't like, it caused her to sit upright to face her fully-dressed teams. The first one she noticed was Blake who's expression made her want to crawl back under the covers and just hide away from the world. Looking over at her teammates she sighed realizing that option wasn't on the table. "Did…something happen while I was asleep?"

"Ye…Yeah Ruby, you could say that." Her sister answered looking away shyly. Like her teammates she'd been up for the past half hour, and thus was witness to another morning of fighting and short-tempered spats. "Just hurry up so we can get dressed and grab something to eat."

Wordless Ruby did as her sister suggested. As many had wished there'd been snow for Christmas, and then it'd all melted by the time New Year arrived yet the bone-chilling temperatures it brought with it remained. That just made transitioning from class to class worse. The last article of clothing Ruby put on was the academy-issued winter coat, a black coat with gold-colored lining same as the uniform that was worn beneath it. Ruby had been adamant about finding some way to fit her cape onto her extra layer of clothing despite the protests of several of her friends. Indeed there had been times her cape had added more weight to her than she needed as well as left her sweating in a few classrooms. What none of them save for Yang and Buruan knew was Ruby wore her cape for emotional support.

Weiss practically threw the door open and laid the way in a manner that told Ruby something was majorly wrong. And then a myriad of unidentified smells assaulted her noise.

"What is that?" She cried slapping both hands over her noise.

"While you were sleeping a few wise guys got the idea to stick-bomb a few of the dorms, with skunk acid." Blake replied in a near dead voice.

"Why would anyone do that?"

"Keep walking and you'll see. Frankly Ruby, I'm amazed you slept past all this, hell, even Yang could hear it before she woke up." The heiress answered taking the lead. "Whatever you do, please just don't say anything Ruby."

The walk from the dorms to the cafeteria was anything but usual. Weiss actually had a point, how had she managed to sleep through half the building being vandalized? It wasn't like it had been the first time though.

On top of the janitorial staff more than a handful of students were taking the time out of the day to clean the various graffiti and defacing that had occurred the night prior. Ruby tried not to think too hard about the derogatory names and phrases that had been spray-painted on the doors or mocking "presents" left at the doorsteps of many teams. Moving through the halls grew somewhat difficult as the cleaning crew had been forced to take up quite a lot of space to undo the damages. Again, Ruby was amazed how quickly she'd gotten used to this, so much so she could peacefully sleep through rampant acts of vandalism happening just one floor beneath her. To be fair this had been happening well before the academy let out for the holiday break, it was just now the underling of racism was more up front.

Ruby could feel the atmosphere of Beacon had changed drastically upon taking her first steps outside the dorm building. Upon return to Beacon there had been several outbreaks of racial violence between students of all grade-levels. Ruby was only one of the countless students who remembered returning to Beacon Academy to find glares and shouting matches raging between humans and Faunus. Eventually when the staff stepped in that's when quite a few people turned to vandalism.

Normally the group would have been alive with conversation like the rest of the student body, but not today. The more they walked the more guilty Ruby felt about sleeping through what had clearly been another night of racial-fueled tension that had yet to die down. Each time she thought about waving or greeting some of her classmates a shadow fell over their face thus causing her to shy away.

"There were three break-ins last night." Blake stated keeping pace at the back of the group. It then dawned on the reaper the closest Faunus' bow had been tied tighter than usual and her gaze lingered on nothing and no one for any longer than a minute. "At least two students were sent to the nurse's office for broken bones, the disciplinary committee's going to be handling the attackers."

"They've been getting a real work out lately." The blonde chirped in throwing her gloved hands behind her head.

Ruby picked her pace a little in an effort to shake off the thought of the school disciplinary committee making an appearance. Like every other freshman she lived in fear of the student board charged with keeping a school full of super-powered teenagers from killing each other whenever the teachers weren't around. With a firm shake of the head Ruby guided her team towards the dining hall hoping she'd find the building alive and full of activity along with the sweet smell of morning pastries. Eager to make her dream of devouring a plate's worth of chocolate pancakes a reality she bravely pushed the doors to the dining hall open fully expecting to be bombarded by a myriad of freshly cooked food.

"Watch it!" A harsh voice barked bursting her bubble.

Like that the young reaper's dream world pilled away revealing yet another dash of cold hard reality. In her eagerness to enter the building she'd thrown the doors wide open, very nearly smacking another student in the face. An apology began formulating in her mouth until she saw the hateful glare the student sent her. A pair of antenna angrily stood up on top of his head and his insectoid eyes blazed with fury as he took in Ruby's lack of animal features. Huffing he roughly shoved her aside on his way out the door leaving her to gaze upon a partial decimated dining hall. She reminded of her team's epic food fight with team JNPR a few months back, only based on the wreckage this had been much more intense. Broken tables, chairs, kitchenware, and chandlers hung all over the place with various spider-web cracks on the wall. Unless she was still drowsy she could have sworn there were a few scorch marks on the wall and the floor; instead of breakfast she could still smell the faintest traces of ozone and sweet in the air.

"Wh-Wh-What…what happened?" Was all she could say with her arms hanging limply at her side while her teammates joined her. None of them looked in anyway surprised. "D-Did I miss something while I was asleep? What time is it anyway?"

"Seven fifty-nine." Blake answered yet again in a deadpan tone. "This all started less than half an hour ago."

"As for what happened..." Yang started until she saw someone coming over who could explain it better. "Let Chun Tao and Buruan explain it, I'm going to go see if they're still serving food."

Ruby could tell Buruan had been in a fight, years of friendship had given her the keen ability to tell when her old friend had thrown himself into the crossfire. The less than pleased side glare his partner was sending him didn't help either. "There was a fight." He answered stoically.

"I can see that Buruan."

"It went a little overboard." He added.

"You don't have to sugarcoat what happened here for me." The redhead suddenly huffed slightly shocking the two students. "The dorm was vandalized last night!"

"If you were a Faunus it was vandalism, if you were a human it was payback." Buruan immediately fired back with dark narrowed eyes. "Ruby, this isn't new, this is just the boiling point being reached."

"But how did all this start? I mean I'm looking around and not even our food fight was this bad?"

"That's because no one called you and I quote, "a filthy animal" or in case you want the more recent one, "a rabies farm", to your face or to Blake." Chun Tao clarified motioning to the entire room. A handful of students were assisting the cleanup crews who didn't look pleased at the rampant destruction that had taken place so early in the morning. "No one's sure what exactly happened, but apparently a few cold jabs in the food line erupted into a full out brawl."

"With someone throwing lightning and fireballs?" She questioned unable to believe such a scene was possible.

"Ruby," Her old friend started catching her attention. A brief glance at his balled fists told her they were telling her the watered down version of events; since team CNBR were early risers they were probably there when the fight broke out. "Things went too far too fast for anyone to calm it down. Rad tried to, and he's sitting in the nurse's office with third-degree burns on his left arm with Ndidi watching over him."

With those few words Ruby could picture the dining hall suddenly turning into a warzone with racial slurs flying all over the place as one brawl led to another. Given the fact a vast majority of the population kingdom-wide was still struggling to recover from Battle of Aemon Strip she didn't find it all that hard to believe. _Christmas just ended. _Those that personally knew Ruby were aware of the fact she valued the holiday not because of the toys and treats it brought, but the fact it was the time of the year when families came together to show how much they love each other. Speaking from personal experience she knew that was hard to do when the loss of a family member was recent.

_This is heading south way too fast. _Were the thoughts of the half-wolf student who silently watched as the reaper's expression grew sadder by the second. If he had to take a guess he'd say Ruby's mind was drifting back to those distant years immediately after her mother died. Though they may have met years after the incident Buruan had learned to pick up when she drifted back to a darker time. Even if it made it easier for her to understand the current situation Buruan wasn't willing to let her linger on it. Gently taking her wrist he guided her over to one of the few tables that hadn't been pushed aside or damaged. "Your breakfast will be with you in just a second Miss Rose."

"Oh? In that case may I ask what's on the menu?" The fifteen year-old girl innocently questioned.

Barely ten feet from the table the ever formal leader of team CNBR watched the scene with genuine happiness dancing in her eyes. "I wish everyone could be like those two sometimes." She said off-handedly to the white-haired heiress beside her.

"Not everyone has a childhood friend as good as Buruan." Weiss huffed crossing her arms. "How's he been?"

"Wired all morning. What we didn't tell Ruby was Buruan had to send at least four guys flying half way across the dining hall when they started getting rougher than usual." Chun Tao moaned with a deep frown. Not five minutes before Ruby arrived the Faunus' face was feral and wild and his body ready to move at even the slightest sign of trouble. "It's only going to get worse so a little friendly advice, try to keep your head down Weiss."

It was a quite statement that Chun Tao was one of the few people who Weiss held a true respect for, to the point she'd talk to them without snide comments or biting sarcasm. Being well aware of that the guardian made sure to use it to her full advantage when she had to. "Blake's been jumpier than usual ever since we got back. I can tell she's still…raw form the attack." No one outside of team RWBY knew of the feline ninja's past association with the White Fang, well, almost no one. Team IONC had figured it out in a heartbeat though they'd vowed to keep it a secret for her sake. Sun and Neptune could be added to the list, but like team IONC their lips were sealed shut. To explain Blake's attachment to the now blatant terrorist organization they formed the story of her parents being close activist who left the group when it turned violent then were killed; in retrospect it was actually rather similar to Buruan's own story. "I've noticed lately how a lot more Faunus have been doing what they do, hiding their ears using bows, bandanas, and what not. How long do you think it's going to be until all this dies down?"

"That all depends, did what happen at Aemon affect your view of Buruan, Blake, Ndidi, or Chicahua?" Stroke the hook sword wielder meeting Weiss eye for eye. Based on the icy glare she received she concluded she'd struck a sensitive nerve, after all, Weiss had been in a foul mood for a quite a while following the attack. Breaking away from Weiss she saw Yang and Blake making their way over with plates filled with fresh food, probably the last meals the cooks had decided to make since breakfast time was nearing its end. "Come on Ice Queen," she patted Weiss on the shoulder. "Let's try to enjoy ourselves before the daily torture starts eh?"

"One of these days," Weiss snorted under her breath before heading to the table to join the childhood friends.

Unknown to either of the girls Buruan had heard their little conversation. Beneath his red bow that concealed his wolf ears twitched with each word spoken. While depressing it wasn't the worst thing the Faunus swordsman had heard all morning, at least Ruby hadn't heard any of it. Beside him she continued munching down on the freshly heated burritos her teammates had brought back. Across from them Yang had taken to playing games with her partner much to her annoyance. It didn't surprise him that the brawler was the only one openly smiling in the entire room, even Buruan himself who always tried to stay optimistic hadn't had much to smile about in the last few hours. This breakfast was the first thing he had to smile about all morning, all week really.

"Buruan? Something on your mind?" Came the kind-hearted voice that could always wipe away all his dark thought. "If you don't watch out there won't be anything left for you." She added reaching for the sole remaining strawberry-flavored Pop-tart lying in the middle of the table.

"Oh Ruby, why'd you have to open your mouth." Weiss scolded as the wolf-Faunus quickly snatched up the delicious treat.

"Hey!" The young reaper cried glaring at her friend.

"Sorry Rubes, you're just going to have to be faster next time." He grinned in return.

* * *

Not surprisingly that was the last time Buruan could say he was happy that day, what came after breakfast was far from pleasant. The minute he stepped outside of the dining hall away from team RWBY he found every other human student giving him a sideways glare as well as a few Faunus.

_"I take off the bow I've got everyone hating my gates save for my fellow Faunus, I don't and I still get the evil eye. Sorry, but option B doesn't sound better than option A so no thanks."_ He once told Chun Tao after she questioned him about why he wore a red bow to conceal his wolfish ears. Like hundreds of other Faunus he wore the bow to avoid the typical stress and harassment that came with being a Faunus; after a while he got so used to wearing it he hardly saw the problem. Even after people saw through the disguise he continued to wear it simply because he didn't see the point in taking it off.

"_It won't change how I look at you." _Chun Tao confessed as they stood on top one of the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest.

"_I know it won't for you," _He affirmed sticking another lollipop into his mouth. The memory of her accepting his half-animal nature was something he would be eternally grateful for. _"Rather I wear it or not won't change how people look at me once they've seen what I am." _

"_Even if it makes other Faunus hate you? They'll say you don't have any pride." _

"_Pride is a matter of perspective Chun Tao." _Was his comeback. _"A national survey finds everyday over one hundred thousand Faunus cover-up their animal treats with some article of clothing." _

When Buruan had told his partner that it had been at the start of the school year when Faunus-tolerance nation-wide was hanging between fifty and sixty percent. He didn't need to look at a national survey to tell him how that number had lowered since the Attack on Aemon Strip. A good chunk of Faunus students at Beacon were now sporting new scarfs, ribbons, hats, earmuffs, and what have you. _Yeah, where's your pride now guys? _The B of team CNBR snorted throughout the school day as he saw more and more Faunus covering themselves up. It was a fair split though, for every two or three Faunus that concealed their animal feature he always saw another student carrying on in open view of his or her classmates. Buruan wasn't surprised when he spotted Chicahua he was one of them, not even the tragedy of death and destruction was enough to shake the prince's pride.

Rather knowingly or not the students began to manifest the racial divides in almost every classroom, or at least that's what it looked like in those that Buruan attended. At the start of every class the humans would group to one side and the Faunus would to another in response. The closer certain students got to one another the testier and irritable they became. Upon seeing this most of the teacher immediately gave up trying to air out the problem and simply continued with their previously planned lessons. Those that did say something quickly found they were going to be spending the entire class period trying to fight a losing battle. That's what Buruan's strategic studies and tactics class turned into.

It took a lot for Buruan to keep from jumping out of his sit at the first racial slur directed at his fellow Faunus. As usual it was the "animals can't follow simple instructions" jab, only this time there was an added bite to it. With all his animalistic senses Buruan knew the second the first object that was thrown the following fight was inevitable. On the Faunus side of the room dozens of students jumped out of their seats either in shock or in rage. Naturally this led to a similar reaction on the human side.

"Enough! Students please, can everyone just calm-"

There was no stopping what had already been set in motion. The shouting was now joined by sudden fist fights and projectiles being thrown across the lecture hall. Emotions weren't the only thing running high, Aura levels were too, and they were being funneled into the objects being thrown at the opposing side. Buruan accidently crunched his lollipop, not surprising given he'd been chewing it in a bid to contain his mounting frustration. At first he didn't want anything to do with the fighting, let the Disciplinary Committee sort things out once they got here. His plan would have gone well if he didn't spot a large and angry-looking student lifting a flailing Faunus male above his head. Based on the position he was in as well as the look of pure rage on his face Buruan had a good idea what was going to happen next.

And that was when his plan to stay calm and ignore the rabble went out the window.

Striking at the stomach he brought the student down freeing Faunus in the process, before he could retaliate he karate chopped him at the base of the neck. The moment the student hit the ground Buruan felt another attack coming his way, dodging to the left he avoided a grab that would have unraveled his bow and exposed his canine ears. _There's no use in hiding it now. _Were his main thoughts as he spun and delivered a solid kick to his would-be-attacker's chin. In return for that two human students attempted to jump him from the desk above him. Spitting out the remains of his lollipop he struck out with his left leg catching both of them. Coming up standing on the desk he saw order had completely fled the classroom as every student was now either fighting, screaming, or if they weren't doing either they were passively watching the violence. The teacher was at the desk pressing some unseen button and screaming into the intercom. _Okay, so we got maybe two minutes before a Disciplinary Committee stooge is screaming for us all to our asses down. I can beat those odds. _The idiots he whacked probably never got the chance to see his face so the way he saw it Buruan had nothing to worry about, he just had to keep his cool until fight time ended. That was easier said than done since everywhere he looked his berserk buttons were being pushed one after another.

By this point some weren't even trying to discern who was fighting back and who wasn't, they saw animal ears or a tail they went for it. That was where Buruan lost it, stopping attacks, returning them, throwing one student off another. _All of this is your fault! You stupid idiots! None of this would have happened if you hadn't been so giant f-ing morons!_ The blood was pumping faster and faster in his ears to the point Buruan began to feel like he was in the middle of battle. Rapidly his plan to avoid making a scene was lost to the voice inside his head demanding he take a stand for his race. At some point he was sure his bow came off because he could feel the air rushing past his exposed ears, he didn't care though. When someone made a grab for his throat Buruan felt a rush of energy explode throughout his body. Based on the position of their hand they were going to end up grabbing his necklace. His face contorted into pure feral fury and his mind went on autopilot. Without thinking he struck out with his right fist, executing a painful jab between his attacker's eyes. Buruan watched as the student went tumbling down the desks hitting his head along the way until he disappeared from vision, and then he felt a pair of arms wrap around his throat and lift him off solid footing.

This wasn't the first time someone had gotten the upper hand on Buruan do to him being too distracted by his adrenaline; a lot of people thought they could get a leg up on him do to his short stature. Many a foe had thought just because he stood at a mere five foot five he didn't have the strength needed to toss opponents twice his side across a room, he did. His unknown assailant got some air time before he collided with the ground much to Buruan's satisfaction. No sooner had he time to savor his victory did his canine noise detect the bone-chilling smell of ozone. Instinct forced his body into the nearest sit and his arms over his head as the smell built up until the inevitable happened.

_**CCCRRAA-ACCKK!**_

For the Faunus in the room with enhanced senses the thunderclap was outright painful, for others it was discombobulating. No one in the room was unaffected by the sound of thunder going off; the fighting had been totally halted and stayed that way as an eerie calm settled over the classroom. Bodies withdrew from each other and eyes began searching the room for the source of explosive noise.

The moment Buruan laid eyes on him he honestly began to wonder if Neil intentionally tried to make everyone believe he was a slacker outside of battle. Indeed that was the general image of Neil Liath that had spread through Beacon's freshman class, a handsome young knight who slept ninety-percent of the time when he wasn't in the middle of a fight. His checkered past only boosted the air of mystery and intrigue. Taking all that into account no one could have foreseen him appearing at the head of the classroom, his eyes bearing all the intensity of storm clouds and a yellow and black arm band on his shoulder signifying his allegiance to the school's disciplinary committee.

Uneasy silence rained over the classroom as various students sat bolt up or attempted to straighten themselves out for fear of incurring the young knight's wrath, he did after all posse the ability to call down lightning at a moment's notice. Given the demonic death glare Neil was giving the entire class a few began to theorize he could actually shoot lightning from his eyes, Buruan believed he could. The heavy smell of ozone made it clear if he had to he could fry the entire class or deafen them with another thunderclap, the threat was enough to keep everyone in check.

What was terrifying was that Neil didn't say anything as he corralled the entire classroom; it almost felt like he was attempting to scare the masses into submission, and it was working.

Buruan didn't know how much of the fighting Neil had seen, depending on what he saw the half-wolf teenager felt he was going to be spending the rest of the day in a detention office. He wasn't fancying spending that time with a bunch of other racist pricks. Sweat built up over his forehead with each passing second.

_**CHING! **_

Buruan was still bracing for the impact when he realized he'd been spared Neil's punishment. Shrieks went up followed by the sound of bodies tumbling away in fear. Still shaking he looked up to see what Neil had done to further terrify the class. "H-Ho-Holy shit." Was all he could out sputter out upon seeing the ice sculptures that had once been his classmates. Some of them had been frozen solid, others partial frozen, all of them had looks of pure shock on their faces. Human and Faunus alike had been trapped eliminating the possibility Neil had been partisan in deciding who was guilty. Realizing he hadn't been frozen in any way he came close to releasing his breath when the distance sound of boots tapping against the floor tiles entered his ears. Like many others his attention was turned to the entrance where a handful of grim-faced students wearing the DC band on their arms entered.

They took one look at the scene and began rounding up the immobile students without so much as a word. Of course there were protests from students who could still speak but their words fell on deaf ears. More than a few threats were thrown at Neil, the gray-haired boy barely batted an eye.

As the last of the students were being escorted out Neil spoke, his voice as cold as ice and just as sharp. "As of this moment any and all acts of racial violence will be considered grounds for disciplinary intervention, this includes verbal slurs, bullying, and all acts of physical violence fueled by racial hatred. As personally stated by Headmaster Ozpin no student is above this law regardless of their grade level or race. Let this be your first and only warning." And that was it, Neil was the last one out leaving the room silent and completely numbed including the teacher.

Looking up Buruan saw there was barely ten minutes left in class.

Those ten minutes actually were something of a blur to him. It wasn't until the bell rung signaling the end of class did all his senses fully return to him. Waiting aside the classroom was his team and team RWBY.

Upon seeing him Yang immediately voiced her slight distress. "What the hell happened to you? You look like you just got done listening to one of Professor Port's lectures."

Indeed, the Faunus' uniform was ruffled and wrinkled like he'd just been in a fight and his bow was gone exposing his canine ears. His skin was unsettling pale and he had shades underneath his silver eyes. "No, I just…Neil…he…"

"He what?" The Schnee heiress bit with arms crossed over her chest. "What did he change classes? Did he start talking in his sleep?"

Buruan wasn't sure what it was about Neil that had earned him Weiss's ire. Sure there was the rumor he was dating some student named Gráinne leaving many girls heartbroken, but he thought Weiss was above all that. "He just…he's…oh forget." He reached into his pocket for another lollipop, his fourth one today.

"You okay? Did something serious happen?" Ruby asked keeping pace with him as he began walking.

"Yeah, s storm blew through."

* * *

As he learned later that day the storm hadn't finished blowing over, matter of fact, it was just beginning. If there was one class everyone agreed there should have been a hold on it was physical education or P.E. as it was generally called. Unfortunately it would take an executive order from the Headmaster to make Professor Goodwitch _ever _cancel class. As per protocol out door classes were suspended for the time being meaning the class would be doing exercise in the insanely large gymnasium. The building was easily large enough for the students to corner themselves off and still have room to themselves which was exactly what was needed at the time.

The P.E. department had a total of five working virtual reality simulators, one more than Haven, two more than Shade, but three less than Atlas Academy. Normally Professor Goodwitch and the staff had a rooster of what was getting VR training, other times students were free to sign up so long as there was still space left. Today happened to be one of those days.

"You're not up for a run through an arctic cavern?"

"I've had enough of ice if you haven't caught my drift, and it's not even snowing."

Getting her old half-canine friend to move was proving harder than Yang expected. It wasn't out of place for him to sit out some days but given the winded daze he was in earlier she decided it was better to investigate rather than wait and watch. That was how they ended up sitting together alone on a bench while their classmates went at various activities around them, weight lifting, running laps, target practice, mock battles, and practicing punches and kicks on training dummies. If one humans were doing one activity it was almost a given there were little if any Faunus nearby doing the same.

Yang didn't care about the few side glances she was getting from passersby and neither did Buruan. "Are you scared you're going to get drawn into a fight or something? You know if you do I'll have your back, it's not like I'm scared of some glorified hall monitors like the DC."

"Last I checked those hall monitors were some of the toughest members of our class, and the class above ours, and the one above that." The silver-eyed male retorted. "Besides Yang, you know me better than that, I hate being stuffed up indoors!"

"You're more than welcome to go outside and run laps in thirty degree weather." The Y of team RWBY remarked with a shrug.

Rolling his eyes the Faunus leaned back so his head was touching the wall. With his animal senses he was getting more feedback than Yang could imagine, so many nasty comments and remarks flying across the gym he felt like standing outside in the bone-chilling weather would have been a better option. It wasn't like he hadn't been through worse. The moment his noise picked up a particular pair of scents he perked up a little. "Izaak, Olivia."

"Neil told us what happened in your tactics class." Were the first words out of Izaak's mouth startling the silver-eyed teenager somewhat. Like Olivia beside him he had a thin layer of sweat forming upon his brow as proof he'd been working out rather than sulking around.

Yang moved aside so there was room for the I and O of team IONC to squeeze in. "Almost two months since an attack that embarrassed the nation and the government hasn't released a public statement saying they're close to catching the ones responsible. It's only natural people are still pissed off, given we're just coming back from Christmas everyone's going to be in a foul temper." Olivia affirmed watching her classmates with unmoving eyes. "When I went home to Mistral you should have heard the jokes people were making about the Vale government, they were calling them idiots for letting the White Fang pull their pants down like that."

"Oh I would have loved to have seen them do better." Yang snorted. "How long is it going to be like this? Last I heard today brings the number of fights to something like thirty."

"Thirty-eight in total this week, Monday had ten, Tuesday had twelve, Wednesday had three because we were snowed in, and today there have been thirteen today. Of course all these are reported attacks anyway, Oum knows how many have flown below the radar." Scuffed the olive-haired heiress. Based on her voice and body language that number was too high for her liking. "As of this afternoon there's an estimated sixty students being charged for inciting racial violence and are facing disciplinary action, odds are that number will have risen by the time the weekend gets here."

"Wow 'Liv, thanks for filling me with confidence about the situation." Buruan muttered slouching back as a trio of human students threw a glare his way as they passed them by.

"I wasn't trying to fill you up with confidence Buruan, I'm just stating what the reality of the situation is." She retorted.

The blonde and Viking were having their own little conversation as the Faunus and samurai conversed. As she listened Yang honestly found herself stunned into silence learning the first thing Neil had done coming back from winter break was join the DC. Given what she'd been able to squeeze out of Buruan and her sources he'd been enforcing the school's anti-racism law with fierce conviction. Briefly glancing to her left at Olivia she found it easier to believe she'd joined the Disciplinary Committee, she was after all a stickler for the rules.

"How's Chicahua been holding up?"

"He's used to this stuff. What about Blake?" When all he got was a downcast shrug Izaak knew the ex-terrorist hadn't been taking things well. "This is why I hate winter. It'd be better off if Professor Goodwitch could just let us all run around Emerald Forest to blow off steam instead of keeping us all locked in here."

"Don't jinx it, I'm sure she's planning on making us do something like survival training in the middle of a snowstorm." Yang groaned. "Gah! I can't take this anymore, someone head to one of the VR rooms with me!"

"What happened to Ruby, Weiss, and Blake?" Izaak questioned noticing the brawler had been alone nearly all period.

"Ruby's off practicing with Vomit Boy and Pyrrha, Weiss's been spying on Neil, and I can't find Blake anywhere! I take my eyes off of her for one second as we're getting changed and she's gone!" She bellowed grabbing Buruan by the arm then Izaak. "You two are coming with me, no buts!"

The silver-eyed Faunus and hazel-eyed human exchanged a look. "Like we ever had a choice." They spoke jointly then straightened up to follow the boxer.

None of them paid much attention to Olivia sat on the bench a minute longer before joining them. Her face was hard and her brow forwarded meaning she was deep in thought. Once class ended she'd record everything she saw and heard for the school day then go forth with the necessary information. Olivia's eyes snapped to the high porch which the professors used to observe the students and oversee the gym. As usual Professor Goodwitch was there, only this time she'd been joined by an unexpected guest, the Headmaster. Her gaze lingered on the bespectacled man for a short moment before she stood up to follow her teammate and classmates. _With all due respect Headmaster, you're going to have to do MUCH better than this if you expect to keep this school from coming apart at the seams. Or keep yourself from losing your position as headmaster of this school. _Were the silent thoughts of the arms heiress as she pushed and shoved her way past a multitude of spiteful and angry students who looked at her with faces of pure disdain and for some outright fury.

* * *

**And I'm back from a long break, blame college and real life for that one. So yeah, things have changed at Beacon in the wake of Aemon Strip, somewhat justified since as some of you can guess there was a time skip from last chapter. Bonkers as it is this story does follow a loose timeline where the seasons play a part in what happens so I sort of had to refresh things. If I'm writing horrible things happening or people going through tough times I like to make the setting as close to winter as possible. Not a lot more I can say for this chapter other than it was a set up for the next arc of the story where things shift into high gear. **


	40. Chapter 40: A-x-E Pt1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 40: A-x-E Pt.1**

_**That following Monday, January 13**__**th**__**…**_

"Winner, Cardin Winchester!" Glynda Goodwitch called out entering the results into her tablet.

The brawly mace-wielder's victory earned him a half-hearted round of applauds from the human half of the crowd. Only one Faunus applauded and that was Chicahua. Cardin's opponent was lying on the training mat moaning his disappointment at barely lasting two minutes with the son of a minister. The fight had been in Cardin's favor the minute the bell sounded signaling its beginning, for all the Winchester's negatives he'd been trained well in armed and unarmed combat. As many had just seen when unarmed Cardin preferred grappling with his target, and he was actually a pretty good grappler. Even Yang had given him a passing compliment as the fight drew too an end. This made for the young knight's sixth straight win in unarmed matches.

"If it was me, I'd have broken his record." Nora grinned practically bouncing in her seat.

"Yes, yes Nora, we all know what else you would have broken, now pipe down I'm trying to watch Rad." Ndidi chided while patting the orange-haired girl on the head as if she were a dog. Her focus was solely on her struggling partner, his misery would be over soon meaning her job was about to start. "Someone tell me, how long did he last?"

"He lasted a minute and forty seconds, still didn't beat Jaune's record." Yang laughed throwing a sideways glance in the Arc's direction. "See Jaune, there's someone worse than you at hand-to-hand combat in our little group!"

As per usual a metaphorical rain cloud appeared over Jaune's downcast head. It was something of a shame Pyrrha wasn't there to comfort him as she was out on one of the training mats herself. Ruby felt the slightest inclination to go to him; however, her instincts told her to stay by her partner who'd been in a somewhat foul mood all day.

Unarmed sparring was something of a tricky subject at Beacon, some hated it while others loved it. No weapons or Semblances were allowed, just one's natural body parts and their Aura. Someone on the P.E staff had a fondness for it as anytime there was a chance to spend the entire class doing nothing but sparing it was taken almost without a second thought. For students who despaired at the thought of fighting without their weapons it was one nightmare after another. There were fourteen training rings that filled up half the gymnasium while the other half contained various obstacle course and exercise equipment that could be used if one wasn't in the mood for testing their martial prowess.

Naturally certain people did their best to avoid sparring all together. These were the ones who, shall we say, were quite fearful of being deprived of their weapons in an actual fight. Of team CNBR Rad was one that person. He was a mage, a spellcaster, whatever you want to call a person who relied on "magic" to fight rather than physical ability or use of a weapon. His Dust-filled tome was the only weapon he needed and it required mental and spiritual strength, not the kind of physical might needed by someone like Nora to wield. As his teammates had quickly discovered the redhead's ability to fight without his tome was mediocre at best, granted he was still a cut above certain other students who'd embarrassed themselves on their first day.

Rad was lying on the mat groaning at the throbbing pain in his legs and his back, No poorly timed kicks had resulted in him falling face-first into the mat then being flipped over his backside forcing him to surrender the round to his opponent. As soon as the gong sounded Jaune's waited for the announcement of the next combatant silently praying it wouldn't be him. If there was one thing he shared in common with the redheaded mage besides a fondness for X-Ray and Vav comics it was his abyssal level of fighting ability, at least unarmed fighting anyway. When Nora's name was called to another ring he released a sigh of relief while Nora practically jumped out of her seat then darted to the ring she'd been called to.

Leaning back into the row of seats behind him Jaune cursed himself yet again for his perceived weakness. He was terrified of stepping onto the training mat, had been since his sparring match with Olivia. It had been months ago, but he memory of the ten-second defeat had been permanently burned into his mind; no one had let him forget it either if that wasn't enough. The matches going on around him left him feeling both amazed and incredibly depressed as they always had. Here he was surrounded by people demonstrating combat ability he'd spent so long wishing for.

Ren and Chun Tao were fast and graceful in their fighting styles though they deferred slightly in how they interacted with their opponents. They had seen Ren fight four matches that day and all but one had ended in his victory. His dark-haired friend's method of fighting consisted of dodging and redirecting his opponent's attacks back onto themselves or into empty air. His movements were fluid like the wind yet when he saw a chance to strike he did so with force. Punches, jabs, and kicks that left his opponent moaning on the mat wondering what happened while he resumed his combat stance in preparation for the next attack. When they came at him he was ready and the same results played out again until they finally threw in the towel.

It was only when he'd been faced with Olivia did his winning streak come to a solid end.

A crowd had gathered around that training mat to see the two martial artist go at it even if it was only a controlled battle that would keep the two of them from using their strongest moves. Nora's cheering for her friend and partner were the loudest amongst the crowd though there were quite a few other females giving Ren their encouragement. Izaak, the sole member of team IONC who wasn't fighting wasn't verbally cheering for his teammate though he was smiling. That was his own version of encouragement.

Before the bell sounded the two clasped their hands together before giving the other a bow of respect.

_**DING! **_

Olivia struck first with the speed of lightning propelling her left leg forward in a sideways kick. In a single step Ren moved out of her range then surged forward in an attempt to catch the limb before Olivia could react; her reaction speed was faster than his as the next second showed. In a flash Olivia's left leg was back on the ground and she was crouching low then surging forward with an uppercut aimed at Ren's chin. Swiftly moving his right arm to grab her wrist he reared his left fist back for a jab he guessed would be intercepted. Rather than use her arm Olivia lashed out with her right foot catching Ren in the side with a solid blow to the ribs' as he stumbled backwards she dropped to her knees and attempted a sweep kick to bring him down to the floor. Ren's feet briefly left the mat allowing him to avoid Olivia's move then retaliate with an axe kick aimed at her head. Crossing both her arms Olivia pushed her upper body upwards while Ren's leg made its descend. For those who could catch it they saw Ren's eyes narrow in consideration and annoyance his move was about to be blocked.

_**THUMP! **_

Almost everyone saw it, Jaune certainly did. Ren was off balance, briefly hopping on one leg frantically trying to regain feeling in his right foot. Olivia's left jab came like a bullet hitting him square in the gut. Ren's feet skid across the mat until he was able to regain control of his body, granted Olivia was now surging towards him with her fists ready to deliver the knockout blow. In one quick breath Ren spun out of the way of her attack and textbook butterfly kick that landed perfectly on Olivia's right shoulder. There was a grunt of pain then she was launching a series of frontal kicks Ren met with his own back-to-back kicks. The break up came with Olivia suddenly met an oncoming kick with her arm, just like before the blow came with equal force knocking both limbs away though Olivia reacted faster, throwing a left right hook at Ren's face. Ducking the blow Ren threw both his palms forward directly at Olivia's exposed stomach hoping to land another solid hit. What he didn't see coming was the sudden jerking of her knee, it connected with his forearm producing a rather audible crack. In the short window of time she had Olivia pressed off the ground with her left foot while her right was extended outward thus hitting Ren square in the chin with a breath-taking somersault kick.

The arms heiress earned a universe gasp from the entire crowd which consisted of first years, second years, and a handful of third years. Amongst their little group Ruby, and Yang verbally expressed their excitement at seeing such a flawless move that would have downed any other opponent. Izaak didn't say anything, he just kept smiling that knowing little grin that spoke of the utter confidence in his partner. Weiss, on the other hand, seemed annoyed at the praise the olive-haired teenager was receiving. Personally Jaune wanted to believe Ren had a chance, but something told him even though it was only a sparring match Olivia was coming at her just as if this were a real life-or-death battle. He actually found it unnerving how she seemed to share that trait with Neil.

If anyone thought that kick would be the final blow of the match they were in for a surprise as Ren balanced himself by stomping his left foot back and righting himself. He caught Olivia's double-fisted attack with ease. Returning the favor for his chin he slammed his knee into her gut then followed it up with a satisfying crescent kick to her face. Recovering quickly from the face blow Olivia met Ren's follow up palm strike with a set of Aura-infused fists that created small shock-waves in the air.

_**THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! **_

In a split second Ren saw something drastically change in Olivia's gray-green eyes, something he didn't like at all. By the time he detected what had happened he already knew it was too late for him to stop Olivia's next attack, and he wouldn't be able to stop the one that came after it. His magenta-colored eyes snapped shut at the sudden pain rippling through his right arm leaving it unusable. Forcing his eyes open Ren saw his opponent was already in strides to press her attack. _Going from a simple punch to a one-inch punch in the blink of an eye, I'm pretty impressed. _Were the thoughts running through his mind as he ducked two more punches before countering with a roundhouse kick.

At the drop of a hat Olivia dropped to her knee with one arm up perfectly blocking attack, no, not blocking, parrying it. Like with his arm his leg was paralyzed. Ren saw it flash in Olivia's eyes, a gleaming light that would have terrified any lesser student, but not him, from one martial artist to another he respected what he saw in Olivia's eyes.

Olivia's right fist knocked a good amount of air out of his lungs as it drove its way into his stomach. The pain kept him in place long enough for her for her to deliver another upper cut, and another, and then another. At last she ended the entire thing with a graceful wheel kick that at last put Ren down on the ground with enough pain throbbing through his body to make him consider staying down.

And he did.

"I yield." He spoke up for the first time since the match began.

Around them the crowd broke into a mix of applauds, gossiping, and not-so-surprisingly groaning at lost baits. He didn't pay attention to it, his focus remained on Olivia who offered him his hand upon finally catching up to him at the edge of the ring.

"You're as good as they say you are." She offered.

"And you've proven Takeo-style Karate is every bit as strong as its reputation boasts." He returned her smile. "It was an honor to fight with you."

"The feeling's mutual, anytime you want a rematch just let me know." Olivia giggled.

"RRREENN!" Came the voice of team JNPR's muscle followed by her female form smashing into Ren then wrapping her arms around him. "What was that? You should have won that match! How come you haven't taught me how to do any of those moves!?"

Jaune wished Pyrrha was there with them to enjoy this little moment, he knew these were the kinds of memories she would be treasuring years down the line just as he would. Olivia seemed to be enjoying the comedic display as well as evident by the gentle smile she had on her face. In his fair opinion she actually looked quite stunning with her shoulder-length hair tied back in a pony-tail and gym shorts. Internally he was grateful he'd grown out of his Casanova tendencies; if he hadn't he doesn't think Olivia would have taken his flirting lightly or allowed him to walk away with just a bruised ego. Given that Olivia already had a less than stellar opinion of him now he shuddered to think how she would have reacted.

She seemed to be able to sense his gawking at her as she eventually turned her head so she was facing his general direction. Almost immediately the smile fell once her piercing eyes found him sitting in the bleachers. She was frowning at him, and glaring, doing both at the same time if it was possible. Nervous shakes racked his body to the point Jaune could have sworn his own teeth could be heard chattering. Averting his eyes in the direction of the others he began steadily sliding himself over hoping being around them would lessen the impact of the samurai's gaze.

One person noticed the silent shake down and that person was Ruby. Socially awkward as she was she could still tell when something was amiss with her friends, especially when that friend was Jaune. He was too much of an open book to her sometimes. Like everyone else she was watching Olivia though there was no smile on her face. There was something about her she couldn't quite put her finger on, something dangerous and foreboding that kept her from greeting her with her usual kindness. It actually went further than that, for better or for worse Olivia had had something of destabilizing effect on her entire team.

Ever since the Battle of Aemon Strip Blake had become absolutely skiddish around Olivia, no doubt due to the fact she'd not only seen through her disguise so easily, but had also pieced together her connection to the White Fang. Though she'd assured them she had no intentions on coming forth with this information Blake's fear had won out in the end.

"_You don't know people like her Ruby. It's not that they can be evil or cruel, it's the opposite." _Her ninja teammate told her one night before they all left for winter break. _"People like Olivia…they know how to read a person with a single glance, their background, their feelings, everything about them they can figure out by doing nothing but watching them for less than a day. I-I don't want that, I just don't want anyone doing that to me, especially when they know something that could get me thrown in a federal prison cell with no hope of escape." _

Yang was near the exact opposite in terms of, well everything really. It seemed to be a trend whenever Blake was involved. First off Yang was weary of Olivia because she knew her partner's secret period; her word had done little to disrupt the in-built big sister trait that Yang was loved for. Second on the list was that their personalities were total opposites: Yang was hot-tempered impulsive, loud, and talkative while Olivia was calm, analytical, and above all else positively snarky with nearly everyone she socialized with. Yang did not like being the victim of snark or trolling; Olivia seemed to have found some enjoyment in constantly trolling her though.

"_Arrogant, they're both arrogant so that could be a start." _Izaak had told her while they were in the library reading various comics and novels.

Ruby wasn't quite sure that would be the starting point of a friendship. Less so since her older sister was looking at Olivia with gleaming eyes and a crooked grin. It was no secret she'd been looking for a way to pay back the arms heiress for the "hospital" incident almost two and a half months ago. No one said it, some whispered it in secret, but a good chunk of people betted in an all-out fun Olivia would soundly defeat the brawler of team RWBY. Ruby didn't think that as she had total confidence in her sister. Granted seeing Olivia's skill with nothing but her bare hands she had to admit she might have been able to give her sister a run for her money.

Lastly that left her partner Weiss. For the past few months Ruby had noted her teammate had been something of a mood. She knew it involved Neil in some way since she'd gone out of her way to avoid him. And then there was Olivia seemed to challenge Weiss on every level possible, the classroom seemed to be a favorite though.

"_Rivalry." _Chicahua had dubbed it with a proud smile on his face. _"The arms heiress and the energy heiress, weapons and tactics against Dust, quite a beautiful thing to witness." _

The young reaper wasn't sure if she wanted to call it beautiful but she had to admit Chicahua had a point when he said there was now a rivalry between the two girls. As several students, and teachers, had pointed out Olivia and Weiss carried far more similarities with each other than they bothered to admit. Both of them were heiress to the largest companies in their respective fields and incorporated that interest into their fighting style. On top of that both of them took a fair amount pride in who they were and where they came. Ruby theorized Weiss was well aware of these similarities, what baffled her was that she wasn't trying to build a working relationship based on them.

"So are you going to settle this today or not Yang?" The white-haired heiress asked, her face a mask of neutrality her teammates could easily see through.

"If you want to settle your score with her why don't you step onto the mat? Last I checked you could actually use the training." Yang jabbed before getting up and walking away.

"Where are you going?" Rad asked.

"To go see Neil's fights." She answered back with an ear-to-ear grin. "Guy's been kicking ass left and right since we started. Five matches straight and no's been able to lay a finger on him, not even second years."

Yang counted how long it took her friends to leave the bleachers to come join her. Nidi and Rad were by her side in ten, Jaune closely behind them, followed by Izaak, and lastly Ren and Nora. That left Ruby and Weiss, the former seemed to be trying to get the later up and moving. Knowing Weiss Yang decided to go straight for the jugular, "Just because you can't have him doesn't mean you can't watch him kick some ass. May be the closest you ever get to him at this rate."

Like that Weiss's aloof demeanor vanished. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" She didn't seem to care her voice was so loud it'd caught the entire crowd's attention, including Olivia's opponent. "Maybe I just don't want to see that arrogant prick showing off in front of his fangirls! Maybe I'd rather stay here and watch Olivia! Did you consider that!"

_**CRA-ACK! **_

"GGWWAAH!"

Everyone save for Izaak was blinking and staring silently at the training mat. "Why Weiss, thank you, I'm flattered you'd rather spend the next half hour watch me beat the living crap out of people instead of going to see my teammate who you've obviously been crushing on!" Olivia joyful exclaimed while holding her opponent in a judo-style leglock. "Now I know I may be entertaining to watch, but trust me when I say this, Neil would love to have you there watching him. He's actually quite fond of you."

For a second the masses really thought Weiss was going to attack Olivia, summon a Glyph, do a reckless charge, or even scream based on the mounting rage in her face. As the anger continued to build Olivia continued sliming never once letting up in the hold she had over her opponent.

More than handful of students began to scramble as far away as possible from the scene while others began whispering about bets back and forth.

Yang was watching the showdown with an eager smile while her fellow blonde seemed to be experiencing a moment of mortal panic. Deep down Jaune knew just as well as her that Weiss stood _zero _chance against Olivia without her Semblance or Myrtenaster-everyone did. Nidi and Rad seemed to be looking out for a teacher or senior student to stop the would-be-showdown. Nora was like Yang in that she wanted to see a fight, Ren was a different story. Based on his calculative eyes he was estimating the moment he'd have to step in to play peacekeeper himself. Izaak looked bored as hell and Ruby was shaking in her shoes. At least until she finally acted.

Grabbing Weiss's wrist she screamed, "No thanks, we've got a fight to see! Bye now!" And darted off with her teammate in tow.

You could hear a cricket chirp in the stunned silence that followed.

"Okay gang, to Neil's ass-kicking show!" Yang proclaimed directing her group after her sister.

The minute they were out of sight all attention went back to the training mat. "Just out of curiosity, do you enjoy pissing Weiss off?" Questioned Velvet from the sidelines.

"Well partially, it's her fault really." Olivia admitted wearing a sheepish smile. "She just makes it too easy for me. By the way, who'd like to be next?"

_**CRA-ACK! **_

"AAHHH!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that!? You know I hate it!" Weiss snarled yanking her arm free once Ruby finally came to a stop.

"I'm sorry! I just knew I had to get you out of there before you…you…" Now she'd hit a speed bump. As always she'd acted before a plan could fully come together and now she was paying the price for it. Ruby knew if she said she was trying to save Weiss's pride her partner would go off on her in front of the entire class. Oh how she hated dealing with Weiss and her pride- it was like trying to defuse a live bomb while having opera music blasted into your ear. Unless she came up with a plan fast she would go off so she had to think fast. "I…I-I…I…I really wanted you and Neil to talk things out! Yeah! Every time someone's brought him up you've gotten all grumpy! That's no good! He's a nice guy! Really! Sure he can be a little scary when he's fighting but outside of it he's so down to earth and cool!"

The heiress would have replied if something else hadn't caught her attention, or rather someone else hadn't caught her attention. Though she hadn't known it Ruby had brought them to the forefront the ring Neil was fighting in. What came as a surprise to her was that it wasn't a one-on-one bought. The gray-haired knight-in-training was doing battle with four second year students…and he was winning.

It didn't seem to matter if he had his trademark swords with him, Neil still fought as if he were a human hurricane-striking fast and moving with the speed of the wind. Straight punches to the gut that staggered his enemies followed by vicious kicks that left them rolling around the ground. He seemed to follow a pattern that consisted of attack, block, parry, and then counterattack as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Even attempting to sneak up on him proved futile as one of them learned. Neil was in the middle of wailing on a dazed opponent with a series of rapid fire jabs when he seemed to sense one of his targets attempting to blindside him with a high kick to the side of his skull. Breaking off immediately Neil caught his attacker's leg, and then slammed his fist into their knee electing an ear-piecing cry from his foe. The opponent he'd previously been wailing on threw themselves back into the fight by coming at him with an Aura empowered fist.

Neil grabbed a hold of the first assailant's shoulders in order to push himself upwards and held on as he came down in front of their backside. He didn't flinch as his make-shift human shield gasped from breath at the impact of the Aura-empowered fist driving into his stomach. Throwing the gasping student to the side he capitalized on the stunned look on his second attacker's face to drive his own fist into their gut. A straight elbow strike to the base of the neck and the older male was lying on the ground with his friend.

The last two were standing to Neil's right and left respectively, a single glance went between the two of them while Neil did nothing but face forward with a stormy frown on his face. Simultaneously they both came at him with their Auras visibly manifesting around their legs. The crowd saw Neil's arms twice then they moved to intercept both flying kicks.

_**THUMP! THUMP! **_

Ruby and Weiss were just two members of the speechless crowd amazed at how Neil had caught both legs and locked them in. Neil himself gave little more than a single grunt of effort at the stellar feet. He finally grunted when he began swinging both students around and around much to their mutual dismay. The first one he let go went sailing into the crowd greatly startling them, the second he flat out slammed into the mat. While they rebounded off the ground Neil brought his left fist down on top of their skull ending the fight then and there.

It was partial the brutality of the attack that stunned the crowed into further silence. Sure Neil's opponent was still breathing as evident by his pained moans, but everyone knew if Neil had wanted his finishing move could have been fatal. As he stood up Neil didn't seem to care too much for his opponents or what the crowd had to say. He patiently waited for the announcement of his next opponent until two names were called, he was finished the time being.

As if a switch had been flipped Neil's stormy frown was replaced by his usual lazy expression. That was when the scores of female students who'd converged on the rims of the ring rushed forward eager to get a hold of him.

At the backs of the crowd Weiss and Ruby abysmally stared at the scene. "I bet Jaune wishes he had that kind of luck with girls." Ruby somewhat joked.

"You think? I'm sure he's dreamed about it since day one." Weiss commented with a stone-cold frown.

That was the moment a certain olive-haired samurai decided to drop in on the two girls via her Semblance. "If Neil ever finds a way to transfer his charm I'm sure Jaune will be his first choice."

"Ah!" Ruby shrieked nearly falling over with her heart thundering in her ears. "W-What? How?"

"You seem to love using your Semblance to get the jump on other people but they can't do the same?"

With a huff Weiss had her arms crossed and eyes on the crowd of females all clamoring for Neil's attention. "So which one of them is Gráinne? Let me guess, it's one of the blondes? Neil's got a thing for blondes?"

_Oh Weiss, if only you really were as smart as you make yourself out to be. If you were then I wouldn't have to do this, but you're the best chance he's got so I guess you'll have to do. _Devious laughter rung in the head of the arms heiress behind the still gaze she shared with her fellow heiress. "Gráinne's not in this class, she doesn't have the same schedule Neil does so they can't see each other whenever they like."

"You didn't answer my question, is she a blonde?"

"Her hair is on the light side now that you mention it."

Weiss mentally cursed herself for sounding so obvious. As if having Ruby right beside her wasn't bad enough now she was probably going to be getting an earful from her about this mess. "Is she a first year or second year? Third year student?"

"Hm, she's a first year student; however, she's got enough power and skill to give even a third year a run for their money. She's a beautiful warrior, one of the best you'll ever meet."

"Oh! What kind of weapon does she wield? A sword? A halberd? An axe? A sniper rifle? A mini-gun? A gunblade? An axe that transforms into a Gatling gun? A plasma rifle capable of transforming into a beam sword?" Ruby questioned now earnestly interested in where the discussion was going.

"Let me put to you guys this way, she's a firearms specialist. That's all I can say." Answered the female samurai. "Gráinne's the last person you want to get into a firefight with."

"Oh so she's a gunslinger? That's wonderful." Weiss sneered. It was impossible to see Neil through the crowd of females now crowding around him. Somewhere in the back of her mind Weiss was actually glad most of the men were giving him a glare. As if being a member of the Disciplinary Committee wasn't enough now he had the attention of a solid quarter of the females in class. "Does she…does she come from wealth? Does her name have any wei-hat is her full name anyway?"

_Close but no cigars Weiss. _"Her full name is Gráinne Airt. You…could say her name has some weight behind it. It used to anyway. It doesn't anymore sadly so you could say she and Neil share s similar background."

Something about the look in Olivia's eyes made Weiss withdraw a little from her questioning. It seemed like she was genuinely sad the conversation had shifted to the subject of Neil's family. Remembering who Neil's parents were made her realize why the topic needed to be shifted. Or the conversation could have ended there.

Weiss was ready for it to end. "What's her last class? The one she's in now."

"Currently she's in tracking and surveillance, she's got a knack for those things too. You see she's a special needs kind of student so it's all real hush-hush. Now if you'll excuse me, my teammate needs me to bail him out." Winking at the two Olivia disappeared in a green flash of light. A similar flash appeared in the heart of the crowd for a second, and then right on cue came the cries of dozens of disappointed fangirls.

Rather or not Weiss was aware of Ruby watching her she'd never know. She didn't know her partner took note of how as soon as class ended she seemingly disappeared for the rest of the day. It was unusual given they had a mission the next day as she was the one who usually advocated for being prepared the night before. It was clear as day the N of team IONC had taken prominence inside her head. No one said anything about it though, all they did was hope it wouldn't hamper her once they got out into the field.

* * *

**_January_**_** 15th,Two days later… **_

It was raining when they got back to Beacon from their latest mission. Given how cold it'd gotten this the downpour all the more brutal. The second they were off the airship team RWBY hurried into cover which for them translated into the student lounge. Except for Blake, was she'd warmed up she bee-lined for the library leaving her team to warm up by one of the newly installed fireplaces.

"I wish Jaune was here." The young redhead sniffled.

"So we can add hot chocolate to the list." Weiss whispered startling Ruby greatly. "And you'd keep him all to yourself. I must say Ruby, I didn't know you were so possessive of anything besides Crescent Rose." The more she went on the more flustered the redhead became much to Weiss' amusement. It'd taken her some time to grasp the fact that despite all his shortcomings as a Huntsman Jaune was actually a decent cook, or at least he had a gift for preparing sweets Ruby found imaginable. With that in mind she found it reasonable why she didn't want anyone else finding out; Weiss had strong armed Jaune into cooking whatever she wanted whenever she wanted upon finding out about his little talent. "He won't be back until Thursday night so we're just going to have to eat regularly like everyone else." In response to that Ruby brought her face down against the table with a groan.

It was almost half an hour later when Ruby bothered looking up to find Weiss had grabbed them a plate of snacks to munch on until it was time for dinner. Ruby appreciated the gesture but she wasn't going to let it stop her from asking the question that had been on her mind for nearly two days. "If you meet Gráinne will you finally be able to talk to Neil?" The reaction she got was exactly what she expected. "Look, I'm just saying it's stupid to hate someone who you've never met."

"What makes you think I hate her? Why? Because she's dating that…that…"

"Look on the bright side, at least you're not homicidal or getting violent." A familiar voice joked from their right. From her table Coco waved to them. "Since you guys were away you probably didn't hear about what happened."

"What happened?" Both girls asked feeling their hearts skip a beat based on the frown Coco had on.

"Some idiots attacked Gráinne yesterday, beat her to a pulp to get back at Neil." She clarified turning away from the card game she'd been playing with Fox. "Word is when Neil got the message he ran out of class to go to her. He's sent _nine _people to the infirmary already."

At that Ruby and Weiss could feel their jaws hitting the floor. Weiss suddenly felt a cold chill run up her spine at the revelation. Fear was also a primary factor. Every time he went into battle Neil seemed to change into a completely different person, a dark and borderline psychopathic one with no qualms about dismembering his enemies if he had to. That was just normal battle, to see him angered…she shuddered at what that must have looked like.

"C-Can we go see her?" Ruby innocently questioned out of concern for her friend's lover.

"You can try to, but I doubt you'll be able to." Coco answered leaning back into her seat while creasing her brow. "Earlier today there was another fight between humans and Faunus, this time someone decided to bring fire-attributed Dust to the party. Blew a nice hole in one of the hallways injuring some fourteen students. Olivia was sure as hell pissed off when she showed up and carted them away. Since the fighting's been getting worse the medical department's had to take certain steps to protect patients."

"Protect patients? What sending them to the nurse's office wasn't enough?" Ruby cried outraged.

"Remember no's completely bounced back from Aemon, and there's been a string of racial violence on the rise all over the country." The white-haired heiress cut in. Sometimes she truly wished Ruby's naïveté of racial prejudice wasn't so big; for her who'd grown up in a racial-charged environment it was just an unsettling reminder of a past she wanted to shake off. "So visiting hours are few and far between. Where's Neil in all of this?"

"No one's seen much of him, word is he hasn't left Gráinne's side since he went after her attackers." Coco said.

_He's probably not in a talkative mood then. _She reasoned. "I see, thank you for telling us." This had put everything on a solid hold for a while. She did want to meet this Gráinne, but she didn't want to make a scene out of it. Learning she'd been assaulted had most definitely complicated what little plans she had, more so given the fact the medical center had basically been put on lockdown.

It was at dinner time as she was eating with her friends that Weiss came to the conclusion she was going to need someone with a skill set suited for infiltration and recon. Blake was immediately rolled out for obvious reasons. Buruan would never let her hear the end of it if she went to him. She wasn't close enough with Fox of team CFVY to ask a favor nor could she risk the chance of her request leaking to Coco then the rest of the student body. The question who she could use was the primary reason she remained silent at Yang and Ruby retold the events of their mission to their remaining circle of friends. Chicahua and Olivia were the members of team IONC able to make it to dinner. Neil had voted to stay with his girlfriend and his brother had decided to join him. Weiss had a sinking feel whatever history this Gráinne had she shared with Izaak.

_Right about now having my own ninja butler or maid sounds really good. _Her tired mental voice sounded. A second later and she couldn't believe she'd actually thought such a thing. _I've been hanging out with Ruby and Nora too much. If I only I knew someone who could get the job done and not ask me any second questions when it was over. _So engrossed with her thoughts she didn't notice another fight had broken out close to their table until a soda can went flying past her. Snapping her head back she saw three male human students beginning to exchange blows with a pair of Faunus twins. To her amazement the Mohawk-haired knife-user of team CRDL took a step forward in an attempt to defuse the situation, for a reward he got an Aura-powered fist that sent him skidding over table.

"And here we go again." Olivia's irritated voice seethed before she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Within the timespan of probably forty seconds Olivia had both parties on the ground and pinned therewith her cold glare practically nailing them to the floor. Though the crowd around her was preoccupied with the spectacle Weiss's attention was on the green-haired boy who was rolling off the table with myriad of food smeared all over his back. If anyone was paying attention to Weiss Schnee at that moment they would have noticed how wide her eyes were. "That's it."

One person did notice.

* * *

_**Six Twenty-three that following morning…**_

How Russel had ended up in this situation he really had no idea. Sure like any other guy he wanted a chance to talk to Weiss Schnee, but things hadn't gone the way he'd pictured them. Having her corner him in the dry cleaning room with a face that read trouble made him think he'd slighted her in some unintended way. For that reason he'd practically dropped to his knees and begged her not to sick Yang on him.

"_Will you be quiet! The only reason I'm here talking to you is because I have a request!"_ She barked with an angry knot on her forehead.

"_A what?" _Was all he could ask dumbfounded.

"_It's a mission…so to speak. One only you are qualified for as far as my knowledge goes." _Weiss stated trying to look as professional as possible. The last thing she wanted was for him to believe she was begging him. _"Word is you're pretty good at being stealthy. You know most of the academy, the ins and outs, that's why I came to you." _

"_And what you want is?" _

"_I want you to…I want you to find out Gráinne Airt's condition. I want to know if she's doing okay." _There, she'd gotten through the first part of her master plan. Now all she had to do was wait for Russel's reaction. If the rumors about team CRDL turning over a new leaf were true she believed it would do him some good to get in her good graces. Weiss was well aware of the noticeable perks she allowed her friends to enjoy via her family connections.

Admittedly Russel's first thought was to walk away from the entire deal before he said something stupid. He'd heard about the supposed attack on Neil's girlfriend, and he'd thanked his stars he'd changed his ways before the gray-haired teenager came to Beacon. The guys who did it were doing it to get back at Neil, not only a hotly desired target of the female student body, but also an enforcer for the Beacon Disciplinary Committee. That was not a good combination to have if you expected to make it through Beacon without incident. When he first got the news Cardin had made him promise to stay as far away from the situation as possible. _Technical it's not like I'm inserting myself into the middle of the whole mess. Besides Weiss wouldn't be stupid enough to get herself mixed up with a guy like Neil. "What do I get out of all of this?" _

"_Let's say I'll make it worth your time." _She simply responded.

Russel remembered taking one look at the clock seeing if he had enough time to get this over with as soon as possible. He did. _"It'll be tight but I can do it. You have a deal Weiss. Meet at his place tomorrow morning at six twenty, I'll have your information and you'll have my reward." _

"_Deal." _

That handshake was probably as close as Russel would ever get to an act of affection from the Schnee heiress. A bitter pill to swallow but he'd swallowed worse. As he patiently waited for the girl to make her appearance he mused over the information he'd attained last night. It certainly hadn't been what he was expecting, and Weiss probably wasn't going to like it either. His only concern was that he wouldn't get what was offered to him when he told Weiss of his findings.

The door to the large room cracked open and the heiress's soft footsteps could be heard making their way towards him. He was glad he'd had the good sense to throw on a t-shirt and sweet pants when the weather started getting colder rather than his usual sleepwear. Weiss probably wouldn't have thought too highly of a guy who went to sleep bare-chested in his boxers.

She came around one of the dryers holding a metallic box with the Schnee Company logo painted on all sizes with a ring of black and blue going around it. Her eyes connected with his immediately and her words practically flew from her mouth, "What did you find? How's her condition?"

Just taking the box and making a run for it seemed more and more appealing with each second he delayed answering her; what stopped him from doing so was the fact she'd catch him in an instant then beat the living hell out of him, and then take his prize away with her information leaving him with nothing. _I shouldn't have taken the deal. _For better or for worse he had, and now it was time to come through on his end. "Weiss, I don't know how to tell you this, but…there's no one named Gráinne in the infirmary. Hell, there's no one with that name or description you gave me in the entire _school_."

…

…

"WHAT!?"

"Hey! Not so loud!" He threw his hand over her mouth to keep the noise from traveling out and alerting anyone passing by to the secret meeting. "Look I'm sorry but that's what I found when I went digging."

"Digging? The infirmary I can believe, but how can you tell me there's no one with that name in the entire school! How can you possible know that?"

"Because I have a teammate who can break through at least one of Beacon's firewalls without a problem." The knife-wielder smugly answered only to have his pride broken down when Weiss's glare intensified. "When I didn't find anyone matching your description in the infirmary I went to Dove because I smelled something fishy! I didn't tell him about our deal, I just had him skim through the academy's registry of names, there's no student named Gráinne Airt enrolled in Beacon. I swear to you I'm telling the truth." He pleaded.

Weiss wanted so badly to believe Russel was lying to her, but the more she looked into his eyes the more she realized he was telling the truth. The truth as it was, had left her totally speechless. Everything she knew, all the thoughts she'd had running through her head, all of it came to a screeching crashing halt that left her mute. In her hands the metal box trembled then slipped from her grasp as she no longer had the strength to hold it up. She didn't register how Russel moved fast to catch it…or the fact he hadn't run off with it like some greedy worm. His face was the first thing she focused on to get her senses back; to her shock he seemed truly concerned about her.

"W-Weiss? Hey, listen, if you want me to I can do some more searching around Neil. Try to find out what's really been going on." He offered pushing the large box towards her.

The cold feel of the metal snapped Weiss completely out of her miniature meltdown. "N-No Russel," She started pushing it back against him. "I-I made you a deal, and you made good on your end. You earned this, just make sure no one catches you with it until you get back to your dorm."

"A-Al…alright. Thanks Weiss." He was a foot away from the door when he turned his head towards head back towards her. "Uh, if it's any consolation, Neil doesn't seem like the guy who'd make up an imaginary girl just for kicks. I…I hope you get a shot with him. See ya around."

She was alone in the dry cleaning room with nothing and no one but her thoughts. Leaning against a washing machine Weiss ran over everything she knew about Neil, that was when she realized she knew surprisingly little about him. _His whole team as a matter of fact. For a team with such a line up there's so little we know about them outside of fighting. Izaak is the son of a medical genius and descended from…well, lunatics, Chicahua's a Faunus prince who should hate Vale with a passion, Olivia's the heir to R.H.I, and then there's you Neil…the son of two of Remnant's most wanted thieves. _None of the pieces she had fit together. If she wanted answers to her questions she accepted she was going to have to dig deeper than what one could call a casual interest. _It can wait until after I've gotten Ruby enough clothes to make it through the winter intact. _In retrospect she found it stupid how she'd set out on this venture the same day she'd promised to go clothes shopping with her partner. Now the promise seemed to be the light at the end of dark tunnel she'd unknowingly wondered into.

As for as Weiss had been concerned her interest in Neil had been closed until she got to the door of her dorm. While she may have been ready to close the book someone else wasn't.

There was a shell casing lying at the foot of the door in plain view for her to see. Weiss stopped dead in her tracks once her eyes caught sight of the casing. Her combat training turned itself on in seconds, suddenly the depressed atmosphere of the hallway seemed rift with unknown danger. Someone had been watching her, perhaps they'd even been privy to her secret meeting with Russel. Cautiously she moved towards the shell casing not knowing if it was a trap or not. Given the racial tension that had skyrocketed in the last few weeks she wouldn't put it past a few knucklehead Faunus to go after her despite not playing a role in any attack or smear campaign. Weiss wasn't savvy enough to know what kind of cartridge it was or what caliber, all she knew was that someone had placed it for her to find.

Upon inspection she found there was a small slip of paper tucked inside. Unrolling it she got another shock to find its contents were rather ambiguous.

**Gráinne.**

**Garage-38. **

**Three eleven SHARP. **

**Passcode is 53357. **

The only thing Weiss could hear was her own heartbeat thumping against her chest. She had about twenty seconds to make a decision before someone caught her. Hastily flipping the cartridge over she got a good look at the bold initials on the bottom, **R.H.I**. Seeing those letters _slightly _brought her threat level down. In its place Weiss did feel her level of irritation with team IONC jump a few levels. "Olivia." Her olive-haired counterpart's name rolled off her lips with cold annoyance and slight malice. _Alright then, I'll play your little game until I can find out what it is you're hiding._

* * *

Weiss vanishing as soon as school official ended was something rather new for her teammates and friends. She'd have some explaining to do once they caught up with her; that meant she'd have to use ruby to formulate some kind excuse. That might actually be a problems since the redhead had gotten considerable better at reading emotions. Shaking her head as she rounded the last corner to her destination Weiss pushed back all that back.

Beacon Academy could hold a grand total of one hundred and sixty student or teach-owned vehicles. As one would suspect students needed a permit for any automobile or motorcycle they brought with them on top of handful of signed leases and lastly a payment for parking and maintenance services. Yang knew the details of the process better than Weiss did as she'd done it all so her Bumblebee could be maintained. She'd already passed the one that belonged to her upon entering the area and she continued through the maze of square-shaped buildings until she found what she was looking for.

Nothing stood out about the building, it was uniform just like the rest save for the myriad of noise coming from it. Weiss could feel her heart speed up on her way to the door though she didn't know why. Her breath caught in her throat when she entered the code into the electronic lock until it flashed green yielding her access. The heavy noises of machinery were her guide through the short corridors that eventually dropped her off in an absurdly large garage filled from wall to wall with boxes of parts, armaments, and machines she couldn't even begin to name. None of that was what grabbed her eyes though, that honor went to the slick silver automobile in the center of the room currently being worked by the boy who'd been her sole interest for the last three days.

Neil was just as shocked to see her as Weiss was to see him. His entire body went still as statue and his eyes widened just as hers did. His face was unreadable beyond the simple emotion of shock. Briefly Weiss could have sworn she saw anger flash through his gray-blue eyes. This was backed up by the sudden cackling in the air, like electricity beginning a slow build up until it subsided.

Weiss looked between the car and Neil as a hundred different thoughts did a relay inside her head. "N-Nei-Neil? I-I-I thought….I…."

"I guess the jig is up then." He said the words casually she wasn't sure she heard them right. Stepping away from the car allowing her full view of his grease and oil covered body he pointed one hand towards her and the other towards the car. "I guess someone was going to find out eventually, granted my money was on Blake or Yang. As usual, my luck's incredibly shitty. Weiss meet Gráinne, Gráinne Weiss."

* * *

_**To be continued… **_

**Author's Note: Neil's got a lot of explaining to do and I'm pretty sure Weiss is feeling pretty stupid right about now. I did my best to make Weiss in-character as much as possible. By that I mean if she ever showed an inkling of romantic interest in someone she'd deny it with a passion but pursue that interest behind closed doors. She just seems like that kind of person. **

**Weiss-Hey! **

**Comsic-Oh don't give me that. Given your canon personality is there any wonder why anyone who you're paired up with usually has to work to get you to admit you're romantically interested in them? There's a reason the trope's called Defrosting the Ice Queen. Need I say more? **

**Weiss-(goes off to pout) **

**Now that I've got the stage back let me say a few things. While yes I'm happy Volume 4 has finally arrived personally there's been some…problems for me personally. Specifically some shoddy animation that sort of slows the pace. That aside I'm fairly impressed by the character redesigns and how the story's progressing. As for the impact on this story…yeah, it helps and hinders things a little. I already planned on giving Cinder some more OC underlings beyond her canon ones and still do. Salem WAS going to play a part in this story, granted not a major one, and her role in this story will remain unchanged. I will say this about Salem's faction, I'll wait and see how Volume 4 showcases them so I can figure out how I can work them in. Right off the bat Hazel's my favorite of the bunch and I've already worked out a few points I can insert him in. For the rest of what we've seen such as Weiss's family I'm going to adopt a wait-and-see approach. I've already got this story mapped out from beginning to end, but I'm open to tweaking it to align with canon when and where I can. **

**I know the title may be confusing to read or understand, that's because a certain conversation was supposed to take place explaining it. Since this chapter had enough content already it's going to have to wait for part two. I based it off the title of Episode 9 of V3 . Relax though, there isn't going to be any dismemberment or sociopath in a dress making speeches that send whole nations into mass hysteria. As for what does happen…you'll just have to wait and see! Happy Halloween readers! Be safe! And safeguard your candy from any girl with a scythe and red hood! **

**Ruby-NO! DON'T TELL THEM THAT! NOW THEY KNOW I'M COMING! **


	41. Chapter 41: A-x-E Pt2

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 41: A-x-E Pt.2 **

If her brain was functioning properly Weiss might have had something to say about how Neil went immediately back to working on his car as soon as he finished his little introduction. He didn't seem to care all that much that her brain had practically crashed leaving her a stiff statue in his garage. For a short precious minutes the only noise was Neil's tuning and Weiss's own short breathing. It wasn't until a loud clank penetrated her ears did her brain begin to reboot. When she came back the scene in front of her was just as ridiculous as she'd left it. If Neil noticed he didn't care as he continued with his current task, which happened to lifting his car in order to change the tires. One of the new tires was hooked up to some kind of panel he kneeled down to. A few simple keystrokes and Weiss watched the dark piece of rubber transform before her eyes. First a collection of armor plating circled the wheel, another keystroke and the armor fell away and spikes grew along the tires' surface, and lastly a series of glowing red lines lit up the black piece of rubber. Seemingly pleased he unhooked the wheel from the device then rolled it over to the vehicle.

"So how many hints did Olivia have to drop to get you here?" The scar-faced male suddenly called.

"W-What? W-Wait a minute, you…Neil, what's going on here?"

"What's going on is you interrupted my date." He answered somewhat snidely. Neil didn't wait to see Weiss's reaction to his statement choosing to get right into the tire replacement he had planned.

A little taken back by the gray-haired boy's answer Weiss stood frozen in shock. This time it took her much less time to recover though from the looks of things Neil wasn't in the mood to talk. Weiss knew Neil was annoyed with her even if he didn't let her see it, she could hear it in his voice. None of this was what she'd been expecting nor was it what she wanted. What she should have done was leave Neil alone, but she didn't. Instead of leaving what she did was take a seat on the short stairwell connecting the door to the rest of the garage and watch Neil continue his maintenance. He didn't seem to mind too much.

Watching him had its advantages as she'd never been privy to these sorts of things before. Just the sight of her in a garage such as this alone was almost tabloid worthy on its own. Matter of fact, if word of this got out she was sure it'd be the talk of the entire freshman class. It would certainly get the females talking upon finding out 'Gráinne' wasn't a student or even a human being for that matter but a car. A fairly luxurious car that by all appearances had no business being in the hands of a seventeen year-old freshman. Sports cars had never been of much interest to Weiss, but even she had to admit Gráinne seemed to stand out amongst the dozens of top-dollar cars she'd seen in her lifetime. That, or this was simply the first time she'd taken the time to examine an automobile as closely as she was now. Neil had customized the Audi RS 7 to suit his personal taste, appearance wise at least. Gráinne was a shade lighter than Neil's own slate-gray hair bearing more of a whitish color that nicely matched Neil's own choice of clothing. Save for maybe one or two oil stains there wasn't a scratch on its elegant paintjob, the sole eye-catching feature was the familiar emblem that had been painted on the hood. Weiss smiled a little to herself taking in the dark gray thundercloud with two lightning bolts crossing each other in the shape of swords. Yes, Neil truly had marked his woman in a place all could see. In the end though she was no car enthusiast she had to admit, Gráinne was quite a beauty.

"So," The heiress began not entirely sure how to get the conversation going. The obvious question was the one she was also dreading. There was no ignoring the fact Neil was fine tuning a car that cost well over one-hundred thousand lien. Most people who knew next to nothing about him wouldn't be able to come to a proper reason for this without mentioning thievery. Given who the young knight's parents were that wouldn't have been unreasonable. "How'd you two meet?"

_**CLINK! CLINK! CLANK! CLANK!**_

"Would you believe me if I said at a garbage dump?" Neil called back with his upper body obscured by his personal car.

"I'd call bullshit, but I get the feeling there's a story behind this. I'd rather not jump to conclusions before I have all the facts."

Neil didn't say anything back for a good ten minutes. That was okay with Weiss, she could be patient with him. Somewhere inside she had a feeling she was going to get an answer. The level of shock value in it though was what she was left guessing at.

He replaced two tires before he decided to take a break. Grabbing a seat on one of the many stools he shot a sideways glance at her. Admittedly Weiss could feel heat rush to her cheeks. Dressed in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt that showed off his fit body smeared with grease and oil stains. Even with black patches smeared over his cheeks he still managed to look surprisingly attractive though Weiss would bite her tongue before saying that out loud. Neil was aware of all of this. His eyes caught the faint red build up in her cheeks that was followed by her turning her head slightly to the side. She probably didn't even realize it, but he did. He'd been thought how to read those little shifts in emotion since he could talk. "I really did find Gráinne in a trash heap though. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. You're probably asking what kind of idiot throws away a one hundred thousand lien car. I won't lie to you, I'd call that person an idiot, but when that idiot happens to have lost his entire company I wouldn't blame him for going off and doing something stupid."

Something clicked in Weiss's head at the youth's words. _"Her full name is Gráinne Airt. You…could say her name has some weight behind it. It used to anyway. It doesn't anymore sadly so you could say she and Neil share s similar background."_ Searching her memory for where the name Airt sounded familiar took her less than a second. She had to have been little over eight years old when the motor company once touted as king of the automobile industry was bought out. "Airt Motors, almost nine years ago it was bought out by its rising competitors after coming within a hair's breathe of declaring bankruptcy following a string of scandals and the failure of their newest model Dust engine. In a moment of supreme stupidity two of the company's three heirs went out with new model Audis and got them totaled. One was shipped off to some nameless junkyard after being dimmed too damaged to repair." At the end of the realization Weiss had something of a light smirk on her face. Saying the words sounded more absurd than putting all the pieces together in her head. "And by some twist of luck, that new model ended up in the hands of some nameless teenager from Mistral. Heh, I thought you told me you had terrible luck?"

"I do, it's just that one day me and Izaak went exploring ma' luck happened to change for once." Neil laughed lifting himself from his stool. "The odds of me finding such a beauty in a scrap heap were about a million to two, but hey, I'm not complaining. Fixing her up took a hell of a lot of work though. Izaak and I spent months working on her, tracking down the parts we needed to fix her up until she looked as beautiful as she does now."

Seeing Neil smile made Weiss's heart flutter a little since she rarely got to see this side of him. He was happy, animated, and most of all not ruthlessly cutting up everything in his path. His story was pretty interesting and she wanted to hear more about it. "So two orphaned kids find an old sports car and decide to fix it up? Not your typical everyday story."

"My _deartháir_ and I aren't your typical kids." He called disappearing behind the near endless row of shelves containing metallic and wooden crates. "Fixing up Gráinne was the first time I found out Izaak was a bit of a gearhead unlike his dad. Kind of ironic don't you think? The son of a doctor having a gift for mechanics?"

"More like someone's idea of a joke." Weiss called.

"Sort of like how putting the heiress of Remnant's largest anti-Faunus company on a team with a closet Faunus and ex-White Fang member? Like my dad always said God's got a sense of humor, granted it's a sick one and twisted one."

"That's a little harsh." For the first time Weiss noticed something else different about Neil's garage. It had a skylight, a five by five square that provided a perfect view of the sky above the car meaning Neil always had something to look up to. Rather he used his Semblance to play with the passing clouds or just enjoyed whatever lineup nature had given him Weiss couldn't tell. Given what she knew about Neil the addition of a skylight wasn't surprising. He seemed to have some sort of affinity for the sky as evident by his Semblance and to a degree his general attitude. "How'd you know Blake was…you know?"

"I knew what I saw when I saw it." His voice answered through the maze of shelves and crates. Perhaps sensing the heiress's confusion he decided to elaborate a little more than he intended to. "I know what a person in regret looks like, it's one of the things I learned how to spot growing up. It was little things are first like the uncomfortable shuffling, the mumbling, the brooding, and the slight panic whenever someone brought up the White Fang. I'm not sure if she knows this, but Blake isn't nearly as good at hiding her feelings as she makes herself out to be. What really sold it was when we started talking about the Faunus Rights Revolution in class; when Blake got the spotlight she looked and sounded like a deer caught in the headlights. Add all that together with the fact she keeps her Faunus nature a secret and there's only one logical explanation."

"And you…don't hold any of that against her? You know as well as I do the White Fang were monsters well before Conely's Torch."

"True, but I'm not exactly qualified to call someone out on having a criminal background am I?"

It was strange how easily Neil could make people forget he was the son of two criminals who'd spent most of their adult life on the run; at least he did until he reminded them with moments like this. This level of insight could not have come from a person who'd grown up with such a carefree or innocent life like Ruby or Jaune. Being able to spot tiny little details in a person's behavior that gave away who or what they were, Weiss could see it as a useful skill to have when growing up in the criminal underworld. Beyond that she found herself unexpectedly relieved Neil had no plans of persecuting Blake for her past affiliation. The last thing she needed was someone airing her past to the entire school, hell, she'd been scared enough since they all came back from winter break. _So pretty much the entire team was able to tell who and what Blake was without saying a direct word to her. Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing you guys are just ordinary freshmen. _Weiss continued to wonder how she'd gotten herself mixed up with this team of oddballs starting with Neil himself. He still hadn't returned from whatever inventory he was doing leaving her the opportunity to quietly slip away, yet she didn't have it in her. There were still so many questions about him she wanted to have answered.

"It's something my dad always told me, hell, it's the one thing he hammered into my head since the time I could walk."

"And what was that?"

"Always keep an ear to the ground and the other open."

When she finally caught sight of him he was carrying a metallic crate in his arms. At first Weiss didn't think anything of it until she saw the industrial symbol on the front along with the initials. Weiss's heart skipped beat as she steadily began to realize just how many items and equipment in the garage had come from crates with similar logos or serial numbers. Once he sat the crate down and began pulling out its contents Weiss saw it was as she suspected-a weapons crate. She didn't need a weapons degree to know where they were going to be going or what they were there for. _"Let me put to you guys this way, she's a firearms specialist. That's all I can say."_ Exactly how many hints had Olivia given her? How did she not see they were hints in the first place?

Neil began the first steps to installing the ammo and weapons into his car Weiss realized she had to change topics before he caught her in deep thought. "What really happened with those reports?" She blurted out hoping it'd be enough to throw him off. "People were saying earlier that "Gráinne" had been attacked and sent to the infirmary. Obviously that was a lie I'm betting you made up to throw people off the trail."

"You're right about that, unfortunately some of the jokers at this school are a tad bit smarter than I gave them credit for. Luckily I was able to track them down before they could start blabbing." Neil responded in a nonchalant tone.

For some reason that caused a spike in her heart rate. _This guy in dangerous. _That one summarization had her viewing Neil in a whole new light now. She looked between the car and him with increasing unease that subtly manifested on her face. Neil obviously didn't want his secret exposed so that meant he had to have done something to those who'd discovered his secret girlfriend was actually a pricy car. Weiss tried to place herself in their shows for a minute, she could perfectly imagine the shock, but what came after was hard to picture. Actually she could perfectly well see what happened next once the students got over the initial shock, greed set in. At the moment Weiss was pretty sure Neil sensed the shift in her emotions because he turned his head directly at her. She truly wished he was a more animated person because at least then she'd have an idea of what was running through his head.

"It's not like I beat them within an inch of their life or anything." He affirmed her. His face softened as if he'd been able to read some of her thoughts.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"It's like you know what someone's going to say before they say it. It's actually kind of annoying." She answered making a face.

At first he shrugged his shoulder, "I guess you could say it's instinct. I read people because for as long as I can remember if you weren't able to figure someone out usually by the time you did it was too late." His gaze went to the skylight where light had begun to shine through the graying cloudbank. "I got so used to learning how to tell what people were thinking that even after I left that life behind I never stopped, I'm actually grateful I haven't."

"Why is that? From where I'm standing it just makes you come off as paranoid of everyone you meet."

"Considering I'm entering into a job occupation that requires me to put my life on the line against bloodthirsty monsters of the supernatural and natural kind I think being able to read people gives me an edge. Anyways, you can relax because those guys that vandalized Gráinne, I didn't beat them senseless."

"But you did make sure they'd never talk about what they saw. You're not stupid enough to take the word of some no-name losers with a chip on their shoulder." Weiss fired back crossing her arms defiantly. "What did you do to them?"

"I rebooted them."

"Wh-What?"

Standing fully upright he held out both hands maybe a foot apart. Arcs of blue electricity shot between his palms lighting up his grease-smeared face. "The human brain sends electrical signals throughout the body for things such as movement. The brain itself is nothing but a collection of signals going back and forth carrying information. Ever heard of ECT? Shock therapy?" If Izaak had been with him he probably would have gotten a good laugh out of the shocked expression on Weiss's face. Neil himself had to hold back a little chuckle. "Given the right voltage and steady control you can run an electrical current through a person's brain to induce temporary memory loss. That's just what I did."

The mental image he projected made the Schnee's blood run cold. "A-Are y-you going to…"

"Izaak would be very angry with me if I did and so would Ruby. Besides that, I can't take the word of a bunch of pricks with half a brain, your word is different."

"Are you telling me not to go to the Beacon Post and spill the beans?"

"I'm asking you not to."

"And if I say no?"

He didn't say anything beyond letting the cackling lightning speak for him.

"That's not really asking."

"You're not leaving me a lot of options here, and I'm trying to be polite."

Besides the cackling between Neil's hands there wasn't a sound in the garage nor outside of it. The two were completely alone in their silent standoff. Weiss had a feeling if it came down to it Neil wouldn't have a problem with shocking her brain, knocking her out, and then carrying her back to her dorm. She wasn't exactly in a position to fight him off, but that was implying she was stupid enough to play a game she knew she would lose. It wasn't like she was going to gain or lose anything no matter the outcome. "You must really not like the attention if you're willing to go this far to keep girls from ogling you."

"How far would you go to keep some wannabe suitors off you?" He smiled.

"Point taken." She grinned. "Your secret's safe with me until you do something to piss me off."

Dropping the lightning with a flick of his fingers the young knight returned to his precious automobile to continue his tune up while Weiss silently watched on. If Ruby wasn't in her sniper class she'd probably be here practically orgasming at the plethora of weaponry Neil was loading into Gráinne.

"_Gráinne's the last person you want to get into a firefight with." _Based on what she was seeing Weiss could see some truth to her green-haired counterpart's words. If her hypothesis was correct nearly every weapon Neil was loading into the Audi had been manufactured and shipped from Rikugun Heavy Industries on Olivia's orders. Just like how on her word expensive experimental Dust samples could be shipped to Beacon and be at her teammates' door by the end of the week. The onna-bugeisha had supplied Neil with an impressive arsenal of weaponry from machineguns to rockets. Up in front were a pair of machine guns capable of spitting out fifty-caliber bullets, enough to shred through the average Aura shield with little difficulty. It wasn't just offensive weapons he had, she'd raised a brow when she saw several launchers pop out at Neil's command. Tear gas, explosive chemicals, and a myriad of other canisters were amassed and stuffed into the ammo compartments. The defensive weaponry didn't end there, certain parts of the car were more heavily armored than others, some even possessing energy shielding.

"Little APC you got there." She noted watching him tune the shield generators.

"When your teammate tells you she wants you to have a stylized APC you get yourself one. Besides, I may know my way around a battlefield but Olivia's the real brains behind half of this technology. Hell, she and Izaak had to teach me before I became skilled enough to do this stuff on my own. Sort of like how I'm sure you had to teach your teammates the finer points of Dust manipulation."

"Sounds like Ruby would have a field day hanging around your teammates."

She was up and heading out the door when Neil's hard voice penetrated her ears.

"Don't even think about challenging Olivia."

Once again a cold silence fell over the garage. Neil continued working as Weiss mulled over his warning.

"Why? Worried I'm going to embarrass myself? Or her?"

"If you go fight Olivia, you're going to lose. Badly."

"Do you know who I am!" She roared spinning on her heel with fire in her eyes. When he turned his back towards her to continue working she felt her blood boil. "Do you think I'm scared of her? Why should I be! Because she tied with Pyrrha at Sanctum? I've fought bigger and badder than some Mary Tzu who thinks she's the smartest person on the battlefield!"

"She was smart enough to lead you around until she finally had to give you directions to find me." Neil casually fired back standing upright with his back still facing her. "If you charge on now, demanding a battle she'd indulge you. Even if you were cool headed, which is your best battling form, you wouldn't stand a chance at beating her because you two are on two different levels." Once he turned around it was clear the fire in Weiss's eyes were contrasted by the steely gray of Neil's own orbs. She could have pulled out a Glyph that called forth fire and lightning and it wouldn't have fazed him in the slightest. "What will happen is as the battle's going on and you keep failing to hit her you're going to keep getting frustrated until you're practically begging for her to finish you. It will be a quick and painful KO that will leave you in the infirmary, possibly with a mild concussion, and your reputation will be in the toilet." Holding up both hands Neil created a miniature whirlwind in one and gathered cold air into a snowball in the other. "The moment Olivia showed up at this school people have been clamoring to see a fight between the Schnee Heiress," He lifted up the snowball. "And the Takeko Heiress." He finished offering the whirlwind. "How many people do you think are going to want to see that fight? Where do you think Olivia is?"

"…The student lounge." She snarled.

"You go up demanding a fight there, and ten minutes later people are going to be placing bets on who goes down first." Without warning he brought the two together resulting in a tiny explosion of snow and air. "Congrats Weiss, you'll have entertained the student mass of Beacon and single-handedly embarrassed yourself in front of your classmates. I'm sure your father will be real happy to hear that." She flinched. "What? You don't think people aren't going to be videotaping the fight? You wanna imagine how many views that fight's going to get? I mean shit Weiss, your father may be a cold-hearted corporate bastard, but I think if he heard his daughter's name mentioned with the words 'loss' and 'Takeko' he'd have some angry phone calls to make." That put the fire out as fast as he thought it would. Now there was fear being forced back into a cage, but it was too late by then. "I can see some tears over the next few days. All that…because you didn't have it in you to see when someone was baiting you."

It took maybe two minutes for Weiss to fully understand the situation she was in, or rather the one she was about to walk right into. The reality of Neil's words set in with near fatally shock. Slowly sliding against the doorframe she mumbled, "What did I do to piss her off?"

"You didn't do anything Weiss, Olivia was testing you."

"Testing me for what?"

Scratching the back of his head it was clear Neil wasn't taking any pleasure in this…whatever their conversation had become. "Olivia wanted to see if you were as smart as you always act. She wanted to see if she had an intellectual equal out there." When the puzzled look persisted the gray-haired knight released another sigh then grabbed a crate large enough for him to sit on. "Olivia's…picky about who she associates with. It's something I'm sure upper class people like you can understand, if they can't hold a conversation with her then she wants nothing to do with them. If they can't hold their own against her in any way shape or form she doesn't think they're worth the time. Like I said earlier, I'm sure you can understand what that feels like."

Normally Weiss would have fired off how she never would have done such a thing nor was she that haughty, but she'd calmed down enough to realize she _was_. Her first weeks had Beacon came back with startling clarity. _Still not enough to call me Ice Queen. _"So…you're saying…Olivia wanted to see if I was…"

"She wanted to see if she could find a friend in you. I know it's hard to believe, trust me she'll never say it, but that's the truth." He said holding up his heads. "Provided you both live long enough eventually it's possible one day you two are going to be doing business together. You _do _still want to take over for your father right? I heard your sister turned down the position and you're the next likely candidate unless your younger brother decides to step up."

It was beginning to feel like Neil was fishing inside of Weiss's head, testing different bait to see what would get him a reaction. For what was probably the third of forth time Weiss remembered how easily Olivia had read almost everyone she'd met, including her. She hadn't made her desire to overtake her father as CEO of the Schnee Company secret to her friends nor her plans for the company's naked racist policies. In accordance with that the harsh but criticism of her sister came flowing back to her. Olivia was far from a stupid person, not to mention she seemingly kept up more in the corporate world than Weiss did so she most likely heard of her ambitions. As all the pieces came together a half-smile half-frown came to her face. "She's got a screwed up way of helping."

"The way she saw it she was just preparing for the corporate world you're going to be heading one day. If you can't survive the machinations of one deceptive rival how do you expect to survive a world of greedy cutthroat, racist, and likely sexist suits who'd do anything to see the Schnee Empire toppled?"

Weiss's laughter was hallow and more of a self-mocking chuckle than anything. It was showing of just how out of her depth she was as well as her frustrated she was at her current state. "You know this isn't what I was expecting to find when I showed up here. I was expecting you and some girl to be cuddling in the alleys or something, not sitting here watching you tune up your car and giving me a sort-of pep talk at the same time." The laughter ended as her face grew serious. Her gaze lingered on the scattered armaments that littered the floor. "How big is the difference between me and Olivia? In your own opinion…how do I stake up?"

Seeing as how she wanted his honest opinion Neil gave it to her, "You're a year too early to fight her and stand a chance of winning. Even if you had your family's Revenant Summoning skill it wouldn't be enough. As you are now…it'd be a one-sided fight she'd dominate from start to finish. You're a decent fighter, no, a good one who relies on speed and precision to bring her enemies done. So does Olivia. Where you lose out at is exactly where the two of you specialize. You're capable of using Dust in ways most people wouldn't imagine, to counter that Olivia-"

"Is a martial artist who knows how to use her weapons to their fullest extent." The Schnee finished. "Let me guess, she personally designed Bishamon?"

"Designed and mastered, what else would you expect of a girl who comes from a family that practically owns one half of the arms industry. Where you lose out Weiss…is the fact you're a snowflake and Olivia's a tornado. Your physical defenses are fragile as hell, if you lose Myrtenaster you're practically a wounded gazelle. Olivia is a master of armed and unarmed fighting, she can take cinderblock smashing against her head and get right back up because that's what her family trained her to do. You on the other hand…" he shrugged leaving that thought to hang in the air.

Another hollow chuckle left Weiss's lips as she brought up her near flawless hands. She imagined Olivia's palms held nowhere near the soft or smoothness of hers. "In others words we really are opposites just like our companies. Chicahua said something like that when we went at it in Professor Oobleck's class. I'm energy and she's arms."

"True, but just because she specializes in weapons and combat doesn't mean she doesn't know a thing about using Dust. Remember, energy fuels arms." Neil added cautiously.

Weiss found that statement rather perfectly summed up her relationship between her and Olivia; moreover, the one between the Schnee Company and Rikugun Heavy Industries. A little to her right lay an ammo crate imprinted with the logo of the Takeko Zaibatsu, a stylized X whose ends resembled arrow heads over an outlined hexagon surrounded by circle that touched each end of the X as well as having four spikes jet out that went connected formed a cross over the entire emblem. A cross and an X, two icons long associated with targeting and aiming; a fitting combination for a company often called the "Schnee of the arms world". Looking Weiss believed the first time she'd heard of RHI was when she was probably six years old-exactly when the Schnee and Rikugun made a landmark deal that resulted in the two becoming business partners. It was only years later when Weiss had begun her private tutoring did she learn it was the Schnee who approached Rikugun for the deal; the Mistral-based company had been hesitant to involve themselves with their energy-based counterpart.

It was often said Rikugun operated on two sides, the sword and the shield. The sword was what she was seeing now: rockets, rifles, gun torrents, bombs, remote controlled drones, and as she watched Neil load them into the back landmines. This was only the tip of the iceberg. No other arms manufacturer in Remnant came close to topping the marvelous inventions Rikugun put out save for the Atlas military. They were amongst the first nongovernment organizations to produce the first working battle mechs nearly seventy years ago; no other company had come close to rivaling the ten-meter tall death titans they had created. The sword of Rikugun was widely coveted thus granting them military contracts with all four kingdoms. Opposite of the sword was the shield. Just as they'd been famed for making weapons that could lay waste to entire countries Rikugun had made it known they create defensive bunkers strong enough to withstand the strongest warheads imaginable. Body armor, cybernetic limbs for the disabled, shield generators, and surprisingly enough they were one of the few companies who used an energy resource besides Dust to meet their goals.

Olivia had all of that at her fingertips and Weiss had…just as much with limited access.

"So what you're saying is I'm outclassed in skill, I'm outclassed in combat ability, and I _might _just be outclassed in Dust utilization, the one area I'm supposed to specialize in." Weiss concluded visible demoralized. "She'd kick my ass."

"Pretty much."

"I thought you were supposed to be trying to help me?"

_Help you? When the hell did I say that? _He mentally blinked until he realized in a way he was helping her. _Was that the other reason you brought her down here Olivia? So I could tell you how big the gap between you two is? _Looking over their shared history Neil couldn't roll out the possibility his teammate had just used him in a plow to help cultivate a possible future rival and even business partner. "Damn it 'Liv." he muttered underneath his breath. "Weiss, there is a bright side to this, you now know much ground you have to cover to close the gap." Halting in his mechanic work Neil pointed his wrench at her chest. "You have two options: you can go off to some corner and mop about the difference in ability or you can get off your ass and start making something of yourself."

"You know the Headmaster said the same thing before he launched us into Emerald Forest at the beginning of the year." The heiress drily replied. Her brow forwarded in thought for a moment before she held up her left palm. Shutting her eyes in concentration a white Glyph appeared and began churning out tiny particles of white light. It took almost seven minutes before the light particles began to condense into an actual shape, and even then the object in question was barely the size of her palm. It was a cricket, a decently sized one that by all appearances seemed to be a perfect replica save for its crystal-like body, even imitating the subtle cricketing.

Neil was almost ten feet from where Weiss. Simply waving his right hand produced a gust strong enough to rustle clothing, and enough to completely and totally break apart the tiny cricket Weiss had created. The scattered ice particles glittered in the air for maybe a second before they disappeared into thin air. "Is that enough for you? Are you going to stop at that? Accept it as your limit?" He questioned heatedly. "When I was a kid my parents used to tell me stories about the Schnees of old, how they were able to summon crystal arms to decimate their enemies without having to lift a finger. Grimm, animated suits of armor, and of all things dragons, aren't you going to try to reach for any of that?"

Everything Neil had just suggested appealed to Weiss. She's grown up on the stories of her ancestors as well, and she too had fantasized about performing the same summoning feats as her forefathers. Her dreams were often filled with beautiful flights across open skies on top a crystalized Nevermore or Griffin, but then her father put a swift stop to those dreams. _Maybe it's time I took them back._ "You mind if I tried something in here?"

"Just don't scratch _A stór_."

A life-sized Glyph appeared behind Weiss producing the same effects as the previous one. Her face was locked in a concentrated frown as the rough outline of a Beowolf began to take shape in front of the Glyph. Only half of the Grimm was able to materialize while the other half seemed to dissolve into whitish blue mist. The manifested Grimm did nothing but give low-pitch howls as the Schnee struggled to give it life. Try as she might the creature never gained a left half. Reaching the end of her limit Weiss's focus gave out causing the artificial Grimm to slowly fade away with the Glyph that brought it into existence. Falling to her knees Weiss felt a thin layer of sweat beginning to roll down her forehead. "I guess I've got a long way to go. After all, this is the girl who went toe-to-toe with Pyrrha Nikos."

"Yeah, but now you're one step closer to getting there." The male replied throwing a clean towel over her face. Flashing her a grin when she narrowed her icy-blue eyes at him he responded, "Practice makes perfect. Take it from me. Growing up no one thought a sewer rat like me would make it into a Huntsmen academy, yet here I am."

On thought Weiss had to admit he had a point. _Two criminal parents with warrants for their arrest in all four kingdoms and bounties on their heads. They taught you enough to survive. _"What was it like…having The Gray Phantoms for parents if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was…interesting, let me put it to you that way." Neil smiled. "Looking back half the stuff they taught me actually came in handy when I was going through school, kind of obvious when you consider both my parents were Huntsmen themselves."

"Did they approve of you wanting to be Huntsman or…did you choose to become one because your parents were…"

Waving off her concern the young knight continued, "My folks really didn't care all that much. As my dad said, 'So you wanna be a risk-taker like your parents? I don't see the problem.'"

"That really doesn't fit the image I have of Cian Liath, the cold-blooded outlaw infamous for killing almost every Huntsmen team ordered to bring him in." The heiress responded hoping she didn't sound too rude.

"That's because you weren't around him twenty-four seven when he wasn't 'doing business'. The truth is my dad was actually a pretty laid-back guy."

"Like father like son then."

"You could say that. Anything else you wanna ask?"

Weiss shot a stray glance at the nearest clock Neil had hanging on the wall. In almost ten minute she was due to meet Ruby down by the airship docks to catch a flight into town. Normally she'd be preparing for any shenanigans her partner might end up getting mixed up instead of chatting with an oddball knight who seemed to enjoy playing her just as much as her teammate did. _I've got time to spare, besides, knowing Ruby she'll be running a little late anyway. _"I do have one question, why did you join the SDC? You know how hated disciplinary members are, enforcers especially have it bad."

The knight's signature dry stare returned though Weiss was ready for it this time. The stare off between the two was noticeable shorter as Neil had come to conclusion Weiss could be trusted. "Nine times out of ten when people are left on their own in a bad situation they tend to make bad decisions, decisions that hurt other people. I don't like it when that happens."

"So in other words you hate bullies?"

"If you wanna be direct, yeah I do." He answered wistfully turning his back to her. "I hate it when people in power abuse it or seeing someone do something as wrong and getting away with it. I can understand that people are angry about Aemon Strip, I'm still angry too, but that doesn't justify what I've seen." There was now an edge in his voice, the first true glimpse Weiss had at what was going on inside his head. The easy-going aura he once had had shifted to thinly veiled frustration and dear she even say anger. "People are hurting and angry, at this point they think every Faunus they see is either a fanatic or White Fang in disguise. Over the holidays there were three hundred and sixty-nine reported incidents that could be classified as hate crimes. Of those three hundred only forty-four actually were classified as hate crimes…that angers me Weiss. According to Vale's Settlement Tracker an estimated thirty-five Faunus or predominantly Faunus villages were either raided or destroyed leaving countless dead, injured, or homeless. Of course most of these reports took a backseat to the more pressing issue of half the food in Vale now being contaminated by bacteria. About fifty thousand people are dead and another thirty thousand or homeless...but only half the people give a damn because they're more worried about getting sick from eating the wrong kind of food." Neil's short burst of laughter was hollow and somewhat bone-chilling. "People have been taking that out on Faunus too, accusing the White Fang of poisoning food supplies even though no's been able to find a shred of evidence, but hey, they're Faunus so this just _has _to be their fault right?"

Weiss thought it was best to say nothing at that point even though she did have a few stacks in the issues Neil had just mentioned. Several of the Faunus settlements that had been under fire actually were mining towns practically owned and operated for by the Schnee Company. As she'd discovered in one report once the raiders were done burning the town to the ground they took the liberty to empty out most of the Dust mines leaving the people homeless, dead, and now jobless. She was disgusted once she realized for the human raiders that was no doubt a bonus in their eyes. _It doesn't matter that innocent people, our own workers died, only that the bastards who did it stole our profits. _Those were Weiss's thoughts when her elder sister first told her about how the attacks and raids hadn't let up. Winter had been totally dismissive about the lives lost in the uprising in racial violence. Somewhere inside Weiss had begun to question if her sister even would have cared this was happening at all if it hadn't been directly affecting their family business. Strangely listening to Neil rant about all of this brought Weiss a small amount of comfort she wished she could share with Blake. As a Faunus she knew all about Neil's words, and she'd come under the assumption no one cared. That wasn't true.

"I know it's stupid to get angry about all these things, but I just can't help it." Neil's voice sounded. Returning his eyes to the heiress Neil felt a little bit of the anger drain out of him leaving him regretful he'd wondered off track so much. "Basically I see people do something I don't agree with, I want to do something about it. Sure joining the Student Disciplinary Committee may not win me any popularity points with the student body, but I don't care about that. I don't care who hates my guts, what I do care about is people being treated fairly. If I see something that I disagree with, someone being picked on or singled out because they're different, or someone doing something I find wrong and getting away with it…it pisses me off. That's why I joined the Disciplinary Committee. I may not be able to do much, barely make an impact, but I can at least take solace in the fact that I'm trying to make the world around me a better place. If you want the truth, that's why I wanted to become a Huntsman."

For the first minute or so Weiss didn't do anything but stare blankly at her classmate with unmoving eyes. Both were trying to read the other to discern where the conversation would go next or if it ended right there. The heiress was the first to react-she began laughing into her palm. Rather than take offense the knight smiled softly and rubbed the backside of his head in embarrassment. "Y-You remind me a lot of Ruby! When I asked her she said something along those lines." She broke off into a fit of childish laughter before regaining her composure. "Regardless, I can respect that." Flickering her eyes over to the clock she sighed in realization their time together was going to have to come to an end. "As fun as this has been I have a little appointment I have to make."

"That's fine, a busy person like you can only afford to make time for commoners like me when she can. No hard feelings." Neil chuckled. "Thank you though."

"For what?"

"For keeping my secret." He answered tenderly rubbing the hood of Gráinne."

With a wicked smirk Weiss challenged, "You know I could go straight to the press office and spill the beans."

"I'm trusting you that you won't." Neil smiled.

Try as she might Weiss couldn't think of any sort of retort or backtalk she could give; moreover, she felt one wasn't necessary. Graciously turning to the door she walked out leaving Neil only to continue his equality time with his 'girlfriend'. _So that's the guy everyone at Mistral called Nimbusman and Cloudman. I'm starting to understand why. _The Schnee mused pushing the door open to face the chilly winter air outside. For once she was going to be the one running late; no doubt Ruby was going to get a little bit of a kick out of that turn around.

"So are you and Neil finally square?" Chided a female voice that stopped Weiss dead in her tracks.

Discerning where the voice was coming from Weiss fought the urge to turn to her left where her now-apparent rival was no doubt watching from behind the garage corner. "My curiosity's been satisfied for now. You and I on the other hand…"

There was a resounding chuckle that reminded Weiss far too much of her sister and brother's haughty laugh. "Anytime anyplace Weiss, I'm always open."

Weiss could feel the fire rising in her blood demanding her to face Olivia and finally have that clash; however, Neil's words and her own logical brain smothered the flames before they could rise too high. She inhaled and exhaled so calmly the clouds of air were visible for a few short seconds. "You and I…will settle things one day, just not today."

Call it a hunch but Weiss could sense Olivia had just smiled.

"Come find me when you feel like you're ready."

She'd just blinked out leaving the Dust heiress now totally alone in the garage field. Though a cold wind blew past her she felt a strange warmth in her chest that spread to the rest of her body. As she walked back towards the dorm to gather her things Weiss could feel a smile beginning to thug at her lips until she was standing at her dorm door. "A rival huh? Why not, a little challenge here and there should keep me on my edge in case I start slacking." She mused.

Almost ten minutes later once she'd caught up to Ruby she found out she was still wearing that same smile. It was practically the first thing her redheaded partner pointed out.

"Sooooo…Did you and Neil straight out whatever there was between you two?" She asked as the airship began to take off.

Rather than snapping at her Weiss smiled to herself. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Great! So are you two-"

"I said we're on equal ground I never said anything about dating. He's taken remember?" The heiress shot down. "Let's just say we've reached an understanding. Oh and Gráinne's healing just fine." She hoped one day Neil would be able to tell Ruby his secret because she wasn't going to. When she did though she'd start egging Weiss to make a move, Yang would be an even worse case. "You were right."

"About what?"

"About giving them a chance. Turns out Neil's not as bad as I thought he was."

"I don't see why you ever thought he was bad." Ruby huffed. "Sure he may seem a little scary when he's fighting, but otherwise he's actually pretty nice. That's why I wanted you two to become friends. Is there some rule that cute guys have to be total jerks?"

"No…I'd say we're lucky this one wasn't." Weiss admitted. "Now, before we land we're going to have to set a few ground rules on what we're going to be spending _my_ money on. First off, nothing, and I mean nothing cartoony or childish."

Ruby stared at her. "Can you define those?"

"No Beowolf hoodies."

"Weiss!"

* * *

True to his own words he found her sitting in the student lounge quietly reading and continued to do so even as he marched over to the couch. Plopping himself down on the opposite end he grabbed the remote to change the channel.

"You know even for you that was a real dickish thing to do." He started.

"Well things were moving a little too slow so I felt I had to speed things along."

"I'd ask if you could have been less of a bitch about it, but I know you too well. Besides you got the results you wanted so it's kind of a moot point." The knight settled.

"From the way I see it everyone got something out of this little drama." The olive-haired female countered suddenly shutting her book. "Chicahua and I have some…sources we need to go verify before we can make good on that request the police department made. You and Izaak get the rest of the afternoon off so take it to relax."

"Olivia," The gray-haired youth called in a quiet yet serious voice that raised a few heads of those listening in. "I know you're trying to help but I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands out of my personal life."

If he could see her face Neil wouldn't have been surprised to find she was frowning. "…How long do you think you can keep putting this off? Until we finally catch Cinder? In case you haven't noticed we're not any closer to that than we were four months ago." When Neil gave no answer Olivia took that as a sign to press further. "Do you think Arta would have wanted you to do this?"

_**THUMP! **_

The smell of ozone came fast and heavy practically filling the nostrils of half the lounge-goers. Students whispered to each other with frantic eyes before withdrawing further from the two transfers or outright leaving. Those that remained eagerly awaited the next act in the tension-filled standoff taking place between the N and O of team IONC. The more experienced students weren't holding their breath; in one observation they saw Olivia's face displayed no cause for concern nor did Neil's aura appear as threatening as he'd made it out to be.

Apparently within the Mistral-native team the arms heiress egging on her teammates emotionally was a natural occurrence.

The smell of ozone receded along with the tension in Neil's body. "Just keep Weiss out of this. I've already got Izaak breathing down my neck, Chicahua's probably been giving it some thought and the last thing I need is you too."

"Heh, you're missing the point here Neil." Olivia chuckled then teleporting to right beside her teammate. Leaning in close she whispered, "I just want to make sure when, and if, the S.S. Icestorm sets sail it will be strong enough to endure anything that dares attempt to sink it. Including the possible stupidity of its own crew."

Slowly Neil turned to face his staff-wielding teammate with a complete dry smile and spoke in an equally dry voice, "You know…you really are the annoying older sister I thought I wouldn't have to deal with once I left for combat school."

Giggling to herself the olive-haired teenager flashed him a single grin before she blinked out of the room entirely leaving him alone on the couch with dozens of curious eyes watching.

"I can woo almost every lady I want except you ole' lady luck."

* * *

**It took me longer than I thought to get that chapter out so I apologize for that. Since this was more of a character-focused chapter than a plot chapter I apologize if it came off as little boring. Original Neil wasn't supposed to have as much spotlight this chapter, but hey, adds character now rather than later. Plus it helps move his relationship with Weiss along a little faster.**

**Neil's car Gráinne is obviously named after the same one from Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology which Diarmuid is featured in. I thought it would be a nice one to incorporate Neil's character base into the story the same one the show does with its canon caste. **

**ETC (Electroconvulsive Therapy) is an actual medical technique involving electrical currents being used to treat serious mental disorders with memory loss being a common side effect. Of course when this is done the patient is usually given some form of anesthesia so they can't feel the electrical current passing through their brains, if not then oh well, it can be quite painful. **

**Everyone-(stares at Neil) **

**Neil-What? No one touches my baby and gets away with it. **

_**Deartháir**_**-The Irish Gaelic word for 'brother'. Neil uses it to refer to Izaak. **

_**A stór**_**-An Irish term of endearment that roughly means 'my treasure', when Neil uses it he's referring to Gráinne. **

**Rikugun is a name referring to the Japanese Imperial Army, I'll let you sit on that for a while and come to your own conclusions about what it could imply. On the flipside it's also the name of a somewhat controversial Japanese wartime film that ended on a somewhat anti-war note. As stated in story it's the 'Schnee of the arms industry', I came up with the idea when I realized looking at all the characters just about everyone ends up being a foil to another character, and not just ones on the opposing side. In this case Oliva is Weiss's foil henceforth I wrote this chapter to highlight their differences and similarities. The fact she comes from a family that specializes in weapons manufacturing also partially explains why her fighting ability is noticeable higher than some of the canon characters baring experienced fighters like Pyrrha.**


	42. Chapter 42: Honesty

**I do not own anything except the OCs save for one.**

* * *

**Chapter 42: Honesty **

_**Three Days later… **_

As a Winchester race was a topic Cardin had been educated in since the time he could walk. While the merits of that education was up for open debate it had made him deeply aware of the racial tensions that divided the society of Remnant. Whereas most upstanding parents would have taught their kids to look past a person's race Cardin had been taught to look at that first, especially after his mother died. It'd taken pain and time for him to learn race didn't matter as much as he thought it did. Human or Faunus, stupidity was still stupidity, and cruelty was still cruelty. One was not mutual exclusive to one side; both seemed equally capable of indulging in both from time to time. If he didn't believe that before he sure as hell believed it now since everywhere he looked that was all he saw.

As a Winchester stupidity sickened him.

Granted he deeply understood the hatred a majority of human students felt regarding Aemon Strip. If he was his old self he probably would have been amongst the countless now facing detention, expulsion, or suspension for the countless acts of racially-motivated violence that had run rampant since school started back up. An estimated seventy-nine Faunus students had been hospitalized; retaliation had been swift and brutal ending with an estimated eighty-four humans in the same state. Needless to say the nursing department was not happy nor were the parents of all the injured students.

"Ah damn it, not again." He heard Dove curse from the doorway. "Someone go get me a rag and some wash!"

Cardin didn't need to step outside of the bathroom to know their front door had been vandalized, again. Brutish or not Cardin had built up enough of a reputation that few students dared do more than vandalize their dorm's door or their lockers. It was irritating, but preferable to what some of their classmates were experiencing. Depending on how bad it was Dove would have it cleaned up and they'd still have time to make breakfast.

"Do I wanna know what it was this time?" The team leader asked putting on his tie and blazer as he came out of the bathroom.

"Same as usual. We stink, we're a bunch of racist pigs, you know." Russel answered sitting back in one of their room's chairs watching the morning news. "There was another riot near Wittenheim." The slight tick in Cardin's shoulders didn't go unnoticed by the Mohawk-haired youth. "No one was killed but people are saying they're expecting the rioting to get worse."

He didn't say anything about that, he just ordered his team to get ready for breakfast. Truthfully he wasn't looking forward to another day of school work because he knew exactly how it would go. Classes would be interrupted by sudden outbursts of bullying and violence, the DC would march in, round up all those responsible then leave class to continue on usual, and once classes ended it would be anyone's guess as to what happened next. That would be the worse time to be out.

"So we were thinking of hitting the training room once classes are over." Russel began as they sat done in the dining hall. "Feel like joining us?" When all he got was a half grunt he knew something more important than school had taken prominence on Cardin's mind. The way he was staring at his food with focused eyes while only barely keeping his other senses active for his surroundings was a dead giveaway. Growing up Russel had been one of the many to tell Cardin whenever he did this it actually came off as a little disrespectful, in a civil manner, all everyone else did was yell at him to pay attention.

"Just promise us you don't plan on doing anything stupid." Sky scolded catching their leader's attention. The light blue-haired youth didn't back down from the sudden glare the mace-wielder shot at him. "More than anyone you should now going out and doing something stupid right now is a one-way ticket to hell."

"Do I really look that stupid to you?" Cardin challenged feeling his anger started to boil at his friend's words.

"Whenever you get emotional or things get personal you tend to make stupid choices. What's happening now isn't personal so you shouldn't be concerning yourself with it." Sky calmly fired back. It took a minute but he saw his teammate's temper begin to cool down meaning he could continue. "With all due respect Cardin, if you go out and start acting like, well, you then it'll cause problems. Worse case we'll all be seeing your face on the six o'clock news."

"Gee Sky, you're saying I'm not worthy of having my face on the big screen?" The bigger boy leered stabbing his fork into his stack of waffles.

"Take it from a guy who's seen dozens of not ready for not ready for prime time players."

"And the rest of us?" Dove piped in feeling his partner was holding something back.

"If I'm not ready for the big screen then what in the hell makes you think some skinny punk with weird hair and a muggle is?" He chuckled with a vicious grin. Upon seeing the comedic head falls of his teammates he and Sky shared a laugh much to their teammates' chagrin. "Okay fine, I've got plans for this evening and I promise they won't involve me doing anything stupid." When all three boys continued looking at him he raised up his left hand while crossing his right over his chest. "Winchester's honor."

"Good enough," Dove settled finishing off the last of his tray. "So where are you going anyway? It's not like you've got a girl you've been hiding from us or anything right?"

"Even if I did what makes you think I'd tell you idiots?" He leaned back into his chair with a grin. In response all three of his teammates began chuckling lightly to themselves already knowing he had no intention of telling them what his plans were. His eyes did a quick one-eighty of the dining hall trying to catch anyone who could have been listening to their conversation. Eavesdropping was a common thing in the dining hall, or the classroom, really any place at Beacon where students discussed their personal business. From what he gathered no one seemed to have been listening in but he made a mental note to watch himself later on just in case. Almost five seats away he spotted the rowdy butch that was Teams RWBY, JNPR, IONC, and CNBR. As usual Team JNPR's resident hammer-wielder was loud enough she could have given a rampaging Goliath a run for its money. Amazingly whatever she was saying was lost to the room's equally loud collective chatter. "I'm amazed no's jumped those losers by now."

"Do you really wanna mess with a person who considers fighting off swarms of Grimm or running through an inferno fun?" Russel jabbed.

"Are we talking about Nora, Yang, or Chicahua?" Sky added raising an eyebrow. "Besides we don't have any proof no's tried jumping them. Remember Team RWBY has the Ice Queen herself so you know they've probably gotten a few threatening letters."

"They sure don't act like it."

The teams's C focused his gaze on the all-girl team with mild interest hidden behind a stoic frown. As much as he hated to admit it Team RWBY had shown themselves to be more than just a hotshot Girl Scout troop everyone originally thought them to be. Even the Schnee heiress proved to some of her decriers she was more than just a dandy rich girl whose only real assent was her money. The entire team had a backbone that wouldn't give easily to the idiotic prodding over half the school had been engaged in. Cardin wasn't sure why, but for some reason he made him feel better that they weren't the only ones in the school refusing to lose their heads over an incident they had no control over. "It's just one less team of losers making noise, nothing more to it."

* * *

At a combat school there were three very practical ways to get yourself talked about by the student body. Those three things were to brag about your weapon, your Semblance, or your combat ability; all three were also fast tracks to social ruin as many students had learned the hard way. Two of those things students usually have control over, the odd one out was their Semblance.

"Reflections of the soul," Professor Bennett began sweeping her eyes over the deathly silent classroom like a vulture surveying its prey. "Is anyone up for telling me why that is? Seems an awful fancy title for something we Huntsmen consider such a trivial and mundane matter."

"With all due respect Professor, that statement is only half true." Came the voice of Team IONC's resident arms expert. Even with the attention of the entire class, some forty or so souls, on her Olivia did not falter or shrink back under the collective gaze. Reading the raised eyebrow of the dark-skinned woman as permission to go ahead she opened her mouth and spoke with a voice many would have said couldn't have belonged to a teenage girl, it sounded like it belonged to a woman twice the age of the speaker. "While yes Semblances are often treated as physical manifestations of our own souls that sentiment can also be interpreted a different way. As stated in the Book of Oum Semblances are heavily believed to be aspects of our personalities made real in the form of various supernatural abilities. As recorded these powers can vary from person to person as no two people are exactly the same, not even twins who can sometimes possess identical Semblances. What often isn't said about Semblances is what aspect of our personalities they're being made to manifest."

If anyone was going to say anything to counter Olivia's statement it stopped when a sly smile began to grow on Professor Bennett's face. Truthfully several students actually began to feel increasingly unease based solely on the smile spreading across her face. "That's exactly right Olivia. What you just mentioned is a fact that doesn't get brought up too much in the public." Turning her back to the class she grabbed a piece of chalk and began scribbling down several words and phrases on the blackboard. Three in particular stood out because she not only wrote them larger than others but also elevated them higher than the others. "The human mind is divided into three significant portions: the id, the ego, and the superego. If we are to believe a person's Semblance is derived from their personality then that means it is born from one of these three things. Now I know what you're all thinking, this is a subject best left for psychology which those of you who survive this year will be required to take next year, well it does have some basis here where it's my job to teach you how to blow stuff up without blowing yourself up in the process. Understanding where a Semblance comes from can help in categorizing it, and if you're on the battlefield it understanding your enemy's mind can tell you what their Semblance may be. By a show of hands how many of you know what category your Semblance falls under?"

Again, at Beacon Academy one's Semblance could put them on the fast track to stardom or send them into social hell. Contrary to how heavily gossiped Semblances were quite a number of students had very little idea of how they worked beyond basic "superpowers". Anuli remembered how blown away her class had been when they learned Semblances weren't just cool little powers everyone had and could float around like they were some shiny toys along with their weapons. Perhaps that was the reason why every year she asked her students how many of them had an understanding of what their Semblance. From time to time she had to hold back from asking students if they thought their Semblances were just shiny abilities they'd been conveniently blessed with. To the woman's joy this generation at least had a better idea of what their abilities were than hers'.

Of the half that raised their hands were the more knowledgeable of her students: Pyrrha Nikos, Olivia Takeko, Weiss Schnee, Izaak Egilson, Lie Ren, Sky Lark, and Radcliff Mamre. A handful of other students caught her by surprise such as Nora Valkyrie, Russel Thrust, and Cardin Winchester. The rest of the class simply stared around the room too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes or already disconnected from class. _I've already got their attention so doing this might just count as needless cruelty. Then again, if I don't do something to keep their attention I'll be doing nothing but stamping F or D on every paper. _Still with her back turned Anuli held up both her hands at chest level and concentrated. In the palms of each of her hand came forth the iridescent flames that had made her name known amongst her classmates during her younger days. Almost as soon as the flames appeared she brought her palms together bringing the flickering flames closer together until the two merged together.

At best all her students felt was an annoyingly loud snap going off next to their ear, a far cry from the true power of her Semblance. It annoyed some and outright scared the others to the point they fell out of their seats white as snow. Immediately following the shock came the cries of anger and fear that brought a mischievous smile to the Huntress's face. _Gets them every time._ Anuli cackled before turning around with a thin smile plastered over her face. "Can anyone tell me what category my Semblance falls into based on that little display?"

"The scary kind?" One still rattled student moaned, his sentiment was echoed by a handful of other students while others snorted it was the of the "bitch" category.

Scanning the population she found a worthy candidate in a certain bronze-haired youth who seemed largely unaffected by her little attention grabber. "Mister Egilson, you wanna take a crack at it?" Holding up her left hand she called forth her iridescent flames once more silencing the class. Many of them stared in awe at the rainbow-like blaze while a few with sharper senses caught the unnatural odor the palm-sized fire gave off.

"Your Semblance is a kinesis-type, specifically one allowing you to manipulate chemically-altered flames that react in various ways when they come into contact with matter." He fired right off the bat.

"Can you name all the known types for us?" Turning back to the chalk board ready to write down his answers as well as call out any mistakes he made.

"Kinesis, augmentation, summoning, glyph, psi, and aliud." The young Viking flawless listed.

"Perfect." The orange-eyed Huntress chuckled finishing the last of her inscriptions on the board. Withdrawing the now significantly worn down piece of chalk she took a moment to observe her handiwork then turned back to see the varied reactions of her students. As Izaak had listed each category she'd wrote them down and separated the rather large board into six sections complete with illustrations and descriptions. "As passed down to us from the first Huntsmen Semblances can be categorized into six types as listed by Mister Egilson. The first of these types is kinesis," Walking over to the far left side of the board she beat her hand against the elemental symbols she drew: a bundle of flames, rocks, a droplet of water, and a gust of wind. "I'm sure you comic geeks are aware of abilities like Pyrokinesis, Hydrokinesis, telekinesis, and what have you. As the name implies these types of Semblances allow the users manipulation over whatever the hell their "element" so to speak is. In the history of Remnant we've had Pyrokinetics, Electrokinetics, Chronokinetics, and Spatiokinetics. Beyond average day-to-day elements you'd find in any standard RPG we have those who've been blessed with the ability to manipulate natural forces on scale with the Four Maidens. We even have a few sitting here in this classroom right now."

At that moment several students were sure they could hear the grunting of a certain gray-haired teenager before he buried his head deeper into his arms.

"Next up we have augmentation, perhaps the second most common Semblance that manifests in the given population. These Semblances are exactly what they say, they enhance one's physical attributes through various means such as energy absorption or consumption. When combined with the natural enhancements one can achieve using his or her Aura users of augmentation-type Semblances can push their bodies to superhuman levels, making even some of the most trained athletes look like lightweights. Now these Semblances are also the ones that come with some of the harshest drawbacks as what they're doing is pushing the human body beyond its natural limitations. I can tell you all right now Beacon has seen its fair share of students crippled by overusing their Semblances and in some cases they've even been killed by them." That got her more surprised reactions than she expected. A handful of students began whispering amongst themselves about the possible accidental deaths that might have occurred on school grounds; maybe some of them were worried they'd be added to the list if they weren't careful. That was good. Ozpin had made it an almost unspoken rule they weren't to sugar coat the dangerous reality the young adults were stepping into. "Moving on, we come to a Semblance type rather rare and fascinating in operation, the summoning-type. Anyone up for explaining this one?"

"Summoning-type Semblances allow the user to summon, or in some cases construct, any sort of inanimate creature or object that is completely obedient to their will." Pyrrha Nikos answered before anyone else could open their mouths. "As with kinesis-type Semblances these summons vary from being elemental constructs resembling golems to animals that cane range from ants and insects to mythical creatures. The limitations of these Semblances include how far they can stray from their creator without breaking down, their own innate abilities, and the state of the summoner. Throughout history summoning-type Semblances have often been alluded to as to being both incredibly strong and incredibly weak."

"Well put Miss Nikos," Professor Bennett praised drawing a circle around a stick figure commanding what looked to be a giant golem. "In some cases, especially with unskilled users, often those using summoning-type Semblances are unable to act while commanding their summon. I shouldn't have to tell you what happens if you let your guard down on the battlefield just because your pet hellhound is running amok and you're too busy enjoying the show." Rather than tell all the Huntress did was draw a second figure approaching the first from behind with a sword in hand. Directly below them lay the unsettling image of the summoner lying in a pool of his own blood with his head missing and the fading vintage of their summon. Moving their eyes to the next category the class went silent as they took in the myriad of near mystic symbols their teacher had inscribed on the board while they were busy taking notes. "Glyphs are even rarer than summon-types, and for good reason. You see boys and girls, it is a popular theory that glyph-type Semblances are the last traces of magic, true magic that is believed to have once existed on Remnant. Before I go any further is there anyone where who'd like to call bullshit on what I just said?"

In return for her question she was rewarded with a solid minute of total silence and blank stares.

"Nope, we're good." Yang Xiao-Long waved off.

"Just checking to be safe. Anyways, the reason this is lies in the fact glyph-type Semblances are to this day still being studied by scientist and Huntsmen alike. For all the five millennia Huntsmen have existed the nature of glyphs has reminded elusive with many theories about them running their course. Some scholars believe those born with these Semblances are descended of magic-users from the Lost Age while others say they were born out of stray mutations born from humans interacting with Dust. There are those, particularly of religious and spiritual backgrounds, who believe glyphs were divine gifts bestowed to chosen humans by the gods. Whatever the reason they stand out as some of the most versatile Semblances you can have, mostly because their uses can vary. Most people who live long enough to discover this often find the one glyph they've been blessed with is far stronger than they original thought."

"Um, question?"

"Yes Miss Rose?"

"Uh, you just said their uses can vary, but just now your said one. So does that mean people are born with just one glyph in their lifetime?"

"Interesting question Miss Rose, I'm glad you asked that. Between fourteen and sixteen percent of all known Huntsmen have glyph-based Semblance, most of them usual have only one glyph capable of carrying out a specific function; however, that function can be used to serve man different purposes." Directing her classes attention to a trio of magic circles the Huntress drew an arrow linking them all together. The first was rather lackluster in design while the second was more elaborate and the third was out and out artistic in its design. "As a Huntsmen grows and develops theirs skills their Semblance often evolves mirroring their progression. A child who discovered their Semblance to be something as simple as water manipulation may learn some fifty years later their true Semblance is the ability to manipulate liquid matter or water molecules, including those that lay in the upper atmosphere. Shown here a glyph evolves when a significant change occurs in the user, often the design of said glyph growing more complex and its effects more powerful or varied. In these cases the purpose of a glyph may expand on its original purpose. For example a "stop" Semblance may go from simply halting a person's movements to stopping bodily functions or freezing time itself in a certain area. That being said there are those who're blessed with the ability to use multiple glyphs, such as the Schnee family, and some who develop secondary glyphs." Taking a deep breath she moved in front of the section headed by a crudely drawn human brain. "Lastly we have the rarest of all Semblances, who can name it and describe it?" Though there were quite a few noticeable hands that went up Anuli felt she wanted to get someone new that hadn't spoken in class, someone who no one would thought would have the correct answer. "Sky Lark."

Ignoring the semi-auditable gasp that went through the class the halberd-wielder of Team CRDL spoke up in a fairly regal voice. "Only an estimated ten-percent of Huntsmen are believed to have these type of Semblance, and they are amongst the strongest as well as the most feared. Psi Semblances encompasses all fields one would associate with psychic powers including telekinesis, telepathy, astral projection, mind control, teleportation, and psycho-warping." Mentally taking note of the raised eyebrows Sky kicked himself for mentioning that last one. "The reason such a low number of Huntsmen possess psi-type Semblances is because a great number of users actually choose not to become Huntsmen, many preferring slight less…noble occupations."

"Con-artist." Coughed one student in the back.

"Cheats." Snorted another.

"Espers, as they're often called, prefer to use their Semblances for other means besides fighting or slaying Grimm. As some of my classmates, er, offered, some of them use their abilities to make what you would say easy money. Others sometimes lease themselves out as private investigators, bodyguards, foretellers, and various other occupations where their psychic abilities can be put to use."

"Wonderfully explained Mister Lark, all those reasons you just listed are also why, in some circles at least, psi-Semblances are the most reviled or hated. The last on this list is the aliud, or other-type. Semblances that fall under this category are there because they can't be clearly placed under the other six. These include oddball or otherwise metaphysical abilities such as duplication, multiplication, shapeshifting, and altercation. Besides kinesis and augmentation these Semblances are the most common. Now that we've got all that out of the way we're going to find out how many of you are smart enough to use what you just learned to self-evaluate." As she smiled the faces of half the class fell into deep and fearful frowns that satisfied whatever inner sadist she possessed. Reaching over her desk for a Dust crystal she crushed it into her palm creating a golf-ball sized mass of flickering orange light. Throwing her hand out she created a different colored flame to the sides of the classroom. First was red, then blue, green, yellow, and lastly white. "Kinesis-types go to the blue, augments to the red, psi-types to the green, summoners to the yellow, and aliud-types to the white. If you don't know what kind of Semblance you have then just remain sitting."

Though a majority of students did as told there were a few who weren't shy about shooting their instructor a nasty, borderline threatening glare that made their disdain apparent. Regardless they did as they told and found their groups leaving those unfortunate enough to still be ignorant of their Semblance. Their misery and self-hatred was evident on their faces. Tearing her eyes from them she surveyed the numbers of each group. As she expected the kinesis and augmentation groups were the largest, holding one half of the class each. Smaller than the other groups were but still noticeable was the summoner group, eleven kids who were already chatting amongst themselves about their abilities. Behind them were the aliud group which seemed to be doing the same albeit with more harshness given the group was more mixed with Faunus. Only five people were in the psi group; none of them spoke a word to each other.

"Now then…tell me, which group is the strongest?"

There was another tense silence throughout the classroom, though this time no student seemed brave enough to break. Dozens of eyes went back and forth from not just their group but to the other groups as well. If someone said the wrong thing it was more than likely to result in a debate that would end with someone getting hurt.

Rather or not the students were smart enough to come to that conclusion or someone in their group held them back it didn't matter in the least to Anuli. Quickly writing down the size of each group and who was in them. "Now I want each of you to find someone from another group, sit down with them, talk about your Semblances, take notes. I don't care if that person is your best friend or your lover, if they've got furry ears, a tail, or if they have stripes like a zebra."

The class had an obedience imbalance of humans and Faunus meaning if every human student went for every other human student there still wouldn't be enough human partners to go around. Same thing for the Faunus half.

Being well aware of that fact Cardin figured he might as well find his partner and get the assignment over with. As long as they didn't smell or annoying he wouldn't have a problem, oh, and their name wasn't Buruan. Pushing through his classmates like they dominos he searched for someone, anyone he could hold a civil conversation with. He tried not to ponder on the fact there wasn't one Faunus in the entire class he had a friendly relationship with; friend may have been stretching it a little, more like civil. The answer was none.

_Now that I think about it I don't have many friends period. _The team leader miserably realized. Stopping in his place he realized with sudden clarity after almost four months at Beacon his circle of friends was limited to just his team. _It's not like I came here to make friends though, who at this entire school would I want to get close enough to call a- _

"Mind if we talk?" Came a male voice to his right.

Widened indigo eyes stared into cool orange eyes. A little shocked that Chicahua managed to sneak up on him Cardin stepped back a little sizing up the tribal Faunus. He was one of the few freshmen taller and more built than he was. "Come again?"

"Partners? You looked like you were in the market and so was I. Do you want to find someone else?" Chicahua continued with a stoic expression.

Since they'd had any sort of direct interaction their views on each other were fairly neutral. Cardin hadn't ever been bluntly antagonistic towards him nor had Chicahua made a point of picking a fight with him for any reason. On top of that, despite all the differences between them Cardin had gained a begrudging respect for the Eagle Knight. "Yeah, sure, I'd rather listen to you than some other loser go on about how cool his Semblance is."

Chicahua watched silently as Cardin turned to the nearest seat and rudely threw aside the student who'd already occupied it. Any resistance he had died when he caught sight of the young knight's death glare. "The Winchester Death Glare is as fearsome as I've heard." He chuckled taking the seat next to him.

"You've got a better sense of humor than I thought." The human offered.

"Let me guess, you thought all us tribal folk were skirt-wearing savages that lived like the wheel had just been invented?"

"…Actually yeah, that's exactly what I thought of you." The burnt-orange-haired teenager admitted running hand through his combed hair.

"I see, thanks for being honest."

In that moment schoolwork left Cardin's mind, in its place was the newfound desire to closer examine his Faunus counterpart. _"Thanks for being honest." _He valued honesty, be it from his small circle of friends or his enemies. Chicahua wasn't like the other Faunus he'd met over the years, he carried himself differently. Sitting barely three feet away from him he closely examined the solid white line of tribal paint that rain across the bridge of his noise and the colored feathers tied into his shoulder-length ponytail. Though he was wearing his school uniform the proper way albeit with the blazer unbuttoned Cardin knew beneath it lay a network of war paint that somehow reacted with hi Semblance. He'd never say it but he actually found that to be pretty cool, especially when his Semblance was going at full power. "Does everyone from your tribe have that?" He began pointing at the white bar on his face.

"Yes, you see my people use a special set of ingredients in our war paint to enhance the effects of our Semblance. In my case the brand I use enhances the flow of energy throughout my body, on top of that you gotta admit, it looks pretty cool." He winked.

"A birdman on fire with glowing Tron lines," Cardin cynically chuckled writing that down. "I'll be honest that would be a scary sight, maybe enough to scare the shit out of some green fighters. Your Semblance, it's a hybrid type isn't it?"

"To a degree yes, it can technically fall under the kinesis category just as well as it can the augmentation." Holding up his hand he shot Cardin a look that told him what he wanted. In response the Winchester held up his right palm; with minimum effort he created a small cackle of explosions. Without vocally or even physical command Chicahua drew the sparks into his palm, where they touched an orange glow appeared until there were none left. Forming a fist a thin layer of orange-red flames covered his hand and wrist. "When I was about fourteen or so I realized I could do more than just absorb energy, to a degree I could project it. It's not like I can shoot lightning out of my hands nor do I have a taste for it."

"You've got a thing for fire too eh?"

"Takes one pyromaniac to know one doesn't it?" He challenged dispelling the flames. "Brave Bird is a Semblance that's been passed down through generations of the Texcoco royal line, apparently it was a blessing given to us by our sun deity." Flashing his blaze-colored eyes in Cardin's direction he spoke evenly, very aware he was treading dangerous ground. "You and I aren't so different Cardin, at least not as much as you think."

If he was still a stubborn idiot Cardin would have laughed off the teenager's statement right there then called him a fool. He was a Faunus and he was a human, they couldn't have been any more different. For better for or for worse that wasn't the same person as Cardin was now. Within the palm of his hand he created a new series of small scale explosions. The light they produced brightly illuminated the faces of the two boys as well as caught the attention of onlookers. "You have your god and I have mine." Was all he stated keeping his indigo eyes on the explosions. Practically everyone who was anybody in the world of politics and power knew the Winchesters were a family of Pyrokinetics, wielders of the "Holy Flame" as it'd often been called. "So much for burning heathens."

"I hear you prefer to call your Semblance Explosion, crude and simple."

"It's got some fancy name but this isn't Dungeons and Dragons." The human male waved off shutting his hand ending the explosions. "Let's be honest, in a fair fight your Semblance is a hell of a lot more useful than mine. You can get shot by a freakin', artillery shell, take all the kinetic power and wreck a tank."

"Assuming I'm still in fighting condition."

"Somehow you strike me as the kind of guy who could tank a, well, a tank."

"That's what I aim to be." The Eagle Knight laughed. "What about you? Your Explosion is something of an oddity because while it can listed as a kinesis type it can also be in the aliud group. On one hand you are technically employing a type of Pyrokinesis, yet you're far from being capable of fireballs out of the palm of your hands."

"Yet." Cardin chided wearing something of a cocky smirk at the thought of him hurling flaming balls of destruction at all the people who annoyed him. One face in particular came to mind, the sound of a girly scream and a head of blond hair running down campus with his ass on fire made him break out into a fit of laughter. "Anyways it's like you said, I'm not a true Pyrokinetic, not like other members of my family. Besides I have to be touching whatever it is I want to detonate." Instead of explosions bright red lines rose from Cardin's palms. Creepy and dangerous were perfect in describing as visibly radiated heat that seemed to cook the air itself with each passing second. "My maximum range is about four feet, pretty pathetic huh? On top of that the power of the blast is partial dependent on what it is I'm trying to blow up. I guess it's a good thing the human body is seventy-percent water, even Faunus. Water still boils…and it still explodes."

"I'm happy to hear you're not afraid of using your Semblance to its full effects."

"That's what I came here for. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You can absorb almost any kind of energy right? Does that include nuclear?"

"Actually…yes." Chicahua took a second to savor the surprise that appeared on Cardin's face before he elaborated. "Granted I can only do so in small doses. It's not like I can eat up a nuke, if I did I'd be a hunk of irradiated bird meat. My body…it's just not at that level." There was detectable longing in his voice that planted an idea in Cardin's head. "The power boost I'd get from nuclear energy would be pretty stellar, but I'd probably be on bed-rest for a week."

Once he finished writing the mace-wielder took a moment to imagine what a nuclear-powered Chicahua would look like. He hadn't gotten a clear image of what a full-powered Chicahua looked during the battle of Aemon Strip, what he had seen was a humanoid fireball being propelled across the sky by a pair of blazing wings like meteor. _All that was just from him being shot at, punched, kicked, and eating up all the fires breaking out. If he went nuclear…_As much as he hated to admit it Cardin in that moment felt jealous of his Faunus counterpart, his Semblance really was on another level than his, not to mention it looked cooler. Feeling the need to change the subject before he got too wrapped up in his personal feelings he blurted the first thing that came to his mind when he partnered up with Chicahua. "How are you dealing with this? All this," he swept his hand over the entire class. "You've been pretty calm about this whole thing, almost like your entire race isn't two seconds from rioting."

"I had a feeling that was going to come up." He began with a deep breath. "Honestly, I'm angry, but I'm not angry with the people I'm angry with the White Fang because this is exactly what they wanted. Every time I go out with my wings puffed out, my heritage on display, I can feel a hundred eyes glaring at me, silently wishing I'd drop dead. Cardin, this isn't anything new for me. Since the time I could walk and talk I've had people hate me for reasons I couldn't control: my name, my blood, my looks, my ideals, and everything else you can think of. My tribesmen, my classmates, civilians, it doesn't matter who they were or where they come from, their eyes are all the same to me. If I didn't let that stop me before why should I know? If I give up then I'm letting them win, the same way half the country seems to believe it was okay to allow the White Fang to win Aemon Strip. Our dorm's been vandalized, my teammates and I have received death threats just like every else who's refused to give into mob mentality."

Neither teenager spoke a word to the other while class continued to carry on around them. Each of them had their own thoughts about the current state of affairs and were mulling over the words just spoken. Cardin stole a glance at the Faunus royal every now and then looking for any change in his posture, or any sneak attack that might come his way. Their conversation hadn't been private, both boys had enemies in the class who'd gladly take a cheap shot at them if they could. If such an attack did come Cardin had a feeling he wouldn't be able to hold himself back.

"I'm glad you're not one of them."

"Hm?"

"Truthfully I already had an idea of what kind of person you were based solely on your last name and your reputation. To be honest, it was rather low. That changed after observing you." Shutting one eye while flashing him a sly grin Chicahua spoke, "You've proven yourself to be a slightly better person than I thought."

Upon hearing that Cardin felt he had two different options on how to respond. The first was rather blunt and involved a broken jaw and some racial slurs. His gut told him to go with it even if it did set him back a few leagues, his heart told him to do something different. Before he knew it he could feel laughter rising up in the pit of his stomach until it manifested on his face as a crude grin. "You know birdbrain…I can say the same about you. You're not as stupid as I thought you were."

He wasn't going to say that day he'd become friends with Chicahua, he wasn't that naïve. What he was happy about was that he had someone else to talk to inside the academy. It didn't matter if that person had feathers or came from a tribe that possibly still practiced human sacrifice. He was an honest person, and Cardin could respect that. Maybe one day he'd be able to build a friendship out of it.

* * *

"You know our father would be pretty ashamed to see you right now. All bundled up without the family crest anywhere on your body. I'm sure our ancestors are probably weeping right about now."

Every curse word in Cardin's vocabulary ran through his mind and threatened to spill out through his mouth. His feet had been frozen to the cold floor by his brother's emerald gaze which had also managed to induce paralysis in the rest of his body. The double layers of clothing he had on suddenly seemed heavier hotter than he originally thought. As much as he wanted to blame Bishop he knew it was his own fear causing these sudden changes.

Working up the courage to work his voice he sputtered out, "Maybe I'm going someplace where I don't want my heritage being advertised. You know it's open season on people like us."

"Which raises the question of why you're doing something stupid like this."

"What gives you that idea?"

"In addition to the blazer and scarf you've gone out of your way to avoid wearing any of the Winchester family colors in addition to doing your best to cover your face from anyone who might recognize you." The Beacon professor explained with narrowed eyes. His brother was dressed in brown pants and a dark blue blazer with a white and black scarf tied around his neck. A black and gray winter cap covered his prominent orange hair and with all the loose strains combed back it was impossible to tell the hair color of the younger Winchester. "You're not doing justice to your namesake."

"Why the hell should that matter to you?" Cardin snarled doing his best to figure a way out of the hallway without making a scene.

"I'm just doing my part as a Winchester and as your brother to look after you."

"Bullshit." The weight and heat was starting to become unbearable. Unless he did something Cardin knew he would crack. "Look, there's just some place I've got to be. It's a place where I can't…I can't be a Winchester. I promise I won't do anything stupid to embarrass the family." Turning so he and his brother were eye to eye he did his best to clear all the anger from his voice. "Bishop, please."

The older Winchester didn't say anything regarding the determined look in Cardin's eyes. Cardin himself couldn't tell if his brother approved or disapproved of what he saw in them. "Just watch your back out there. If the furries capture you then by the time I'm able to find your sorry ass there won't be much left to save." He sighed before turning his back to him and walking down the other end of the hallway.

Overcome with relief Cardin almost felt like collapsing against the wall only to stop himself at the last minute. Wiping the sweat from his brow he shook himself free of the anxiety and continued down the hallway until he was standing in front of the air docks. In a matter of minutes he was safely tucked in his seat about to put his headphones in until he spotted one more familiar face sitting a few rows in front of him.

"Belladonna?" Like him she was dressed in covert clothing so few would recognize her. Why she would need to do this he had no idea; what he did know was she was acting just as nervous and fidgety as she'd been in class. "Hmph, scaredy cat." The Winchester concluded turning the volume up then leaning his head back.

* * *

_**Location: Unknown **_

Custance would have liked to believe Adam wasn't smiling because she was there. Really she didn't see what there was to smile about. Children who were just barely ten years old being taught how to load and fire pistols weren't the kind of thing that brought a smile to her face.

"In perhaps another four years or so and they'll be ready to join the junior division." Adam stated looking pleased with the results.

"I'd rather it if they were sent to the public relations division." The puma Faunus muttered with a firm shake of her head. "These kids will only barely be fourteen or fifteen years old when they're sent out, how the hell do you expect them to fight?"

"Did Aemon Strip teach you nothing? Besides, they took our youth so why don't we return the favor?"

Rather than say anything Custance turned away from the glass and walked out the door with Adam tailing her. She had a feeling anything she said to him involving the possible use of child soldiers would fall on deaf ears. The children they'd rescued seemed pretty intent on being put through basic training the minute the shock and terror had warn off. She'd watched the fear in their eyes change into cold rage before they were plucked from the relief centers and sent to the training facilities with sad eyes. _I know we're fighting a war, but aren't there enough of us so we don't have to send preschoolers to the frontlines. _Sadly her sentiments were only shared by a minority of the Vale branch of the White Fang, everyone didn't see the problem with what they were doing. As branch head Adam had been quite vocal in seeing that all the refuges they brought in received training immediately after the shellshock had worn off. Custance couldn't say rather or not she was pleased with that, but it did bolster their forces enough she could now sleep easier.

Adam was grateful he wasn't getting another earful from his feline companion. While he did respect Custance as an asset and comrade-arms her list of priorities was not where he needed it to be. It was beginning to remind him of another half-feline girl he still had…rough feelings for. Hopefully this one didn't chicken out on him. "I'm trusting you to become base commander for our Ardsollus facility."

"That's a pretty big responsible."

"You've shown me you're capable enough to handle it. Should I start second guessing that?"

Through his mask Custance could feel Adam's fierce eyes glaring holes in her. Standing up straighter she snapped at him, "I can handle it. The only thing I'm asking of you is not to get us all killed. The government's stepped up its anti-terrorism measures since our attack."

"And yet nothing's changed. You're worrying over nothing." The swordsman chuckled passing through the double doors first. Beyond them lay the base's expansive air hanger. It was easily match for any military-grade facility, a fact which the base's occupants were immensely proud of. For every airship that safely returned another was on the runway preparing to take off. "Better hurry if you don't want to miss your flight." Shooting him a half-sneer before entering the crowd of masked and unmasked faces Adam felt himself chuckle. Custance may have been useful but she left herself too open to his mocking and teasing. Unlike his last partner she could actual take it and dish it out when she was pushed too far. It made trusting her a great deal easier. _Speaking of trust, _A stoic expression replaced the smirk as he caught sight of a rather imposing figure making its way towards him.

For a man well into his late forties pushing sixty Jacala still looked as imposing as he did twenty-one years ago during the Faunus War. His muscular physique had yet to fade and his White Fang uniform only served to prove the point with its loose fitting allowing him to show off arms nearly as thick as tree trunks and abs that that seemed as if they'd been made out of carved stone. The promise of violence and danger coated his every step making passersby quick to remove himself from his path.

"So, personally how long do you think this alliance is going to last?" The younger male questioned the veteran.

"Until Vale is destroyed, you know what happens afterwards. We're still getting our due from Operation Lightning Thief right?"

"Of course, two of the nine warheads."

"And you sure that'll be enough?" The reptilian Faunus leered letting his face slip back into a scowl that could paralyze trained soldiers. "Nine WMDs and we're only getting two of them while our "allies" keep the rest. I smell a double cross and I don't picture us surviving it."

In an instant Adam had turned his up his threat level to match Jacala's. The various Faunus in the air hanger all collectively held their breath for fear of what might happen next. "There _is _going to be a double cross, but it won't be on their end. PESTILENCE and Cinder are useful, but I haven't forgotten they're _still _human."

The scowl faded and the combined aura began to deflate bringing ease onto the hanger. "Just wanted to make sure you haven't lost sight of the end goal."

"…Not for a second."

* * *

_**Calaveras Row **_

"Creeps are still worse." Utz snorted turning his head away from the older boy. "They maul you in mass then rip you apart with their teeth and claws while you can't do anything about it. That's worse than a five second freak out before a Kamakiri bites your head off."

"Speaking from experience I can tell you Creeps usually go for the head when attacking so you won't be feeling anything while the rest of the pack mauls. Sometimes a Kamakiri will hold off on eating you so it can enjoy the oh shit-look on your face when it's got you." Cardin fired back.

"Wrong, Creeps go for the legs to cripple their prey then start tearing at anything they can reach."

"Not full grown Creeps. Like I said kid, experience."

The dusty brown-haired boy crossed his arms in a childish pout while Cardin laughed at his little victory. In some ways he was happy not much had changed in the rundown neighborhood since the events of the anniversary. He supposed the place was already at rock bottom and couldn't get worse short of being burnt to ground.

"Next topic, how's Beacon been?" Utz questioned scooting just a little closer to Cardin to catch the off shot heat his Aura was producing. "In spite of all things not even the OSS is willing to head this far deep into "Furry Territory" to stir up trouble."

Cardin failed to repress the sneer that Utz's proclamation brought out of him. "Short of a military battalion those cowards wouldn't set foot ten inches of this place. Anyways Beacon's Beacon, just stupider than usual."

"Have you stopped getting death threats?" When the teenager's face snapped to him and he saw the alarm and shock on his face the young Faunus had his answer. Sighing he threw his finished soda can into the open street watching it bounce off the cold concrete with annoyance. "So I take it that's a no. Not that the status quo was great, but pre-Aemon Strip life is looking real pleasant right about now. Since this is the ass end of Wittenheim you probably don't know, there's been a witch hunt for White Fang sympathizers going on lately."

It Utz was expecting some grand display of shock and horror from the Winchester then he was greatly disappointed. On his way down he'd found not much had changed in the rundown neighborhood, same graffiti-covered buildings, same wrecked cars, same boarded up doors and windows, and the same smell of blood, booze, and shit. While the nation collectively mourned this little shit-stained corner of the capital went on with life as usual. The crime lords who ruled the area cared nothing for racial equality if it didn't help them turn a profit. Though it could be argued terrorism was profitable it brought too much heat into the slums.

Even if the reasons weren't entirely moral Cardin was relieved to know the innocents that called Calaveras Row home wouldn't suffer more than they already were. "I guess that's one less thing you slum rats have to worry about."

"Yeeeeaah, sure. I mean it's not like the drugs, gangs, and psychos weren't enough to keep people scared out of their minds. Oh well, just another day in the life of us lowly Faunus wouldn't you say?"

As the ten year-old lay his upper body flat against the sidewalk Cardin was reminded of why he chose to remain in contact with him. Even if he was just a kid he wasn't blind to his station in life or the reality of the world around him. He accepted the fact his life was shit and moved on, Cardin could respect that.

Looking out at the desolate landscape he wondered not for the first time what Winter in the Faunus slums were like. The yearly snow hadn't come in full force though the temperature had been dropping everyday leading many to the assumption that a snowstorm was on its way; they usually came at the tail end of January and into early February. He knew the reptilian, avian, and insectoid Faunus would be bubbled up and not going out as much since not even their half-human physiology was enough to fully shield them from winter's harshness. _Getting over here is going to start getting harder, especially when the snow finally hits. God only knows how bad it'll be when all four us decide to pay Utz and his mom a visit. _Briefly dropping his Aura to allow the cold air to hit his body he was reminded of just how wide a gap there was between him and the people of these decaying slums. None of them knew how to use their Aura to protect themselves, or had a home with fully functioning air conditioning and hot food easily within reach.

"Hey! Hey! Cardin!" The deer boy shouted throwing up his arms in a childish pout. He hated it when the older boy spaced out, usually because it meant he'd dropped his heat-based Aura that kept the winter air at bay. "Turn the heat back on! Contemplate the class gap between us later!" Though Cardin did as he asked he received an arched brow and deep frown in addition to the returned heating. "Oh don't give me that look, you're pretty easy to read."

"I'm supposed to take the word of a ten year old still in elementary school? Really, my thoughts are that open?"

"Actually yes, they are." Utz responded without a hint of fear or hesitation. Sitting up he looked the young knight directly in the eye as he spoke, "No offense, but every time you come here you always space out a little. If I had to guess I'd say it's because in some ways you're still trying to accept everything you're seeing when you come down here. You're a guy from a rich family who probably grew up with servants waiting for you hand and foot so you never got to see how people in the slums or lower class live. On top of that, this is Calaveras Row, the worst neighborhood in all of Wittenheim." Cracking a sad smile he looked out towards the courtyard of the complex. "We tell boogeyman stories about families like yours, and you guys probably tell stories about our homes and way of life. Now you see reality and you're having trouble accepting what it is in front of you. Were you disappointed there weren't any vines or overgrown trees with the locals swinging from branch to branch carrying groceries?"

Cardin knew his silence confirmed almost every Utz had just said about him. He was just happy the kid wasn't gloating about being right and Sky wasn't there to give him an earful about being easy to read. He wasn't able to get what he saw of the town out of his mind when they returned from their mission, and it bothered him greatly. _How could people live like this? _Remembering the literal crime scenes they'd walked past he wondered how people could live like this. It was a cold slap to the face when he realized they lived like that because they had no choice, Utz and his mother lived like this because they had no choice. Looking at the young brown haired Faunus sitting beside him Cardin found it harder and harder to see what point there was in hating him because he had antlers on his head. In addition to that he wasn't wearing a Grimm mask.

"To be honest I was a little disappointed there weren't any giant tree stocks. It would have been funny to see Russel and Dove trying to climb them."

Once their shared laughter died down the younger boy let a sheepish smile spread across his face he hid by facing the ground. "Thanks Cardin."

"For what?"

"For…not denying anything I said. The truth is…when I start talking I have a tendency to speak my mind, and when I do I usually end up losing friends because I tell them what I really think."

Indigo-colored eyes closely regarded the boy until they shut themselves and a sigh left the lips of male Winchester. "Then they weren't worth being called friends." Only opening his eyes when he had the boy's direct attention Cardin reached over a placed a hand over his sandy brown hair. "Listen up Utz, if a person can't be honest with you then they don't deserve to be called your friends. I may be a lot of things, I may say some stupid things, but _this _much I can be straight with you about this. Friends are people are people you can be honest with, if they can be honest with you and vice versa then they deserve to be called friends. At least that's what I think."

A multitude of emotions spread across the Faunus's face though in the end one prevailed, fear. "So…in that case…does that make us friends? Would you be willing to be friends with a kid, a Faunus?"

"…I don't see why not. I mean I've had friends more annoying than you." Despite his best attempts he smiled. He chuckled when the kid beside him began laugh to himself until he had to hold his sides. _Here I am, youngest son of the head of the Winchester family…making friends with a damn Faunus. _Strangely he found he wasn't bothered by this thought.

"Cardin! Utz!" Came the voice of Mrs. Avram causing both boys to snap their heads to the doorway. Her green eyes easily read the mood between the two boys resulting in a kind smile manifesting on her face. "I'm busy cooking dinner and I could use some help. Cardin, you're more than welcome to stay for dinner."

"As nice as that sounds I've got to get back to Beacon. Thank you for the offer though." He politely responded placing both hands in his pockets. "Maybe next time."

"Maybe next time you can bring your team, that way I'll be able to serve the sons of Vale's most influential families." She joked.

"You do that and you'll be feeding two bottomless pits." He laughed taking his first steps away from the apartment. "Take care!" He called waving to the parent-child duo who waved back.

Cardin kept walking down the street not minding the cold air brushing through his clothing or hitting his face. For the first time he had something else to focus on besides the grim darkness of Wittenheim as he walked the streets towards the bus stop. _"Does that make us friends?" _If his family had heard him answer that question he's sure he would have been disowned right there on the spot. As he state patiently on the bench he began to think deeper into the afternoon's events. _I felt more at peace with Utz than I did with my own brother. _The irony of his situation wasn't lost to him though he didn't feel like laughing about it. There was something more to it than that though. He didn't come to Beacon to make friends and he hadn't made any while he was there. Instead he made friends with a ten year-old Faunus boy living in the ghetto.

"I guess fate is a strange thing like you said mom." Immediately after the words came a hollow laugh that was gratuitously drowned out by the sound of the metro bus turning the corner. Without a word the disguised Winchester paid his fare, boarded, and took his seat. The rest of the ride was silence, pure blissful silence that went undisturbed all the way to the airship docks.

* * *

**That took a lot longer than I expected, and it ate up more space than I wanted. So what do you guys think of Cardin's character so far? That was his character piece post time-skip and I'll admit part of it was influenced by some people I've come to know in my personal life. Sorry if you were let down by the lack of action, I'm afraid there won't be much of that for another two chapters because of what I've got planed *coughs*WMDs. Review and comment and have a nice day! **


	43. Chapter 43: Dirty Work

**Welcome to the first chapter of 2017 everyone! If the holidays hadn't been so busy for me I would have been able to get this chapter out earlier, but oh well. I feel this will be a good way to start the year off. Fair warning though the last bits of this chapter will contain language some may find offensive you have been warned. **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 43: Dirty Work**

"So how long have you been up?"

"Long enough to get three chapters end. Depending on what we find I have a feeling we're not going to be having much downtime in the future. When I woke up I figured I might as well read while I still could." The bronze-haired youth responded shutting his novel. He truly wished he had a little more time to himself in the quiet darkness of their dorm room, he much preferred it to the nosey atmosphere of the academy classrooms and later on the fortress they would be storming. Were it any other day he would have been free to spend the remaining half hour they had before breakfast to read to his heart's content. Sadly this wasn't one of those free days. Already he could hear his other two teammates shuffling around while Olivia made her way over to the light switch. Barely a minute later and their dorm room was illuminated well and truly bringing the Viking's sphere of solitude and peace to an end. The young man's eyes swept to the coffee table situated in front of the plasma screen TV right in front of their bunk bed. Seeing Neil had already gotten a snack out of their mini-fridge Izaak felt it was in his best interest to get something in his stomach before they hit the dining hall.

By the time her three teammates had gathered themselves Olivia had already set up the holographic projectors on the table. Olivia had taken her place on the coach with Izaak beside her and Neil and Chicahua on opposite ends. Punching in the code on her Scroll the flat disk-like projected lit up with blue light that manifested into the form a spacious mansion one could easily hold between their hands. "Anyone have any objections to what we're about to do?" For an answer she got a pointed glare from each of the boys. At least it showed all of them were fully awake so she wouldn't have to repeat herself. "Okay, good. This is the luxurious home of Quinn Brogan, head of the Brogan Family, one of Vale City's most prominent crime families as well as a fairly popular employer of one Roman Torchwick. Both of those things make this place a well-armed fortress even the city police are hesitant to tackle, even if they could nail Quinn on something other than tax evasion or murder."

"Dirty work." Izaak coughed taking a bite out of fruit bar.

"I'm sorry were you expecting something different when we got a request from the local police department?" Olivia scuffed. At her command the mansion was replaced by an overhead map that highlighted the surrounding area. All the teenagers recognized it to be one of the city's many upper class neighborhoods; anyone who didn't smell of some sort of wealth would stand out like a sore thumb in the area. For the misfit team they had a rather easy way around that problem courtesy of Neil. "It'll take us almost four hours of nonstop driving to reach the target area, once we do consider us in enemy territory."

"Maybe for you three, I'll be in enemy territory the minute we cross into land of the moneybags." The olive-haired teenager's partner cracked with a smirk.

"Then that means I don't have to tell you to watch your back, that one less warning I have to give." The hologram zoomed in displaying not just the mansion but the surrounding area. Apparently it was perched on a hill, a common trait shared by the other mansions and estates. An eight-foot stone wall protected the perimeter, beyond it numerous colored dots indicated the presence of human guards who had no doubt been deployed to every possible entry point. There was one front gate, two side gates on the left, and at least three in the back. "Before any of you ask, yes we will be going in through the front door."

"Yeah me." The gray-haired swordsman groaned hanging his head in annoyance. "Guess that means I better eat before we go."

"One more interruption and you three are doing this without my brain backing you up." The heiress snapped with a twitching eye. "Anyone else have any other snappy comments they want to get out of the way?"

She already knew the response she was going to get. Izaak, Neil, and Chicahua put on a shit eating grin then clapped their hands together, all at once they bowed their heads together. "_Sumimasen _Takeko-san!"

_One of these days I'm seriously going to have to see about sowing their mouths shut. _"On average there's sixteen to eighteen guards on patrol per day, four men to each corner. Mobsters they may be but we've faced worse so that problem is mute. Inside the mansion I estimate there's somewhere between twenty and possibly thirty guards on patrol, there'd have to be for an area that big and for someone as high value as the Brogan Family boss. Once we're inside you can expect that's when things are going to get a little bit more difficult." Once again the holographic display changed, now it showed a 3D layout of the mansion's interior. All four levels were presented in deep detail as were the many hidden doors and passages that had been built into the mansion. "The minute we make our presence known Quinn's going to put the whole place on lockdown, and if we bust through that he'll make an escape out the back door or the garage. Izaak, I'll leave you to cutting off their escape route while the rest of us go after Quinn." Pressing a button countless walls and obstructions manifested within the hologram. "As you can see once we poke the turtle it's going to retreat into its shell."

"It can retreat all it wants," Huffed the team's Faunus. "No matter how hard the shell is we'll crack it."

A simulation of how the battle would go ran before their eyes. Quinn, highlighted as a bright green star fled deeper and deeper into his mansion constantly surrounded by an entourage of guards. As his chances of escape dwindled it would appear he'd attempt to hold himself up in one of his offices, perhaps the one on the top floor that offered an expensive view into the backyard. With the lockdown the glass windows would become protected by steel shutters as would the doors providing the only entrance into the study. For all intents and purposes the mob boss would be boxing himself in and banking on a last stand that would end in only one of two ways.

"The usual four corners entry method," The onna-bugeisha clarified pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Neil you come in from the north, Izaak, you take the west, Chicahua's got the back, and I'll take the east. Each of us push our way through until our prey's been pushed into that nice little box. Cut off any escape routes you find and eliminate anyone who gets in your way. Whoever reaches Quinn first is to take out his goons and secure him until the rest of us gets there. Any questions?" As she expected silence greeted her, a smile played at the corners of her lips. "Good, we leave as soon class ends. Think carefully about what you want to bring before we leave."

The hologram disappeared followed by Olivia scooping up the circular projector. "Now that we know the game plan it's time for breakfast." Laughed the team's leader. In a heartbeat the kind twinkle in his eyes changed into a firm hardness. "I don't need to tell any of you this mission is top secret so if anyone asks just lie."

"You better not be looking at me." The Viking's foster brother sneered feeling the eyes of his teammates on him.

"Well out of the four of us you're the most popular, especially with the ladies." His fellow knight chided him slapping his back while their teammate chuckled in amusement.

A decent sized rain cloud manifested above the Faunus prince's head, arcs of white lightning jumped between the clumps. With a sudden crack a miniature lightning bolt fell from the cloud onto Chicahua's head. Rather than cry out in pain or anguish the dark-haired youth continued smiling, the bolt all but completely disappeared upon contact with his skull. Seconds later a faint orange outline fell over his body.

"Thanks for the meal."

"Screw you bird brain."

"We'll leave you two alone to do that, please, try not to make so much noise though, there are still quite a few people sleeping" Izaak joked earning a death glare from his brother.

* * *

_**Almost six hours later… **_

Izaak's prediction had been right when it came to what weapons his teammates would be bringing with them for the mission. Despite being an official Beacon mission none of them would be using their personal weapons, whatever pride they had stayed their hands from bringing their trademark weapons with them. Apparently they'd also decided to forgo any sort of armor, not that they'd be needing it as their Auras would suffice. The brown-haired youth took shotgun as usual while Neil slid into the driver's seat to start up the car, Olivia and Chicahua filed into the backseats. Gráinne's engine hummed to life while the garage door shuddered open. Before anyone knew it the custom built vehicle was out of the door and already speeding down the highway that connected Beacon to Vale City.

Yellow Brick Drive wasn't so much a single road so much as a series of connecting highways and bridges between Beacon and the city. Just the transition from the academy into town took almost half an hour due to the ludicrous distance between them. Even without all the winding turns the drive was still incredibly long and tedious which was why many students preferred using an airship for travel. That being said though airship was faster traveling Yellow Brick Drive did offer quite a sight as occupants drove by the forests and mountains that neighbored Beacon Academy.

For people like Izaak that was one reason to crack the window open and allow the January air to slip into the vehicle. Living up to its name the ends of the road were lined with distinctive yellow bricks separating it from the half-tamed wilderness that surrounded Beacon. Every now and then if he looked hard enough he could make out the reinforced fencing that cut through the tree line keeping out the more dangerous occupants of the surroundings. In a way that added to the beauty of the drive by scenery in Izaak's opinion. A thin layer of white had begun eating away at the landscape, a leftover from the last snowfall that had fallen over the area. When the snow finally came in full he knew there wasn't going to be a trace of greenery to be found, that was a stark difference to Mistral much to the Viking's disappointment. If there was one positive thing he could say about Mistral it was that winter there rarely dropped below twenty-five degrees, at least not on the southern portion where Haven Academy was located.

The further down they traveled the more urbanized the landscape became; it took them almost ten minutes to finally be free of the view of trees and rocky ridges. At first it was nothing but small homes and business that lived on the fringes of the city, and then they began to enter Vale City proper. By the time they'd arrived the first wave of workers were getting off filling the streets on their way home or someplace else. It wasn't too hard for Neil to maneuver his way in and out, Olivia did her part in helping as well. Every time a light conveniently turned green for them Izaak couldn't help but wonder if it was the work of his tech-savvy teammate. Given her personality he wouldn't have put it past her to hack into the streetlights just to speed up their mission; the entire affair was something Olivia considered to be well below her abilities so naturally she wanted this over with as quickly as possible. The other three boys could understand her sentiments, shaking down mobsters for information on a suspected terrorist was not how they wanted to spend their after school evening.

The sun had only barely peaked out during the day and by the time the team of four had crossed the commercial district it had mostly disappeared beneath the horizon. "So what do you guys want to do about dinner?" The team's leader suddenly voiced after what had been almost forty minutes of silence save for the radio. "Odds are we won't be making it back in time for dinner so that means we're going to have to improvise."

"I heard it was going to be meatball night." Chicahua quipped with a frown. "That's a bummer, but hey, we still have options."

"Oh so you've actually managed to keep track of how many food joints we've passed and managed to pick one?" Neil sarcastically countered.

"Not so much as picked, but look on the bright side-we have a wide selection." The Faunus responded. "I heard there's a nice little dinner called Frosch's we could stop by."

"I say we wait until this is over." It was the first time since they'd hit the road that Olivia had spoken a word, and even then she hadn't looked up from her scroll. "Depending on what we find we may not have much of an appetite."

"Level with me," Neil began as a frown slowly etched its way onto his face. "How much do we really expect a mob boss to know about a mysterious sociopath and a wanted terrorist organization? It's not like Roman is going to be the guiding light that leads us to what we need."

"He's one of the city's five biggest mob bosses, not to mention one of Roman Torchwick's most frequent employers." The axe-wielder answered coolly. "Knowing Cinder she isn't going to be content ruling the street level bosses and dealers, provided she hasn't changed her modus operandi going for the head of the beast is our best bet. As for what we'll be able to get out of him,"

"Go left, go right at point X? Something along those lines?" The gray-haired teen quipped. "How come you always do this?"

"Well someone on this team has to be optimistic. You oughta give me points because we're heading into winter, and you know how I get when winter comes around." He leered.

Crossing into Vale City's upper class district was a fairly obvious transition, one could look at the buildings and homes along the road and tell they'd crossed the class divide. There was a noticeable upgrade in the architecture of the monuments and buildings they passed, not to mention the cars they drove alongside jumped into the price range six digits. Breaking off from the main road to head down into the residential area afforded them views of some of Vale City's most elaborate homes. Any normal person would have stopped in their tracks to stare in awe at the splendor of the homes on display, but the four teens weren't normal. Though there was still light from the setting sun most of the streetlights had already started to come on, not like they were needed given the insane amount of luminous the mansions and homes produced on their own. The further down the road they went the less homes they saw.

"The virus is set." Olivia suddenly voiced closing her Scroll. "At the end of the block pull up and head out to your positions."

"Got it."

"Understood."

"Just don't get carried away, I know these are mobsters, but still."

As the heiress instructed Gráinne stopped one block from the Brogan family complex. One by one Team IONC filed out with Neil being the last. With a simple click his A stór was locked and safeguarded putting the young knight's lingering fears of vandalism as ease. Out of the four his weapon was the most eye-catching, a five-foot longsword tended to be. Like Moralltach it lay strapped against his back by a custom harness that could easily fit onto any of his jackets. As his teammates broke off from him to head to their positions the gray-haired youth began contemplating the words of his younger brother.

"Sometimes I miss the violent Izaak." He muttered once his brother left him leaving him alone to walk the winding path up to the Brogan mansion's front entrance. With the dense trees blocking out the sky it really gave the impression night had already fallen. Not letting the dark scenery hold him back he pressed onward not minding the cameras that lay hidden amongst the tree branches. That was his first sign Olivia had knocked out the place's security, by this point there would have been a squadron of suit-wearing thugs demanding him to leave. Earlier on this plan had appealed to the thief that still lay within him, but now the thief had given some of the pleasure to the warrior who was trembling with anticipation for the conflict to come. Another minute of walking and he was some twenty feet from the gates of the Brogan mansion. "I'm sure both of you are probably laughing your asses off right about now." High above the heads of men the clouds began to twist and churn, some becoming darker than usual as their molecular makeup began changing to the wishes of the knight-in-training. Angry rumbling permeated the sky no doubt drawing the attention of the mansion's occupants. The worry and shock more than likely changed to awe when the first two bolts of whitish-blue lightning fell from the sky striking the gates. Feeling the first jolt rush through his outstretched fingers lit the fire inside of Neil, now that it had been lit there was no stopping it.

Pitch black clouds coiled around the mansion on a hill forming a dark disk from which arcing bolts of lightning fell with impunity. An ear-pooping thunder crack proceeded and succeeded each bolt. Thanks to the work of the seventeen year-old the entire hillside seemed to be constantly illuminated, terrifying and shocking any onlookers who attempted to catch the strange sight. Neil had only a basic control over what the lightning struck, all he was going on was the mental image of the map Olivia had shown him and the target points she'd highlighted. Though he was sure his aim was one-hundred percent perfect he'd done the job. There was one target though he knew quite well he could hit without a problem. Shifting his hands so that the tips pf his index fingers and thumbs were connecting her focused the buildup of electricity into a single point above the mansion. Again, anyone who wasn't running around terrified shitless was no doubt watching the blue arcs converge to a single point. He could picture the numerous "oh shit!" looks on the faces of the mobsters.

With that image bringing a smile to his face the scar-faced youth let loose the concentrated bolt right on top of the mansion.

_**BOOM! **_

Not minding one slight throbbing in his hands the youth quickly drew his sword and sped down the road towards the destroyed gate. Everything he smelt and heard: ozone, fire, smoke, blood, and gunpowder, all of it made his blood race in ways combat only could. A lone gunman stumbled before him, dazed but clearly stable enough to realize he was an intruder that needed to be eliminated. The distance between them shortened until Neil knew the man was within striking range.

_**SWOSH! **_

It was the air that cut the man and not the blade. Neil briefly wondered exactly how much blood he was going to be getting on his sword before the mission ended, no doubt the blood would really start flowing once he got inside the mansion where space was more finite meaning he'd have to get closer to enemies to cut them down. Various fires and craters had sprung up around the courtyard courtesy of his handiwork filling him with a sense of dark pride. Quite a number of guards were stumbling around in a panic still trying to make sense of the sudden lightning storm that had decimated the once beautiful courtyard. The knight had slowed his run to a decently paced walk as if it were an ordinary day on the street, that way he caught the attention of the mobsters.

Their eyes widened for a second once they caught sight of him, mouths opened and orders were barked. None of it happened on radio or com links though, thanks to Olivia the Brogan mobsters had no means of electrical communication. Realizing that they did what any guard in such a situation would do-they opened fire without any questioning or threats.

_**DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! **_

The surprise of the gunmen was quickly replaced by fear when Neil swung his sword again, this time releasing a razor sharp blast of solid air that cut everything in its path. Blood and cloth splattered as the _Aero Blade _made contact with bodies, countless more followed as Neil swung the two-handed sword with one hand in such an expert manner it seemed he was attacking in all directions at once. Bullets never came close to touching him as the gale-force winds easily blew them off course or cut them apart before doing the same to the mobsters. The knight concentrated the abundant wind around his sword turning it into a howling razor blade that could have cut through still if the need arose. That wasn't what Neil had in mind though, stopping in front of a flaming crater he swung the sword in a horizontal wave propelling the compressed air forward. The flames caught onto the air wave and greedily hung on the entire journey. Screams of terror went up from the guards seconds before the flaming mass collided into their bodies, simultaneously tearing and burning their flesh at once. Neil fired off three more shots in front of the decent-sized bonfire he had going setting ablaze at least six more mobsters. Sticking the sword into the fire he channeled the wind so that the flame stuck to the blade giving him a red hot blade that could strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened of criminals.

Instead of attacking he remained stationary, the surviving mobsters recollected themselves and took the opportunity to surround him. All of them had their guns trained on the turtle-neck wearing youth whose expression remained cool and focused. "If any of you try to make a run for it I won't stop you. It's preferable to sticking around here and dying for a man who'd gladly put a bullet in your head if he had to." As soon as he said the words he could almost hear his parents pouncing on him for wasting his breath. These men were killers, harden criminals so giving them an olive branch was the same as flashing a stake in front of a lion when it already had a gazelle in its mouth. _Still, I'm a Beacon student now. That means I have to offer these guys a chance. _"Come on guys, what don't you think about-"

"_SHOOT 'EM!" _

_**THUMP! **_

Like that his right hand moved on its own and all traces of sympathy evaporated from his gray-blue eyes. The blade moved in a swift arc leaving a travel of fire and embers in its wake. The spinning slash let loose a wave of sharpened air and fire that easily obliterated the hundreds of bullets that had been speeding towards Neil. Severed limbs were burned just a servilely as the main bodies they'd been separated from, hot blood splattered across the ground and pooled around the dying mobsters while a few remained standing despite their injuries.

Very quickly Neil gave them a reason to wish they'd crumpled to the ground like their comrades. He impaled the first one he saw on his blade, not caring that his scream was enough to shatter glass, to him it was merely an annoyance. Ripping the blade free he cut down another mobster from the shoulder down to the opposite hip. When he refused to go down he brought the blade across his midsection. Following the fearful voices behind him Neil spun and performed an overhead slash that split a third mobster from head down to toe. Switching the blade sideways he swung again to the right splitting open the stomach of another gunmen. Thankfully he had no resistance nor inner strength to keep him on his feet and quickly fell on to his backside where death would come for him in a few short minutes.

Via a combination of heart and friction caused by his own movements most of the blood on Neil's blade had evaporated. Cleaning would still need to be done, but on the Brightside it would be a little easier. Of course he hadn't even set foot into the family mansion yet so he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. An earth-shaking tremor made him turn to the far west side of the mansion where the garage was. A good chunk of the rooftop have caved in leaving a mound of colorfully decorated tile in its place. Looking to the east he could only barely hear the sounds of battle rising into the evening air meaning Chicahua had more than likely made his presence known.

With a sigh the young man hefted his blade over his shoulder and made his way towards the front door. "I wonder how everyone else is spending their evening." He could easily imagine Ruby sitting on a couch with a bowl of cookies watching TV, Jaune and Pyrrha sparring in the training room, Blake tucked away in some quiet little area with a book in hand, or Buruan working on his next prank, no doubt the soon-to-be victims being Team CRDL. The thought morphed his cold expressionless face into a deep frown. "You guys are lucky you're not seeing this." Were his last thoughts before he brought his sword down on top the double doors.

* * *

_Maybe I should have brought something different. _Izaak mused driving his knives into the rib cage of the mobster who'd rather foolishly attempted to cut him down with a broadsword. Dragging the blades free the sword tumbled from his hands which immediately went to his bleeding sides. The man's screaming did little to mask the thundering footsteps of the second mobster coming at him with from what he could hear was some sort of modified club, a power maul maybe. Ducking the wide swing he stabbed his left knife into the attacker's stomach.

_**SSSLISH! **_

Sidestepping the fumbling man he drove his adjacent blade into the mobster's left shoulder. Lopping his right arm around the other he held the suit-wearing man as if he were a human shield, which is exactly what he was. The man gave gobbled plea to his colleagues to cease fire, but it fell on deaf ears. The roar of machine gunfire greeted his pleas as well as ended his already depleting life. Izaak didn't drop the body as it made for a good battering ram. It was only when he was in front of a trio of gunmen did he use the corpse in an offensive manner. With raw physical strength backing him he swung the body in a roundabout manner knocking the three off their feet and into the wall. Not paying them any more mind Izaak sprinted down the hallway fully knowing what was waiting for him at the end. The alarms weren't blaring in his ear nor were the mansion's emergency defenses springing to life, not that they ever would. His ears picked up the sounds of gunfire and harsh screaming. The raw metallic smell of blood and fire greeted his nostrils the closer into the open he got. Coming out at the end of the hallway he found himself in a highly decorated living room.

"You know I almost feel sorry about wrecking this place, almost." The team leader grinned shutting his eyes as the flash bangs hurled into the room before going off. His sight may have been temporarily disable, but the bronze-haired youth could hear just fine. Rather than dodging the bullets he activated his Semblance, a no-sell defense against the mundane attacks of the criminals hiding behind the hallway in front of him. Long after the flash faded and he could see again he kept his eyes shut for dramatic effect, he even started humming to himself knowing how unnerving it would be. Once the loud click of empty magazines hit his ears he opened his hazel-colored eyes and spoke with a smile, "Broken bones and fractures all around."

Like any force of nature there was no stopping it, only desperate attempts to get out of the way before the damage ran its course. Bookshelves were blown to pieces and walls were torn apart as if a bulldozer were coming through, bodies were thrown backwards with enough force the snapping of bones could have been heard, and the floor cracked beneath all the pressure. In less than a second half of the living room was destroyed with a gaping hole in the far left side. Still gripping both of his knives Izaak rushed through the gap finding himself turning every few steps unto a new corridor. If the Viking had to make a guess than most of the mansion's guards had decided Neil and Chicahua were bigger threats than he was, the constant rumbling coming from the north of the complex added evidence to his assumption.

He was grateful for that, he wasn't sure he wanted anymore blood on his windbreaker than there already was. On top of that he got a nice quiet walk through the mansion without having to kill anyone. After some walking he found himself in the mansion's center stairwell, or what was left of it. Clearly his brother had already come through.

_**THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! **_

His combat instincts came back on immediately eliminating any laziness in his body. From the broken front door came a new squadron of thugs, all of them tooting heavy weaponry that would have been intimidating to any lesser man.

"There, on the left!" One of them shouting spotting Izaak on top of the second floor ledge.

The Viking's body was up and moving seconds before the men could squeeze the triggers to their weapons. Landing in a crouch he sped towards the nearest assailant and slashed at his left thigh then stabbed into his right. Again, he used a wounded mobster as a meat shield then as a makeshift battering ram. Bewildered the gunmen all fired into their comrade's body deaf to his own screaming for them to stop. Once the corpse was of no use Izaak threw the body then went to work on his own, his knives rising and falling leaving trails of scarlet red behind them. Though he often went for the tendons more times than not he simply went for where he knew blood would flow endlessly until death came for the hardened criminals.

_**SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLASH! SLASH! SLISH! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! SLISH! **_

There were two left, one who was firing none stop while the other stood too terrified to move. Izaak went at the one still firing his Uzi, nimbly dodging the bullet until he had a straight path to his target. Kicking off with his left foot Wolfsbane quickly found themselves impaled in the mobster's stomach area. He looked down at Izaak with half fearfully half enraged blue eyes Izaak did not back down from.

_**SSSLIIISSSHHH! **_

Dragging both weapons free left a nice sized X-shaped wound on the man's stomach, his polish white undershirt turned red in the span of seconds. Not wiping the blood off he spun to face the next mobster who'd dropped his weapon, and judging by the scent Izaak picked up he'd n probably pissed himself too.

Izaak was about to pounce on him when he finally managed to get his mouth to work. "I have a family! FAMILY!"

The Viking's entire body froze and the coldness receded in his eyes. Watching as the man fell on his butt he waited for him to elaborate.

"A-A wife, a-a-and a little girl! F-F-Four, a-and we're ex-expecting another chi-child by the end of the month." H sobbed holding his hands up. "P-Pl-Please kid, I-I'll do anything! J-Just pl-please don't do it!"

Searching the man's eyes for any sign of deceit the freshman kept his knives at the ready. The man's eyes held true fear that couldn't be faked nor was it concealing anything behind it. His body language told him he'd run if offered the chance. If he had a family or not Izaak didn't know, what he did know was that this man was no longer a threat. "Get going then," he finally said flecking the blood off Wolfsbane. "Don't ever come back to this place, find a decent job, go work for another mob boss, just don't let me see you again." As soon as the words left his mouth the man was on his feet and running out the front door into the night.

_**THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! **_

Only a few minutes after they began did the shaking come to a stop as did all other forms of activity inside the mansion. An eerie calm fell over the manor, the sort that only came when the last bullet had been fired. Sheathing his knives Izaak started up the stairwell, passing the countless or so bodies he found along the way. His memory guided him through the network of stairs and corridors to the center third floor where a broken set of double doors lay barely holding onto their hinges. Pressing one arm against door he peaked in. "Hello? Is this a bad time?"

What greeted the seventeen year-old was a classy looking office that had apparently been home to a short but violent scuffle. Blood splattered the dining tile floor and all the windows were broken. The curtains behind the pricey polished wooden desk had been torn to shreds and one of the two lamps had been knocked over. The remaining lamp illuminated the room's occupants: his teammates and a dark haired olive-skinned man seemingly in his mid-fifties steaming in his chair. His brownish-red eyes fell on Izaak the minute his head poked through the door.

His voice rose so quickly Izaak was mighty sure the Don of the Brogan mob could have broken glass if he wanted to. "YOU! YOU! YOU GODDAMN MUTT!"

"Quinn," It was often said whenever she was displeased or serious Olivia's voice was easily the most frightening of Team IONC's. Despite their pride the three boys were hard pressed to argue when the arms heiress did speak in her current tone it was deadly enough to silence lions howling for blood. Usually when she spoke in such a tone her body followed suit as it did when Izaak stepped in. Olivia was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk, legs crossed and hands clapped together as if it were a business meeting. She had blood on her face, not her blood of course. Her knuckles were bloody as well, a consequence of her choosing to use tonfa for this operation rather than knives or blades like her teammates. The young lady's eyes were the same, gray-green orbs that held enough intensity to cut through iron. Opening her mouth her words came out as sharp ordered despite the levelness of her voice, "You were telling us a rather interesting story, I'd like it if you could continue."

In all his forty years as a mobster Quinn Brogan never thought a day like this would come. Yes, as the don of one Vale's most influential crime families he feared he'd be taken down some day; however, he never dreamed it would happen _like this_. His lips curled in disgust at the display presented before him: a bastard, a cross-bred brat, the damn Phantoms' child, and capping it off a furry. Hot anger smeared inside him turning his already sweaty head a brightening shade of red. His fingers angrily dug into the arms of his chair to the point he was sure he was either growing to crack the metal or break his fingers. If he had a gun he'd already have shot himself, suicide was better than being interrogated by these brats. Somehow though, he seriously doubted if he had one it would have mattered.

All four of the teenagers had blood on them, the blood of his men. Honestly each of them looked like something out of a horror movie. Each of them were dressed in appropriate clothing for the weather: light jackets, hoodies, and gloves, all of which were stained with splatters of blood. The Phantoms' child, Neil, he had the most of it on account of his sword. The minute Quinn laid eyes on the two-handed weapon he could feel his heart stop. Through the blood he could still make out the Celtic grooves curved into the blade. Briefly he toyed with the idea of using that against the kid, using a Fianna-issued blade for what was basically pointless slaughter. One look in the boy's eyes told him doing so wouldn't change anything. Next his eyes fell on the Faunus in the red hoodie. His hatred for the entire race shot to new levels as he saw him going through his bookshelves, violating his privacy without a second thought. He'd tucked his wings in since coming in doors though Quinn could easily picture the tan-skinned male with a pair of human-sized bird wings. Strapped to his hips were a pair of knives he was sure had been using to kill his men in mass. From what he could get off from the handles they might have been modified ceremonial daggers. Finally his eyes fell on the heiress to RHI, Olivia Takeko. As he'd heard she was treating this entire thing like it was some sort of business deal. Tucked neatly into her left arm was the pair of tonfa she'd used to bludgeon his men and no doubt killed more than a few of them. Her eyes told him if he so much as spoke one wrong word she would be smashing one of the wooden weapons on top of his skull. The rumors he'd heard had been more than verified-she'd leave him right here in his office and let fate decide what happened next.

The three teenagers weren't children, they were murderers Beacon had chosen to refine, and they'd just been joined by the apparent leader of the misfit team. Muttering an apology for being late he took the remaining seat to the right of the team's only female.

"Quinn," Olivia spoke again with a voice that could freeze over fire. "My leader wants to hear what you told us, with a little more details please."

Brown eyes went from one teenager to another before finally settling on the team's leader. Since all the rumors he'd heard had turned out to have some truth to them all he could do was bet on this one chance. "B-Before I continue any further, I want to know, who sent you? Is this an official mission?"

"Yes." Izaak answered holding up his Scroll so the older man could see the mission loadout. "Approved by the Beacon Missions Office. Your death isn't our goal so you can quiet worrying we're here to kill you."

Grimacing Quinn weighed his options, or lack of options to be precise. Nearly every man in his compound had been slaughtered or crippled and the mansion's communications had been disabled meaning no help was coming. Even if he could reach the police he'd already come to the conclusion the VCPD had been the ones to give Beacon the mission request; the damn headmaster had no doubt notified them the mission was being carried out so of course they wouldn't be showing up. There was no escaping the four human destroyers holding him captive.

Quinn Brogan had not survived so long by ignoring the reality of the situation, especially when there was no way to reshape it into something favorable. Screaming to the darken heavens he banged his hands against the desk until the pain made them go numb. Looking up he saw all four teenagers patiently waiting for his tantrum to be over. "Fine, this is about Roman and his boss right?" With a nod from the team's leader Quinn leaned back in his chair allowing an exhausted calm to come over him. "It…it all started almost one year ago. Roman was a freelance, one whose services made him valuable to anyone in need of them, even if he'd ripped them off or had been on an opposite side before. Suddenly one day out of the blue he just…his operating style changed. Now believe me, he'd always been picky about what jobs he took and what jobs he didn't pick, but this was something new. He started taking jobs that dealt _specifically _with Dust shipment and management." Motioning to Chicahua who was still shifting through his bookshelf, "The dark red one, press it in and wait for the click bird boy."

Without even bothering to look at him Chicahua did as he instructed. There was a series of clicks and gears spinning followed by the sound of floor tiles shifting. Besides Quinn's chair a metallic safe almost two feet in length and height emerged from the floor. Wordlessly the Faunus royal walked over, placed both hands on the safe and pulled.

_**CCCRREEENN-ENCH! **_

Once the shock ran its course the mobster angrily turned to the bronze-haired youth. "_My life is in there!" _

"Actually your life is in our hands, if you want to keep it I suggest you keep telling your story. I was actually starting to enjoy it." Izaak answered.

Once more pushing down the geyser of anger he placed both hands flat on the desk. "At first no thought anything of it, Dust trafficking is a fairly typical thing. What made it different though was after almost a month of this rumors started flying about some mysterious woman waltzing her way through the criminal underworld. It started in Mistral then it hit here in Vale, or rather _she_ made it clear the underworld here was going to be under her thumb as well." For the first time fear shown through in his face. His hands trembled then attempted to form into fists in an attempt to quell the terror being stirred by the memories of his encounter with the amber-eyed girl. "S-She…she used Roman as a messenger, to get the word out she was now queen of the underworld. Y-You can guess how the rest of us took it…I wanted this lady's head on a pike when I got the news. When no one bowed she started messing with some of the daily operations."

"It got worse didn't it?" Izaak coldly asked as a shadow fell over not just his face but his teammates' as well. "What did she do Quinn? How the hell did she get the city's most influential mobsters to bow to her?"

Fearfully the don met his eyes, "I imagine she did the same thing in Mistral, she brought the Grimm down on us." Though their mouths didn't open in shock the widening of their eyes and tensing of their bodies more than attested the weight of his statement. "I...I swear on my mother's soul…I saw it with my own eyes. S-She invited us bosses out to a country manner to talk. I-It all happened last April, last day of April really. Everyone came with their best triggermen, a few with hired help. The manner though was fortified, hell some say it was a fortress at one point in the past. We all came down there…we'd kill the bitch, maybe exchange a few drinks then dump her body in the woodies and let the animals deal with the rest." Leaning his head back with a shudder he brought both hands over his face. "BUT SHE KNEW! SHE KNEW DAMNIT! SHE KNEW WE WERE COMING, WHEN WE GOT THERE GRIMM WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

"So long story short she played all you, Vale City's most formidable mobsters like a fiddle, then when she had you right where she wanted you, slaughtered the lot of you like pigs." The olive-haired teenager summarized.

Snapping to her Quinn seethed, "You weren't there girl, you weren't there! She controlled them! A human! I watched it with my own eyes! She controlled them as if there were puppets on a string, she stood there, with Roman, that grinning bastard, killing us as if we were nothing but sheep! She…she left us alive and…a-and told us…from that day forward we worked for her, all of our resources were her resources, all lives were hers' to give and take when she saw fit."

"She made you her bitches." Neil spoke.

Angry fire replaced the despair at the sound of Neil's words. Gnashing his teeth he looked between the teenagers trying to gauge their reactions. Obviously they cared nothing for the lives lost, what they did care for was the situation it created."She's trying to cut off Vale's Dust supply, that's what her latest gig is."

"Why?" Izaak questioned.

"It's the part of the…deal she's made with this PMC. That's what she's had all the large scale families and syndicates working on, Dust shipments have been hijacked and redirected. Sometimes it's sold on the black market to other countries or factions…the White Fang is one of them."

Reading the sneer on his face Izaak put the pieces together immediately. "She's got you working with the White Fang. What has she got you two doing together? Or rather what does she have you doing for _them? _Funding, gun laundering? I don't know…maybe the occasional blowjob?"

"YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN CROSSBRED MOUTH RIGHT NOW!" Roared the mob boss jumping to his feet face beat red. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I-"

"You're lord who's already fallen from his throne, one whose castle is nothing but a pile of rubble and whose fortunes will be gone by the weekend." The hazel-eyed teen answered without a hint of malice or annoyance, really without an emotion period.

Quinn did a double take as he fell back into his seat. Looking into those eyes thinly rimmed with silver he was reminded of who, or rather what he was dealing with in addition to the other three. _Even if you tame it a wolf is still a damn wolf. _"You know those anti-government militias, those wackos living outside the major settlements, Cinder's been having us supply them. Inciting them with false evidence to get them riled up. This food bug going around is part of it, whatever scheme she's got going with those mercenaries. I don't know since I'm considered "street level" despite the fact I've got connections all over the kingdom. She's been using those connections to move anything she deems valuable out of the Kingdom and to whoever the hell she wants. Word is by the end of the…there's going to be a…care package." Throwing up his hands when the teens' eyes narrowed he quickly added, "I have no idea what the hell it is! Honest! What I do is it's going to be a major blow to the government's power-just the sort of thing the White Fang and the rest of these anti-government nuts want. That's it, that's all I need about."

Izaak, Olivia, Neil, and Chicahua stared long and hard at the defeated mobster. None of them seemed to have even a shred of pity in their eyes, instead their brains were mulling over the information. First to act was Olivia, gathering her tonfa he sat up then Izaak. The other two turned their backs to the mobster and headed for the door.

"W-Wh-What the hell is this!?" Quinn shouted. "Y-You brats come into my home, tear the place apart, kill all my men, interrogate me, and then you think you can just walk away like nothing happened? What the hell happens to me?"

"You're a mob boss who's ordered the deaths of untold numbers of men and women, extorted millions from hundreds, not to mention based on what we just heard are a member of a terrorist conspiracy to undermine the Kingdom of Vale." Izaak responded not turning his head to him. "What happens to you next isn't our problem, if I were you though I'd turn myself in so I could have a shot at witness protection. Night!"

It was his singsong voice that finally pushed Quinn over the edge. The memories were bad enough, but having to recount them to a team of…of…he didn't even know where to start. His pride had been shattered, his home, his fortress had been breached, and his life might as well have been over by that point. "Oh right, of course you don't give a damn! You're Beacon students! That means you can just do whatever the hell you want and get away with it! This is the exact same shit that got you lot booted from Haven!" He saw a reaction, a tensing of the shoulders in all four of them. That was all he needed. "That's right! You didn't think I didn't know? Hah! When you brats were booted you didn't think we'd know! The headmaster shipped your asses off to Ozpin because he didn't want to deal with you band of freaks anymore! Who could blame him! I mean come on, what headmaster in their right mind would want a team like _this _at their school! You bird boy," He started laughing insanely with a pointed finger at Chicahua. "A furry, a damn furry! And not just any furry, the heir to a kingdom of the damn vermin, one that practiced human sacrifice, not to mention whipped Mistral's ass in the past! Liath! You're nothing, _nothing_ you stupid little shit! Hah, if your folks could see you, oh God, Cian and Asiling, I don't know if they'd be crying their only son decided to waste his life on something as stupid as becoming a Huntsman or pissed that he hasn't touched a damn lien they left him! Adding to that, who wants the brat of a couple of half-cocked thieves anyway!

"Then there's the bastard bitch," Quinn leered now completely high on the anger he was stirring up. "Oh what's wrong? Thought Vale would be a nice getaway from daddy's family? The family that you _know _will never accept you? Sorry princess, you're not wanted here either! We've got our own bastard bluebloods and we really don't need anymore! You're still nothing but an eyesore! Same way you were to the Askers! Rounding it all off, leading this team of freaky rejects…is you Egilson, the end result of three hundred years of crossbreeding with animals. I wonder…how's that feel? I mean you _look _human on the surface, but what about the inside? When you see a cat go by do you feel the need to chase it? Do ever feel the urge to drink out of the toilet like your mutt ancestors? Ever wake up at night and howl at the moon? Strip off all your clothes and run with the rest of dogs? You know it's actually fitting, who's better to lead this team then a junkyard dog born from a long line of psychos and animals! Your old man included!"

By the time his rant was over Quinn was out of breath and clearly recovering from his short bout of courage. Of course since he was finally coming down from his adrenaline high clarity returned to his mind. With that clarity came the realization he'd just insulted each and every member of the Huntsmen team who'd single handedly taken down his heavily guarded home. As he watched the anger radiate from each of them to the point it caused their Auras to manifest he found his legs failing. Outside thunder rumbling could clearly be heard. The entire room seemed to fade into black and the air itself seemed to burn so hot Quinn could feel his sweat burning up, that actually might have been real given the now visible layer of heat surrounded the Faunus prince. His entire body was no obscured by a reddish-orange veil that looked all too much like translucent fire.

Quinn tried to scoot back but found he couldn't, like his feet had been chained to the floor. Nothing worked, nothing moved leaving him helpless before the four enraged teens. With each second the don's eyes widened and his figure became smaller and smaller. The three figures before him dwarfed him in so many ways he might as well have been an ant to their giants.

The eagle was crimson red with eyes that seemed to burn holes into the ground. The owl's eyes were piercing as spear tips. Between them lay a storm, a literal mass of wind and lightning with a pair of icy blue eyes between them. It clashed with the hot air given off by the eagle making breathing all the harder.

Without warning something calmed the three, something eerily quiet and powerful. The heat slacked off, the owl's gaze turned away, and the storm deescalated. Quinn could feel himself inhaling wide breaths of air again. Burgundy eyes fell on the back of the team leader. He opened his mouth ready to apologize completely unaware of the tightly balled fist of the bronze-haired Viking.

_**CRA-ACK!**_

"_AAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHAAAHHHH!" _

As soon as the bone snapped the violet, black, and indigo-colored sphere of gravity disappeared. The right arm of the mobster was barely holding on at the elbow by a thread of tissue that would easily snap unless handled carefully. Quinn was not handling it carefully at all.

"Goodnight Mr. Brogan."

The doors shut behind the teenagers leaving the mob boss alone in his ruined office screaming at his mangled right arm and in his soiled dress pants. His mouth continued screaming until he lost consciousness, two names in particular could have been made out amongst the endless wail. There were the names Quinn would curse until his dying breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind he vowed to get his revenge on Roman, the man who'd dragged him into this entire mess. He'd do it, rip the orange-haired man limb from limb with his bare hands. Then he'd go after Cinder. Those were his final thoughts before the darkness of pain overtook him.

* * *

**That's the first chapter of the new year folks, sorry if it came off as a little more grim and violent than expected. As you can guess this chapter was Team IONC-focused, one meant to show exactly what kind team they are. Depending on how busy my schedule is here's hoping I'll be able to get the next chapter up by the twenty-fifth, the sooner the better because I've **_**seriously **_**fallen behind on some of my writing. Until then stay safe readers and have a happy MLK Day! **


	44. Chapter 44: The Gathered Kindling

**After doing those one shots it's refreshing to get back to my main RWBY story. My series' writing had to take a backseat to my gaming addiction *cough* Tales of Berseria *cough* Gravity Rush 2 *cough* KH 2.8. **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 44-The Gathered Kindling**

_**Beacon Academy, Student Lounge **_

It was times like this Jaune wished he had access to the school's few hot tubs. He always felt like a good hot bath was an order after Pyrrha and Ren had a full afternoon of running him rigged with training. His muscles were screaming at him for some form of relaxation, all he could give it was a nice lay on the couch. Maybe once he had some feeling back he'd search the fridge for something to drink.

Jaune wasn't picky, the first couch he spotted was the one he crashed upon. Face first he moaned into the soft fabric that greeted his face. His moment of peace lasted about a minute before he heard wolfish snickering coming from his right. Immediately recognizing the wolfish sound he groaned, "Buruan, can you give me a pass on this one? Seriously, I've had one hell of an afternoon."

"Based on how much sweat you're ricking of I suppose I'll cut you a break today." The Faunus laughed. "Based on the bruises I'd say you went maybe a round or two in sparing, and you got your ass kicked as usual."

"At least according to Pyrrha I managed to last a little longer than usual, two minutes longer."

"…You're worried when we go back to having mock battles aren't you?" He heard Buruan voice followed by the sound of a candy bar being crunched and chewed up.

"Is it that obvious?"

Finally opening his eyes Jaune saw Buruan was looking at him with a slight serious glow in his normally playful silver eyes. Instead of a lazy smile his mouth was a straight frown that made his stomach more quinsy than it already was. Those were not a good combination. "You're still sore over you match with Olivia."

"You don't exactly walk around from a one-hit KO when your reputation is already in the toilet." The blond moaned covering both eyes with his hands. "Not even Aemon Strip was enough to make people forget Olivia kicked my ass without even trying. You'd think people would cut me some slack since Olivia's practically a samurai version of Pyrrha…with Weiss' attitude."

"Which is what makes her kicking your ass all the more embarrassing, she's your partner the attitude of your former crush. For most of the dicks around here that's simply too much bait to pass up." The shorter male responded finishing his candy bar then moving onto another. Pausing for a moment he offered the bag of skittles to his classmate. Reluctantly Jaune took them, sitting up he now sat side by side with the Faunus swordsman. Spread out before them on the table were two opened textbooks and a collection of notes and homework sheets that had all manners of writing scribbled over the pages. "One of my favorite teachers at Signal, Professor Qrow, told me this place is a dog-eat-dog kind of school. What do you expect when it's hailed as the best combat school in Vale; you give half of these people a look at your blood and they'll pounce on you in a heartbeat."

"You know, my sisters said the same thing when they told me stories about Beacon, granted they weren't as blunt as you are." The knight muttered. "I guess I thought they might have been exaggerating some parts to scare me since I was still a kid then."

"Still didn't late it stop you nor has everyone's little whispering behind your back." Buruan cracked lightly tapping Jaune's shoulder. "Since you're here mind helping me out with this mess? The problem with going on a news blackout is it leaves me stuck doing schoolwork I need to make up…which I hate."

Laughing at his friend's sour expression Jaune decided he had enough energy left to work his brain. Schoolwork was perhaps the only area he had any ground on at Beacon. In a single glance he summarized the subject matters where history and tactical analysis; he found it funny how these were the exact same subjects Ruby herself had trouble with. "If I could help Ruby turn a C into a B then I can turn your Ds into Cs."

Normally there would have been a snappy retort, expect Jaune never heard it. When he didn't he looked up to see Buruan's face had become alert. Beneath his red ribbon his wolf ears twitched. In the blink of an eye he vaulted over the couch and raced to the other side of the lounge where a large plasma screen sat in perfect view. Following his friend's swiftly moving form Jaune saw a large crowd had developed around the TV. Letting curiosity get the better of him he hopped off the couch and followed his Faunus classmate into the crowd. Once Jaune got to the edge he realized just how big the crowd was. _Whatever it is please don't let it be a shooting. _

Pushing through the crowd was harder than he thought it'd be, but eventually he got close enough to hear the chatter of the TV. Based on what he could make it what was happening wasn't a shooting, it was another riot much to his sweet relief. The relief faded somewhat once his eyes lay on the events playing out on screen, a corner to corner shot of an entire street of occupied protesters being blocked off by a full blown police barricade. The standoff had apparently been going on for a whole based on how heated the televised exchanges were.

"What happened?"

"This was a planned march protesting all the anti-Faunus treatment that's been going on lately, specifically the fact that most stores and restaurants have been refusing to serve Faunus. You know half the stores in the entertainment district's put up signs banning Faunus from shopping." A nearby student explained to him.

"It doesn't help this is also about the rumor the recent food poisoning is the fault Faunus too." Another pipped in.

"It's who's at the protest that you should probably be watching."

As soon as Jaune heard those words he felt a knot developing in his stomach. _Ruby and Weiss said they were going shopping today. B-But she's got Weiss with her, there's no way she'd let Ruby get caught up in something like this right? _The tension between the protesters and the police was so real Jaune and the others could feel it through the TV screen. It was obvious both sides were simply itching for a shot at each other as the reporters on sight continued commenting on. A stray gunshot, a rock being thrown, or an ear-splitting shout was all that was needed to turn the seemingly peaceful protest into a violent confrontation. The only thing keeping them from going at each other was…wait a minute. "Is that…Chicahua?"

Despite the hood he wore Chicahua's wings were easily recognizable to the freshman class of Beacon, hell, his physical body was practically an icon. A pair of strong reddish, brown wings that could cut through metal if the need ever came, were spread out in full for the armored police to see and the protestors to carry behind. Both sides seemed to be at something of a stand-still on what to do as the warrior prince's frightening aura had frozen both of them in their tracks. It wasn't just Chicahua that was out, Olivia could be seen walking up to his side, arms folded neatly at her side. Taking a stand beside her partner whole in the opposite direction.

"Did… Team IONC have a mission down there or something?" Jaune asked sure Izaak and Neil were somewhere nearby.

"Last time I talked to Neil he told me they did." Buruan answered. "I don't know the details or if this was a part of it, but they're down there now."

Listening to the report Jaune learned what they were currently watching was only one of many protest marches happening around town. Someone dared grab the remote and changed the channel to a different station, the same thing was playing out on another street half way across town, and another and so forth.

"Got to give the animals points for being coordinated." Jaune heard someone snort.

"More like being smart enough to buy themselves some protection."

"Easy to be brave when you've got a human shield protecting you."

"Figures it'd be a team of freakin' furry-lovers."

"It's a shame, I kind of like those guys, but they'll probably be kicked out of school by tomorrow morning."

"Ain't gonna happen."

Spoken with such conviction it was hard for the crowd not to turn their attention from the TV to Buruan. The relatively short Faunus stood by Jaune's side with a stone-cold frown on his face. His body posture spoke volumes about his willingness to retaliate if someone challenged him.

"Beacon students are perfectly within their right to express whatever legal, political, or social view they have on certain issues so long as it does not reflect badly on the academy as a whole." The smarter ones amongst the crowd recognized his words as belonging to the Beacon code of ethics every student was forced to read upon entry into the school. "Last I checked citizens of Vale had freedom of speech and the right to protest."

Jaune heard too many mutter peacefully under their breath and he was sure Buruan did too; he didn't give them the satisfactory of reacting though. Someone switched back to the broadcasting showing Team IONC standing with the protesters, the tension in the air was still running too high for his liking. If something happened what action would Izaak and his team take? As far as he knew none of them were stupid enough to throw themselves into the middle of a national incident without thinking it through, at least he hoped they weren't. _What is it you guys are hoping to achieve here? _

Something happened on the police's end, in the following days the official story would be released, but for now it seemed the order had been given to back off. Visibly reluctant the police parted for the protesters removing the barricades from their path. Almost ten full minutes passed with everyone still holding their breath before the barricades were gone allowing free access down the street. At once the crowd began moving forward keeping a close eye on the police still standing on the side of the road.

Around the Faunus and human the rest of the students broke out into relieved and annoyed chatter. Some were hoping to see a fight while others were merely glad the standoff was over. Another section asked for the remote to change the channel.

"That…was kind of intense, not exactly what I had in mind for a relaxing evening." Jaune sighed.

"You think this is bad? Jaune, this stuff has been happening all month." Buruan clarified. "Instead of actual acknowledging why some people are protesting some business owners have flat out refused to serve Faunus, not fire Faunus workers though. They need the cheap labor."

"You thinking the headmaster's going to call them down once they get back?"

Buruan's silver eyes weren't exactly like Ruby's, when they were focused they really did resemble wolves' pupils. That's partially why when Buruan spoke people had a tendency to listen. "If he calls one team out for standing up for the equality the school was founded on when it's a well-known fact sixteen teams have already been caught engaging in what classifies as hate crimes then this school isn't what I thought it was."

He left the crowd after that pushing past anyone who got in his way. Looking back at the TV Jaune decided to drop the issue for tonight. He was still aching from his training sessions and this wasn't helping his recovery. _Sometimes I really miss home._

* * *

_**The following morning, Headmaster's office, six o'clock AM… **_

"I absolutely refuse to accept this kind of interference Ozpin! Do you understand me? I won't allow it!" Screeched the man on the other end of the video call nearly popping a blood vessel.

In contrast Ozpin's face remained perfectly calm despite the heated accusation being thrown at him. "I can assure you Commissioner Merrick, you're making a big fuss over nothing. My students did nothing wrong last night."

"They interfered with official police business!"

"Which was?" Glynda calmly fired from Ozpin's side. Seeing Merrick immediately back down she decided to press onward. She never had much tolerance for city's police commissioner, personally she always viewed Merrick as a vain and short-sighted man who pick and chose which matters the police had to address. "If anything what happened last night falls on your head for infringing on civil rights."

The two veterans could literally see Merrick having to restrain himself from spotting that infamous line, "Animals don't have rights" directly to their faces. If he did it wouldn't hold since almost two-fifths of the reported protesters last night were regular humans. With that route cut off he had to take a different path. "You know as well as I do Beacon is supposed to stay out of city-related events and politics."

"Off campus students are free to express whatever political views they may have." Ozpin retorted. "Last night's protest took place at ten forty-six, as I've just learned Team IONC completed their mission at eight fifty-nine thus they were on their own time."

"Time or not they're still your…brats." Merrick seethed digging his nails into his desk from what Ozpin and Glynda could see. "You should teach them better."

"Our job is to teach them to use their skills and abilities for the betterment of society, doing that does not include excluding someone or despising them solely because they posse animal ears or a tail." The headmaster hit back still not breaking his mask of civility.

"Might I remind you the leader of this team is the son of a man who _surrendered _his Vale citizenship almost fifteen years ago?" The green-eyed man pressed.

"Izaak Egilson possesses citizenship via birth, he was granted such the minute he was born, two years before his father immigrated to the Kingdom of Mistral." Exactly how did Merrick think he was going to win going up against two people easily smarted and mentally stronger than he was by miles? "Commissioner Merrick, unless you have an urgent matter to attend to I'd advise you to stop wasting our time, in just a few moments the headmaster is expecting a call from the Vale Council, something I'm sure you realize takes precedence above only national-level matters."

For a minute the seasoned commissioner's face looked like it was about to explode, but just when Glynda thought it would he seemed to have regained control of his fury. Still wearing a face of anger albeit more controlled he directed his words at Ozpin in a lighter tone than before. "Next time Headmaster Ozpin, just remember to keep your little WMDs on a tighter leash. That is all."

Once the video call ended Glynda stopped holding back her pent up fury. "That close-minded racist imbecile! Does he have any idea who we are! Does he even know without our students his department would have been fighting one crime useless crime war after another!? If it weren't for Team IONC he won't have half the evidence he has now to bring the Brogan empire down!"

"You know as well as I do that's part of the problem Glynda. Law enforcement has never been kind of Beacon Academy; why should that change now that the country is under terrorist threat?"

Creasing her brow the blonde did her best to cool herself. These sorts of calls were happening too often for her liking, policemen, city officials, diplomats, and what have you. It seemed they'd all completely forgotten how pivotal Beacon Academy was to Vale's defense. "Just assure me you won't let the council speak to you in such a manner. Especially Versailles." She added narrowing her eyes.

Shooting her his typical smile he motioned for her to leave the room which she did. He was now completely alone in his office with nothing but the sound of gears clogging together in a metallic concord to fill the void. If anything they were simply counting down to the when the five video screens in front of Ozpin connected to the other end. When they did Ozpin knew he'd be longing for the punctured silence the gears offered. One by one each screen came to occupy a face the Headmaster of Beacon knew all too well. Some of them he respected, and others he…had lower opinions of. Regardless of what he felt for them he put on his professionalism.

The first face he saw was that of one of Beacon's former students, one of its most troubled yet most extremely gifted. From time to time Gorria Campo called in to see how the school was doing out of the fondness she still possessed for the place that had taken her in. Her lone left eye always lit up whenever she either physically set foot on campus ground or got a look at Ozpin's private office. Ozpin treasured her for being one of the few who appreciated his artistic tastes whereas others complained his office seemed creepy and foreboding. Out of all the council members Gorria was perhaps the easiest for Ozpin to get along with, a far cry from the next face that came up.

As usual Louis Versailles looked incredibly annoyed at having to spend what he considered his precious time talking to someone as "cryptic" as Ozpin. For once he and Ozpin were on the same page though, they wanted this meeting over as soon as possible.

Councilwoman Iwona Olenska had her eyes closed and mouth shut in a straight line. Crabby a woman she was Ozpin had a respect for her. Reading the deep wrinkles on her face and slight shadows under her eyes he realized she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past forty-eight hours, he couldn't blame her as Ozpin himself hadn't gotten much in the way of rest either. Given the subject matter he imagined her temper was going to be pushed beyond the breaking point.

The last two councilmembers were the wildcards Ozpin had no idea what to expect from. First was the aging beauty Iszolda Hellebores sitting continently in her seat waiting for the meeting to officially begin. This was how the "Fair Lady of Vale" started every meeting off, some hated her for while others praised her for meeting every topic with the dignity of a noblewoman. In her defense Iszolda was one, and she dressed and groomed like it. Her sea-green hair may have been losing its color as she pushed into her sixties, but she kept it maintained and ordained as if she were still a young woman enjoying her youth. Her indigo color eyes told a different story, they spoke of years of seasoned wisdom and cunning anyone with half a brain would have known to be weary of.

That left the oldest and perhaps wisest member of the Vale Council, one could even say its leader, Aldrich Andersen. To the world Andersen was both a critical acclaimed author and a master politician, to Ozpin he was a man to be respected…and feared. It had taken the spectacle-wearing huntsman years to learn how to decipher what lay behind Andersen's glassy blue orbs, and even then his predictions were only right two-thirds of the time. Even when they were on the same page he felt Andersen had to be watched carefully. Given the sensitive topic at hand Ozpin knew this was certainly going to be one of those times.

Exhaling a long sigh Gorria cracked open her teal-colored eye, "I'm sure we don't need to dance around the topic of this meeting. The kingdom's sitting on a pile of needles, for that reason I ask is moving the warheads really the best move right about now?"

"On this I agree with Gorria," Iszolda offered. "The kingdom is much too divided and chaotic to be transporting such weapons almost halfway across the country."

"I disagree." Versailles countered narrowing his eyes at his fellow councilmembers. "While yes I agree the country is un a state of unrest that should be all the more reason to move the warheads now. Besides, are we really going to take the word of some mobster trash who talked under pressure from a team of…" Feeling two auras much stronger than his pressing against him Versailles immediately shut his mouth. It was foolish to go after the Mistral-native team when two of their biggest supporters were within hearing range. _Time for a change in direction. _"What I'm saying is can the information brought back by Team IONC be considered reliable? What do we know of this Cinder Fall who's supposedly taken control of the Vale underworld as well as the White Fang? Who is she?"

"That is a question I'd like the answer to myself." Olenska grumbled. "The DIA is combing through every record in the kingdom's archives, digital and paper. So far we've found no evidence this woman even exists short of a few rumors and far-ended reports. It seems her origins lie in Mistral as we originally suspected."

"And has Mistral offered us any aid in our investigation?" Ozpin questioned only to receive dry stares from all five council members. It was not the answer he was looking for. "What have the DIA operatives in Mistral found?"

"We're still waiting on the Director Ames to give us a detailed report, according to him they're still searching." Andersen answered.

"Are you absolutely _sure _Team IONC has been entirely honest about what they know of this Cinder Fall?" Gorria pressed leaning in closer to the screen.

Taking a deep breath before replying Ozpin knew the time had come to defend the children that had been added to his watch. "Without a doubt. I'm well aware of their…history with Cinder and I fully believe Team IONC has every intention of bringing her to justice, especially Neil Liath."

"Wound a man's pride and you become his enemy for life," Olenska chuckled ignoring the glare she received from Louis. "I suppose we do owe them thanks for bringing this information to us, thanks to them we now have a very clear idea what it is we're dealing with. The question is can she really do as she claimed?"

This time it was the former huntress responded to her question. "She's already done it Iwona, as we speak the kingdom is merely three steps from national panic. Though we've finally managed to quarantine the K3 outbreak millions in lien have been lost , the estimated rate of sick and infected have risen to above four hundred thousand, and lastly almost a quarter of the kingdom's food stock had to be thrown out. Mind you, all of this is from a _human's _perspective. I don't need to tell any of you what sort of effect this has had on the Faunus population."

"Speaking of which the latest report just came in, since Aemon Strip there's been an estimated thirty-one percent increase in not just White Fang activity, but apparently membership as well." Iszolda solemnly added to the mix deepening everyone's frown. "Current estimates put the organizations total at somewhere around three hundred and sixty-thousand spanning all four kingdoms. Of that it is believed almost half rests within the Kingdom of Vale."

"And we're to believe this Cinder has all of them under her thumb?" Olenska scowled.

"We're to believe Sienna Khan has found an alliance with this woman beneficial Iwona." Andersen cut in keeping his expression neutral despite the grave picture that had been presented to the assembly. "Sienna's power is nothing to be ignored, if she believed an alliance with this woman was in her best interest as well as her survival then that makes her all the more dangerous."

"We wouldn't be having this problem is either of those damn overgrown cats had brains _or _a backbone." Seethed the Versailles Family heir.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for idiots like you playing right into the White Fang's hands!" Olenska snapped at her fellow councilmember with angry eyes. "You're the one who's been calling for martial law to be enacted on every major settlement with a Faunus-majority population! Why not hand the White Fang Vale's entire Faunus population as Mistral did?"

"This wouldn't have happened if those animals knew their place in the food chain!" Louis fired back not backing down from the older woman's words.

"It is this sort of divide that has led both the Grimm and White Fang to our doorstep ladies and gentlemen." Andersen jabbed seemingly not at all fazed by the accusations being thrown. At his command graphs and statistics highlighting Grimm activity appeared on everyone's monitor plainly laying out the basis for his words. "Between the White Fang and the Grimm it's looking like we _will _be needing the Jinrai for fear of something like Mountain Glenn or Esmary happening all over again." Without looking up or away he felt the tension wound up in each of the councilmembers and the headmaster himself. Simply mentioning the names of two of Vale's most infamous lost cities was enough to bring the heated conversation to a halt. Now that he'd accomplished that he'd have to do the hard part-actually doing something to prevent history from repeating itself. "Unless something is done we very likely will see something of that magnitude occur in the near future, perhaps over the next three months if we're lucky. The Vytal Festival has already been put on hold causing international anger and suspicion."

"Aldrich," The redheaded former huntress started frowning. "If we act hastily now we could end up paying for it down the line; I don't know how big a cost that is going to be."

"I fully agree Gorria, but we have little time to make a decision." The blue-eyed eighty-three year-old man calmly rebuked. "The warheads will be past completion by the first of February, exactly when the first snowfall is predicted. Moving the warheads will be all the more difficult under the harsh breath of winter; our enemies know this and will no doubt take advantage of it. That being said, we must not forget caution is perhaps our greatest defense. If we move now we risk leaving ourselves exposed to far too many waiting blades."

"In other words time is not on our side." Ozpin concluded with an almost wistful smile on his face.

"So we either act without forethought or we wait and suffer because of forethought, heh, perfect." Iszolda humorlessly chuckled. "At the rate things are going the Jinrai will end up being needed."

"Better than wasted, we've spent little more than three years and close to forty million lien building those warheads." Gorria snorted crossing her arms in annoyance. "It was a miracle the Dreadspawner within Mountain Glenn wasn't awakened at the Battle of Aemon Strip; if it had we would have had need of those warheads when they were still only seventy-percent complete. Not to mention we wouldn't have been able to properly launch them. What we need to look at is if another incident of that magnitude happens will we be able to contain the situation before it reaches critical levels, and if failing that act in the most logical manner?"

"Given your manner of speaking you're making it sound as if another Mountain Glenn or Esmary is already a forgone conclusion." Iszolda noted shaking her head.

"At the rate things are going you see something different happen?"

_Rather than attempting to stop the crisis we're merely preparing to deal with the aftermath, what would the public think of us? _The gear-themed huntsman mused. Surely there would have been an uproar from the masses, but from the veterans and older population it would have been a dark reminder Vale still lived in an age of fear and danger. _It takes one Jinrai warhead almost two hundred seconds to reach its target from almost anywhere across the nation, combine that with its awesome power and we truly have harvested the power of the gods. _"Now that all that has been laid bare I believe it's time to decide, should we transport the warheads or do we wait and see?"

"I vote yes," Olenska immediately responded.

Echoing her was Versailles, "I vote yes."

"I vote yes." Gorria said.

"I vote no." The green-haired councilwoman answered.

The four placed all their remaining attention on Ozpin and Andersen; neither men were strangers to such a thing happening. Aged blue eyes locked with seasoned brown, and between them a hundred words were exchanged in rapid succession. Onlookers of these silent discussions had long given up on decipher what exactly was being said. All that mattered was what happened when the two verbally voiced their thoughts. If they were in agreement to opposing the move to act then this meeting was about to drag on for a longer time than anyone thought. If not then…well, it wouldn't be the first time anyone had seen the headmaster and head councilman disagree.

Finally Ozpin spoke up, "I vote no."

"And I vote yes." Andersen picked up.

The silent gravel fell, four votes yes to two noes, there was to be no more decision. An unseen breath fell through the lips of everyone present. Relief? Annoyance? Regret? No one bothered trying to read anyone else's breathing as they were too concerned with their own emotions to do so. If something went wrong then they'd have their own hell to pay, if not then it'd be something to look back and laugh about.

"I do have a request for you Ozpin," Andersen said catching everyone's attention momentarily. "If possible I would personally like to request Team IONC be added to the warheads detail."

As surely as he predicted the meeting erupted into a mess of coughing, confusion, and in the cases of Versailles outright fury.

"_Andersen, are you out of your Goddamn mind?! These are weapons of mass destruction and you want to entrust them to a band of freaks?!" _

"To a degree I agree with Louis, Andersen, what is the meaning of this?" Olenska added on narrowing her eyes.

"I've read up on the team's background." Gorria started off in a calmer tone than her two fellow councilmembers. Feeling an uncomfortable rubble in her stomach she knew for a fact the oldest councilmember had some agenda on hand, and as usual he had a piss poor time to letting it show. "For the record I don't think the title "Problem Team" is as fitting as some deserve; Team IONC's record is deserving of respect, but I have a hard time believing adding them to the protection detail would be a smart move. Even with their…_personal _involvement with the warhead's creation."

"It is precisely because of those personal connections that I believe they will be a beneficial addition to the protection detail." Andersen responded with equal calmness.

Ozpin already had an idea of what was going through his old associate's head. Knowing that he sighed realizing there was _no _arguing or dissuading him from his current course of action. _When they receive this news no doubt the whole team will have something of a heart attack. _Izaak and Neil had a brother working on development of the Jinrai and Olivia's family had funded a majority of their development, hell without Rikugun the Jinrai wouldn't even exist. Even Chicahua who seemingly possessed no connection to the Jinrai's development was bound to them, they were after all the successors to the MEMORI missiles that once decimated so many of his people. _Olivia possess the strongest motivation…but she's not who your main character is, is she Aldrich? What are you expecting Izaak to take away from this? _Either Andersen knew something Ozpin didn't or his powers of foresight had suppressed his. "I'll see what I can do, as you know Councilman Andersen given the civil unrest our teams have been heavily preoccupied."

"Thank you Headmaster Ozpin, that's all I have to say for this meeting."

"If any of this goes wrong Andersen it's on your head." Versailles barked before turning out completely.

"For all our sakes I'm hoping you're not playing with fire again Andersen." With Gorria signed off followed shortly by Iszolda and Olenska.

After a long silence in which the gears of the tower were the sole background noise Ozpin started the private conversation. "So tell me Aldrich, what sort of story are you writing this time? Is it another tragedy or perhaps an epic?"

"Oh Oz, what kind of author would I be if I gave away all the story secrets before you even opened the book?" The old man happily laughed. "I'm sure you can already guess I've taken an interest in Izaak Egilson, he's become my latest muse you see just as you've taken an interest in young Ruby Rose." This was in Andersen's opinion, one of the best parts of the…friendship he and Ozpin shared. What secrets could they keep from each other and how long could they keep them? It was a game only two world-weary men could play and each were in their own way grateful for the other for providing them a worthy opponent. "If you want a hint I need him to…confirm something."

"The lab reports came back?" Ozpin immediately guessed.

"Yes, it's very much looking like Project Feodoisa is coming home to bite us in the ass as we predicted all those years ago." The author clarified having lost all traces of positivity from earlier. "Currently I have gag order out on anything so much as making a reference to Project Feo. If anyone did indeed survive the purge then no doubt this is them coming back for revenge."

_I knew this would happen, everyone did and yet they still went along with it. _"Tell me then, what exactly is Izaak to be in this? Is he bait…or are you hoping he puts the pieces together? You've not given him much to work with."

"Done your homework as usual Oz, a little of both really. True Izaak doesn't even know where to begin looking so…I'm merely pointing him in the right direction. You know what they saw about wolves right? Once they pick up a scent they never give up the chase." Andersen affirmed watching the tension build on his old friend's face. "Don't look at me like that, you know as well as I do this was inevitable, and by our own hands."

"This whole mess could have easily been avoided." Ozpin shot back with a little bit of heat in his voice.

"Yes, but that was then, and sadly this is now. All we can do is make do with what we have on hand."

Heaving a sigh Ozpin knew there was no arguing with Andersen nor was there anything to argue him with. Everything that was about to happen, all the lives that would be permanently altered, it was all beyond their control despite the immense power both men wielded. "I remind reading somewhere that Izaak hated winter. I'm finding myself understanding why."

"I'll admit it's not my particularly favorite season either. It reminds me of a great many…unpleasant people I've come to know in my lifetime." Andersen said. "Get some rest Oz, lord only knows we'll both be needing it in the coming week."

The first thing Ozpin did once the call ended was make way for another cup of coffee. When he did so he found he was actually running little on quality coffee beans not to mention various ingredients. Looking out at the cloudy skies beyond the window Ozpin could practically feel the cold air pushing against his skin through his well-pressed suit. _I fear this is going to be a long agonizing winter._

* * *

_**Two Days Later, Frosch's Diner… **_

"Come on, like you can't woo her, she's into you. No, no way Izaak, don't you dare try to turn this back on me. Don't start that with me. You can always have her lay her head on your leap while you read her a story, that'd be a good start." An incredibly long-winded rant burst through Scroll pushing Neil's head away along with drawing the eye of nearly half the diner's occupants. The rant came to a sudden end leaving Neil's eyes obscured by his gray-colored hair and his Scroll beeping.

"Let me guess, Tai's oldest has a thing for your brother right?" Alton deduced with a crooked grin. The young knight nodded a solid yes that had the detective chuckling into his fist. "Ah history loves repeating itself. You think he's got a thing for her?"

"He's a bookworm who'd rather spend all day with his noise either buried in a five-inch thick paperweight, going through five notebooks, or tinkering in his own private corner. The odds of him getting a girlfriend are about the same as a deer sprouting wings and flying to the moon." He bluntly stated putting his Scroll away to take a look at the menu. Within minutes his face went cross as he noticed there had been several…changes to it since his last time there. "Um, I uh…I wasn't expecting this much of a changeup." Neil said to the waitress that had come to collect their orders.

The young man's dark brown eyes fell immediately. "Blame the K3 Bug for that, when the outbreak happened we pretty much had to throw away all the meat we had in storage, and we're still waiting for new shipments. Until we do I'm afraid anything involving meat is…well the boss wants you to pay every penny for it." He finished with something of a forced laugh.

"Like hell I'm paying twenty lien for damn sausage or pork." The student growled. "Just get me nachos and a soda. That'll be enough for me."

Sneaking another peak at the menu Alton followed him in voicing his order, "A Cesar Salad with everything in the mix and an ice tea. We'll call you over if we want anything else." Once they were alone the ex-huntsman turned to the younger boy. "Do you ever get tired always avoiding pork? I can understand if so much as seeing a pig gives you flashbacks…"

"Something like that. If I can avoid pig when I see pig then I do." Was his meager response before slumping back into his seat. It was hard to believe that barely four days ago this boy was wielding a sword cutting down armed mobsters left and right as if they were weeds. Besides Alton no one in the diner thought this coat-wearing was capable of jaw-dropping levels of destruction and carnage. "So how's the office been? I hear the Brogan Family's already on its last legs."

"Since no other officer is going to tell it to your face I'll do it myself. Neil, on behalf of the Vale City Police Department I'd like to thank you and your team." The detective said placing both hands flat against the table and bowing his head resulting in Neil looking away slightly embarrassed. "It's obvious another family will rise to take their place, but with the information your team brought in that night they'll have to do it without any of the foundations built by their forerunners."

"Judges, attorneys, corrupt cops, if my own sources are right there should have been a few businessmen, and I'm sure at least two casino owners." Neil listed looking him dead in the eye. "All that's just here in Vale City," there was a pause followed by a short chuckle. "Mom and dad are probably laughing their arse off, they always hated the Brogan Family."

"And they can rest easy knowing their son had a hand in bringing them down." Alton joined him. "Quinn Brogan's going to be resigned to a hospital for the next month, and after that he's heading to a maximum security prison since he won't have a way out this time." If Alton could have and if Neil allowed it he would have placed a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to get the message as gave the older man a weary smile. "You guys did a good thing storming that bastard's home, even better breaking his arm."

"Actually my brother did that, you may find this hard to believe but he's the violent one." Neil cackled remembering Quinn's ear-splitting scream when Izaak decided he'd had enough of his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted their waiter approaching carrying their food on two separate trays. "Feel like picking this up after we got some food in our stomachs?"

Twelve years ago Daniel Alton never thought he'd be sitting in a diner having dinner with the son of two people he'd sworn to bring down at all costs. Or that while eating they'd share a laugh or two about what had and hadn't changed at Beacon. Alton kept his laughter inward whenever he looked up at the boy and his smile light as not to raise suspicion from the freshman student. This was the easiest he'd ever seen Neil, in all the pictures and photos of the boy he'd seen none of them ever showed him being even remotely at ease. He soberly remembered the reason for that being his knowing someone was watching him, someone planning to use him to get to his parents. Now there was none of that thus he didn't have any reason to be on guard. Not even against sitting across from the man who nearly killed him when he was seven seemed to bother him much.

"I hear you guys have been getting swamped with mission request coming in left and right."

"We have, between Grimm attacks and riots Beacon's been a beehive of activity. Problem is some of the missions coming through aren't exactly what you'd call Beacon-worthy."

"For the sake of my consciousness I'll avoid asking. What about you personally Neil? I'm sure you guys must have climbed pretty high in ranks by this point." Alton asked.

"I don't bother checking our official ranking, that's the stuff I leave to Olivia. What I can tell you is we've been getting the evil eye for helping out the protesters a few nights ago."

"What exactly happened that night if you don't mind me asking?"

There was a brief pause before Neil answered, not a particularly good sign. "Chicahua's sixth sense went off and the next thing we knew he was out of the car. After that we all just…at this point let's just say we've learned to trust his instincts."

"His instincts were right ya' know. That march down Bellview could have ended up going to hell in a handbasket like some of the others." The detective reaffirmed hoping to ease the boy's unease.

Neil's plate was almost entirely clean save for a few leftover crumbs. Seeing Alton's plate was mostly clean he looked the detective in the eye silently asking him a question he'd been dreading. _It's freaky how sudden this kid can change his mood. Heh, then again his Semblance allows him to control the weather. _Though he'd hoped this tranquility could go on for a little longer Alton knew Neil hadn't stopped thinking about the lead he'd called him in on. He said nothing as he reached into the leather bag he'd brought with him and fished out a folder containing various documents and papers he'd had to call in a lot of favors for, not to mention he'd practically deprived himself of sleep shifting through the information Neil had asked for. Laying it flat against the table and sliding it towards he waited for the gray-haired youth to respond. As he went to place his hands over the folder he caught Neil's hands slightly tremble before firmly taking it off the table then tucking it neatly into messenger's bag.

"Th…Thanks for…thank you for helping me. I…I know attaining this information mustn't have been easy but I appreciate you doing it for me." He finally said bowing his head in respect. "If anything ever comes up in any of your cases and you need my help don't hesitate to call, I promise I'll find some way to-"

"Don't mention it Neil, just promise me you won't slip up on your schoolwork." Alton chuckled holding up the menu. "Now tell me, anything you want for desert? Thankfully that's the one thing on the menu that hasn't changed all that much."

* * *

_**Beacon Academy at the exact same time… **_

"By all accounts it would appear nothing's changed, the warheads shipment is still scheduled for January twenty-eighth so you two will remain on standby. Once Operation Lightning Thief takes place things at Beacon are going to get…lively." Cinder finished with a sly smile that told Emerald and Mercury all they needed to know about what she was thinking.

"Anything else you want us to do?" Mercury spoke up feeling a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. _Besides avoiding getting killed? _

"Ah don't be so down Mercury. From my sources Team IONC is being assigned to the warheads detail so you won't have them to worry about. Besides them I don't know who else you two could possible consider a threat." The villainess laughed.

"If they're going to be at Fort Lennox when the attack goes down then there's no chance they'll be coming back alive." Emerald reasoned exhaling a sigh of relief. "Here I was worried we were going to have to spend the rest of the time here walking on thin ice."

"Whoever said either of you wouldn't be if they get killed there? The council knows my face now, not to mention most of my criminal connections. Just because I managed to convince Watts to erase most of your records doesn't mean some still don't exist. If by some flunk someone were to recognize either of you you'd have to bug out, no doubt leaving a mess behind."

Her words did the job in knocking the air out of Mercury and Emerald's sails, not that there was much to knock. Their eyes went from each other to the barely decorated dorm room around them. Ever since Team IONC had arrived they'd lived with the nightmare image of a band of Beacon security guards knocking the door down and forcing them to flee only to find the dreaded transfer team standing before them. Just when they thought they could erase that image their boss had to go and repaint it for them.

"At least if our cover here gets blown we won't have anything serious to worry about. Stomping through that team of upstarts won't be a problem." Mercury chuckled imagining what it would look like if Team RWBY tried to stop them. In truth he'd been dying to test his abilities against the entire team; that was the only way they'd be able to give him any sort of challenge.

"Sorry to disappoint you Mercury, but I'm afraid that team won't be returning to Beacon either." Cinder laughed watching the confusion spread across the faces of her two underlings. Silently asking her to elaborate she did so, "You see…Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc have gained PESTILENCE's interest. For our…faction if either of them fell into their hands we'd be at a major disadvantage. To stop that me and my other… associates have arranged to have them taken care of during Operation Lightning Thief."

Both outlaws felt their stomachs drop as they fully digested Cinder's words. Mercury tried to play off the impact with a dark chuckle that unnerved his partner more so than she already was. Emerald didn't want to see Team RWBY being there when Operation Lightning Thief took place; it was a pity she'd grown a soft spot for them especially the team's young leader. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of the rookies surviving what the PMC had in store for them. If luck was on their side they'd die fast.

"What exactly do you have planned for them boss? Another assassin? Some super Grimm that's been lurking around the forest?" Mercury pressed eager for the details.

"Let's just say a combination of both." The dark-haired woman answered losing her smile. What neither of her underlings knew was that she would rather have sent both of them to do the deed instead the…_lunatic _her mistress had given the task to. At least she wouldn't have to worry about losing either of them to crossfire. "Enjoy your peace time while you can. Once the operation kicks off there's no doubt in my mind Beacon won't be a sanctuary any longer." That was all she had to say to the two thus she ended the call leaving the laptop screen blank.

"Well…I'll admit it was nice knowing those kids." The black and gray-clad kickboxer stated falling onto his back. "If any of them survived who knows how far they would have gone. I was really looking forwards to a match with blondie."

"You know I'm actually going to miss this place." Emerald spoke up catching her partner's eye. "For a while…I kind of liked the peace and quiet. Did you?"

Mercury never gave her an answer, hell, he didn't even look at her after hearing her question. He got up went to the closest to fish out his sleep wear. Once dressed he retired to his bed leaving Emerald to clean up and follow him. Almost half an hour later Emerald joined him knowing whatever happened next wasn't their problem. All they had to do was play their part and when the time came they'd be there to watch the fire burn.

* * *

**It's weird, having watched "Taking Control" my story's almost in the exact same place-season's worth of buildup acclimating in a battle that'll leave a few characters either dead or traumatized. Speaking of which some of you guys are going to be needing these! *throws everyone some fire equipment* **

**Blake-What are you planning? **

**Yang-I swear to if I end up losing an arm I'll- **

**Cosmic-Author's knowledge, oh and you two are definitely going to be needing this. *throws a couple of fire extinguishers at Jaune and Ruby* **

**Pyrrha-Dare I even ask? **

**Cosmic-Nope, it's better you don't! As for you readers, next chapter be prepared to start seeing the fireworks going off. *cue malevolent laughter* **


	45. Chapter 45: Unbreakable Fortress Pt1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 45-The Unbreakable Fortress Pt.1 **

_**January 28**__**th**__**, 6:30 AM… **_

Izaak forgot when he fell back to sleep, all he knew was that a part of him wished he didn't have to wake up. Or when he did the whole day had passed by. He was surprised not to hear the sound of keys on a keyboard being tapped in rapid succession or pens furiously scratching against paper. If he had heard either of those things it might have put his nerves at ease, alas, like Neil lady luck didn't seem to have much love for him. Rising from the bedcovers like a zombie he swept a hand over his face as he normally did every morning. As he did so he listened for the breathing or snoring of his teammates, as usual Neil and Chicahua were asleep while Olivia was up.

"How long have you been up?" Were the first words out of the bronze-haired youth's mouth. For a response he got a brief glance and nothing more. "I can understand if you're scared, so am I. I'd tell you this isn't anything new or bigger than what we've faced before, but I'll be honest, it kind of is. The good news is we won't be on our own this time."

"As comforting as that's supposed to be Izaak it just makes me feel worse." She responded meeting his hazel eyes.

"Look on the bright side, at least if there's a screw up somewhere they won't be able to immediately single us out." He laughed.

Olivia cracked a smile at the seemingly dark joke. Some may have found it crude and even disrespectful, but Olivia had known Izaak long enough to know it had good intentions behind it. That, and a part of her did like the idea of someone else taking the heat for when something went wrong instead of immediately singling them out. She knew the odds of them receiving blame for anything that went wrong were still pretty high since they apparently were going to be one of the few freshmen teams assigned to the warheads detail. Clapping her hands together the arms heiress looked up to her teammate with eyes filled to the brim with unease. "Do you think…if this mission is a success it'll be enough to make some people forget about what happened back home?"

"Honestly, I don't know and I don't care." The Viking answered without missing a beat. "As far as we go we've got one job today, and that's making sure those warheads get to their destination, nothing more. Oh, and staying alive, that too."

The Viking and samurai shared a laugh that aroused their teammates from their morning slumber. Jumping out of her bed Olivia clapped her Aura-infused hands just as their respective alarms went off jolting both boys awake with a groan. Izaak was happy they were able to at least start the day off with a laugh or two, it gave him hope their mission wasn't going to be a complete nightmare.

For everyone else he was pretty sure this day was going to end up being some sort of nightmare. Once they stepped out of their dorm they were passed by frantic students and instructors-some barking orders and others demanding explanations.

"I hate days like this." Neil spoke upon laying eyes on the hallway traffic.

"This is why I hate winter." Izaak added with a complete blank expression.

"Are you two going to stand there hating, or are you going to help us get to the dining hall so we can actually have some breakfast before we ship out?" Chicahua snorted already pushing into the crowd with Olivia following him.

This wasn't the first time the misfit team had to practically bulldoze their way through what was basically a stampede of students, because of that they were able to successful escape the dorm building with relative ease. Each teenager silently noted how the campus was just as busy as the inside of the dorms with countless people rushing from one end to another. The short trip to the dining hall felt more like trying to endure a storm with angry voices snapping at you every now and then for the tiniest of reasons. A maelstrom of noise and bodies, this wasn't anything new for Team IONC, nor was finding the dining hall to be more of the same either.

"Out of curiosity how much sleep did any of you get last night?" Ren asked in an after getting his breakfast and taking his seat at the table. He had slight bags under his eyes indicating he had not been blessed with the same quiet slumber Team IONC had been.

"Enough so we're not snapping at everything that moves." Neil yawned before leaning over then looking to his right. "The hell happened to Ruby?"

"Strawberry pancakes, she was right there to see the last one was served to the guy in front of her." Weiss clarified in a dignified voice as her partner lay against the table with tears streaming from her eyes. "As for Yang well, there was a water shortage so she wasn't able to do her hair."

"Weiss!" The brawler barked from her sit looking ready to strangle her white-haired friend. "It's your fault for hogging all the hot water, again!"

"Weiss? Here I thought you were always the first one up so you could do that." Olivia chirped in further irritating the blond.

Cracking a half-smile Izaak looked around at his assembled group of classmates. Clearly most of them knew today was going to be hectic, and that was being generous. Rather than trying to calm down her partner Blake had seemingly focused her attention entirely on her breakfast. He knew there was more going on inside her head, but he didn't have the time or willingness to pry. Pyrrha had a similar look on her face, in fact, it reminded Izaak a little too much of Olivia's earlier expression. Nora was her usual bombastic self while Ren seemed to be on the verge of passing out in his seat only for his partner to slap him awake. Last of the team was Jaune who was poking his…his…

"What the hell is that?" The transfer asked pointing at the greenish-brown mush that had been tossed onto Jaune's plate.

"This?" He repeated pointing at the mush with his spoon. "Oh nothing, just what happens when the cooks run out of food and don't bother waiting to restock, instead just give you whatever the hell is available! Does this look like oatmeal to you?!" He demanded shoving the plate into his face with twitching eyes.

Izaak's sense of smell was better than most people, some days that was a blessings and others a curse, this was one of those times it was a curse. _No, that's not oatmeal, that's shit they scraped out when they realized they were running out of food to serve. _He looked at Jaune then back at the bowel in his hand, and then back at Jaune. "Let me see that for a second." Swiping the bowel from his friend's head he walked over to the nearest trashcan and dumped its contents. Out of the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw something sizzle and cackle as if acid had been added to the mix. Dismissing it he poured half of his bowel into Jaune's on his way back then offered it to him.

Graciously accepting the bowel Jaune immediately began consuming cereal. "Thanks Izaak, if it weren't for you I'd probably be waiting until noon."

"Yeah, you'll have a little something to hold you over until we're able to taste that famed Cichorium cuisine!" Nora sounded off.

"_Gak!" _

_**DING! **_

Jaune got in maybe three full gulps of his breakfast before he looked up to see every member of Team IONC was frozen stiff as a statue. All of them staring at his team with eyes nearly as wide as the dining plates. Olivia in particular seemed to be staring at the four of them with twitching eyes; looking closer Jaune could honestly saw the look in her eyes was something akin to horror. Their expressions did a quick number on not just Jaune's good mood, but that of everyone else sitting at the table. The cheer and good mood that had once filled the table was now gone completely, and Jaune had a feeling it wasn't coming back any time soon.

"What? You all look like you just saw a ghost!" Yang questioned. "Are you guys being sent to Cichorium just like the rest of us?"

"_EH!?" _

"For what!? What reason!?" Olivia demanded slamming both her hands on the table as she shot to her feet. Her thunderous voice silenced a majority of the voices around her as well as drew eyes to the assembled students. To the samurai though, none of that mattered, her attention was solely on Jaune and to a lesser extent Ruby. Both of them were beginning to sweat under her intense gaze.

"M-Mission, u-us." Ruby managed to spit out suddenly feeling ill in her stomach. "Y-Yesterday our Scrolls received a message s-saying we were being assigned to some kind of bodyguard detail."

"Y-You guys have bodyguard duty too?" The blond asked becoming ever unnerved by Olivia's twitching eyes.

"What's the big deal? So we all have the same mission together to the same town? I don't see what you're getting so bent out of shape about." Yang pressed leaning back into her seat with a frown.

Unlike her brawler teammate Weiss's expression was deadly serious as she'd already deduced the reason behind Olivia and her team's sudden unease. "This is about what's being developed at Fort Lennox isn't it?" When her counterpart's eyes darted to her she did not flinch; she'd just confirmed her suspicions.

Like lightning the shock was replaced by a sudden glare the remaining members of Team IONC knew all too well. The other members of the table could see it as well-the calculations and pieces coming together inside the olive-haired girl's head. There was a green flash that lasted barely a second then Olivia was gone leaving her blinking classmates staring at her empty seat.

"What the hell's her problem? She worried we're going to hog all the glory on this stupid mission?" The buxom blond snorted.

"No Yang, more like worried that something here is deeply wrong." Pyrrha spoke up. Almost immediately all eyes went to her causing her to uncharacteristically flinch. This did nothing to ease the growing fears of the group. "The place we're heading to, Cichorium, it's not just some…quiet little town in the eastern half of the kingdom. It's…well it's…"

"It sits in the shadow of Fort Lennox," Weiss spoke in a grave tone of voice. "Also known as the Fortress of Arms, primarily because it's where the kingdom's most advanced weaponry is developed and tested then shipped out to the kingdom's major bases and installations." Throwing a swift glance around the table Weiss saw her classmates digest the information they'd just been given. Nora, Ruby, Jaune, and Yang went from shocked to looking almost fearful knowing their mission had just jumped a couple notches in magnitude. Ren, Blake, Pyrrha, and the remainder of Team IONC simply remained stoic; no doubt they already knew the gravity of the assignment beforehand. "Don't make us guess," she said pointing her eyes in Izaak, Neil, and Chicahua's direction. "What the hell is it we're going to be guarding? Not even I know what the hell they were building at that base, and my family spent a _fortune _on it."

The three boys looked between each other blind to the growing stares of the rest of the table. Simultaneously Chicahua and Neil focused their gaze on Izaak who vigorously shook his head in protest.

"You're the leader." Neil spoke.

"You said you'd take responsibility." The Faunus added.

Izaak's mouth was agape and his left eye was twitching with annoyance. Hearing a series of coughs he looked back to see the rest of the table had now focused solely on him. In seconds he realized he was in a corner with no way out. Sighing he threw up his hands in defeat. "Friends, classmates, Weiss, today we will be heading to the Fort Lennox to help safeguard the Jinrai, the latest and most advanced Dust-powered ICBMs Remnant has ever seen to date. Just one enough is strong enough to decimate I'd say maybe…." Holding up his head he did a string of mental calculations on his finger. "Ah, yes, a blast radius of almost two-hundred and ninety square kilometers. Yeah, just about large enough to wipe out every known city on Remnant, and every creature inside of it. That's what we'll be guarding."

* * *

**_An hour later at the air dock, 8:35 AM... _**

"Bad skies, bad skies." The dark-haired professor mumbled watching a new set of darkish gray clouds pass over the sun obscuring its semi-warm rays.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't go and jinx us Dwayne." Blaine muttered debating rather or not he should dug into his pocket for a smoke. The vow he'd taken to swear off the things had come dangerously close to breaking and he feared today would be the day it finally snapped. "In case you haven't noticed I'm already riled up enough."

"You so much as think of smoking and I'll find yourself missing an arm." Boomed Port.

Chuckling in response Blaine turned his head to the sky hoping to see at least a single snowflake. Even though it would have been a slight disruption of schedule he would have welcomed the predicted snowfall if only to ease his nerves. Perhaps when he got a moment he could persuade Team IONC's resident weather manipulator into changing the forecast. Not a minute later and he spotted them along with the other teams making their way towards the helipads.

"Blaine," Port mumbled stepping beside him. His voice was barely above a whisper as not to attract attention even though their colleges were no doubt thinking the exact same thoughts. "Perhaps I've been out too much, but I don't remember having that many….freshmen teams assigned to the detail. Do you?"

"Last I checked no, at most we were supposed to have two, one of them being Team IONC. I know things are hectic, but to send us this many freshmen teams," Blaine shook his head in firm disapproval not caring if the students saw him or not.

"All over the country there's been a rampant uptake in Grimm attacks and civil riots. Truth be told I'd rather be out there hunting Grimm than here." The old Huntsman pouted looking very much like a disappointed child. Blaine couldn't blame him. "We have five freshmen teams, six third year teams, and five senior teams. When we first received the mission details I remember the makeup being quite different. Are we that understaffed?"

Blaine looked over the students who'd assembled before Anuli to hear the mission instructions. Despite their years or backgrounds they were still considered children in the eyes of many. "This is what we can send to safeguard the warheads Peter, that's all that matters." The thin cloud of cold air he breathed out reminded him too much of a smoke cloud he could have exhaled instead. "Let's get this mission over with, the sooner it's over the sooner we can get hit a tavern."

"Do you plan on saying hi to any old friends at Fort Lennox?" Port innocently questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd rather not if I could-" A chill ran down his spine putting the former soldier's instincts on alert. Immediately he singled out the source-Anuli's burning eyes silently telling him where he would going and who he was taking with him. Resistance built up on his face only to crumble once the chemistry teacher's glare intensified depriving him of all his strength. "You know what Peter? On second thought saying high to a few old army buddies sounds like a fantastic idea. You don't mind if I take the fort and leave the town to you and the others do you?"

"Not at all!" The white-haired Huntsman bowled happily slapping him on the back. If he knew what went on with that silent exchange he wasn't telling, and if he would it would be after the mission was over. "Before we leave we will be sharing a drink or two, a trip to a place such as Cichorium shouldn't be wasted entire on fighting and battling you know."

"Believe me Peter, I know." The redheaded knife-wielder mumbled with a forced smile as the students began moving out and he turned his back to the airships that would ferry them to their destination.

Not many knew this about him, but Peter Port prided himself on being able to maintain one hell of a poker face. Amongst the teaching staff at Beacon he was widely considered one of the best at it. As he'd learned in his youth maintaining the best poker face possibly was a vital skill for a Huntsman. Looking around the cabinet of the airship he could tell his students hadn't mastered the art yet, not even close to it.

Yang and Nora, two of his most prized students, were doing their best to look as disinterested as possible. Despite this it was clear they were just as uneasy as their teammates were; they knew this mission was bigger than they felt they were ready for. Deep done Port had a hard time arguing with them, but they couldn't go into this mission with that attitude.

"If you all wade into the battle like that none of you will last terribly long." He started crossing his arms in a proud display. "They'll be no stories to tell with you either sitting on the sidelines or struggling to stand with broken bones."

His words did the trick in rousing the two teams sitting in front of him. Some looked angry while others seemed sullen at his words. What was clear was that each of the eight teenagers realized there was no going back now that the ship had taken off.

Cautiously raising her hand the young reaper spoke, "U-Um Professor Port, I have a question."

"And that is Ruby?"

Mustering her courage she forced the words out of her dry mouth. "I-I, well, you see I got the basics of the m-mission earlier, but I'm still a little…confused. Where exactly are we going? What's our purpose because I find it hard to believe we're going to be guarding ICBMs since we're still, well, we're still first years. We're pretty good at fighting Grimm, but I think…I…"

"Say no more Miss Rose, I understand completely. Like good students you've followed orders and went through with the mission, despite not knowing what the mission is in full. I will remedy that."

Already reading the signs with alarm Weiss leaned into her partner's ear, "Please tell me you didn't just get us an hour long lecture. Please!"

"Hey! I'm not like you! I need this information!" Ruby protested.

"All of us do." Came the lone voice of Ren drawing everyone's attention to him. The gunmen had his attention squarely on the professional Huntsmen. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear, but he feared it may prove pivotal in surviving the day. "We're not actually going to be guarding the warheads are we? Not directly, that's a job I highly doubt the council would leave to students, no matter how skilled they are."

"That is correct, none of you, at least those on this ship and the one to our right, will be directly guarding the warheads. That job has been conscripted to several professional teams as well as Beacon's handpicked. To answer your question Miss Rose, we are heading to a rather pleasant town called Cichorium in the northeastern portion of the kingdom. While the town is widely known for being a bastion of steel production and jewelry crafting that is only because it sits at the foot of Fort Lennox, the eighth oldest fortress in Vale's history. Its existence can be traced back to the Grimm War over fifteen hundred years, can any of you picture it? A fortress that's stood for that long?"

"Eh, not to sound rude here Professor, but all I can picture is a crumbling pile of old stone towers." Yang said clearly dreading another boring history lesson. "I'm surprised Grimm haven't wiped it out yet."

"Believe me Miss Xiao Long, it wasn't for lack of trying." Port responded with humor evident in his voice. "Fort Lennox has withstood many threats from the Grimm to humans to Mother Nature herself doing her best to tear it done, yet the fortress continued to stand. Over the centuries it became a primary spot for weapons testing and development, some of Vale's best known weapon designs have come from the fortress's halls. Some of those same designs have been used by your generation to craft your own personal weapons when starting out. For this same reason Lennox has been able to repel almost everything thrown at it.

"It is staffed by almost twelve thousand men and women and commanded by a two-star general of the Vale Army. Of the estimated one hundred and six Huntsmen that reside in Cichorium almost half of them are regularly employed by the base to serve as extra security, day-to-day operations, and of course assistance in weapons testing and development. As you can guess they amongst others will be the ones guarding the Jinrai. What we will be doing is providing what you might say is rear support."

"In other words we're the backup singers. Here I was getting myself popped believing we'd have the chance to actually make do something important." The blonde brawler huffed. Ignoring Blake's elbow jab she pressed on, irritation evident in her voice. "Izaak already gave us a rundown of what's being shipped from that place, something that's at least eight levels above our nonexistent paygrade. For a mission like this…is it really acceptable to send us to even act as rear support? I know we're good, but don't tell me there weren't a few second or third year teams that could have taken our place."

"As I've come to expect of you Yang, you know the right questions to ask." Port chuckled stroking his beard before putting back on his serious face. "As hard as it is to believe the academy is being stretched rather thin in terms of manpower. As you all known there's been an increase in Grimm attacks, some severe and others mundane, on top of that there's been human insurgencies of similar variety. Getting back to the original question, Listen carefully, each of you selected for mission, you were chosen because of what was available you all possessed the best track records. That sentiment even extends to us instructors. Our job is safeguarding Cicohorium from any and all attacks, as of late there's been more Grimm attacks at the town's walls, some of them threatening to breach if not for the military's intervention. With the warheads on the move such a distraction cannot be allowed-that is where we come in and play our part."

Swallowing the lump in his throat the leader of Team JNPR spoke up for the first time, "H-How many people know the warheads are being moved? I mean this is pretty high-level stuff so I-I'm assuming whoever knows it has to have heard it from somewhere…or…or…"

Though Jaune didn't say it everyone immediately picked up on where he was going. _Traitor_, that or somewhere in the chain of command someone had gotten careless with information. Remembering Aemon Strip the teenagers were willing to bait either or both had happened. Needless to say that revelation didn't feel them with much confidence.

"Regardless of what we face, simply remember everything you've been taught. You've heard tells of my many, many glorious triumphs, thus I'm sure you've all taken away a thing or two."

"You mean…like how to take a Beowolf's head off in a single uppercut?" Ren smiled.

"Or snapping a Boarbatusk's neck barehanded?" Nora added holding up her hands with menacing grin. "Forget the Boarbatusk, you taught us how to bear wrestle an Ursa."

"There's also the…descriptive elimination of a Wyvern gave you us involving using its own tail against it." Pyrrha said laughing into her head.

"Then there's the…lesson you gave us about riding a Wyvern." Jaune mumbled with a crooked smile remembering some old wounds.

"How about the time you told us how you took out a whole swarm of Abeille using nothing but a shard of Dust and your weapon." Ruby mused now wearing a smile on her face for the first time in hours.

"See? I've taught you all you need to know to make it through this mission!" Port proclaimed proudly holding his fist up.

"Soooo….if by some chance we get to score some big victory can we discuss it next class?" Ruby innocently questioned.

"Are you proposing Miss Rose that your victories will be more spectacular than mine?" The older man asked with a sharp glint in his eyes. Instantaneously all his students went still and silent with a solid bead of sweat running down their scalps.

"But isn't that what you trained us to do?"

At first Yang thought she was going to get called out when the professor's glare fell on her causing her to squirm. A second pasted, and then the laughter came in full burst. Like everyone else she was stunned at first, but soon enough she joined in letting the tension ease out of her shoulders.

Up front the pilots could have sworn they heard an entire cabin being filled with laughter. Shrugging it off they checked in with their flight leader, mumbling about crazy Huntsmen and their love of danger.

* * *

"Out of curiosity were any of you surprised to find your names on the list of teams requested for protection?"

All but one of Team IONC turned to the left to meet his face upon hearing his question. Based on the looks on their faces they'd been expecting the question for some time.

"Yeah, surprised is putting it lightly." Olivia answered before her leader could utter a word. Swinging her legs across the seat so her body was facing Blaine the heiress gathered inhaled a steady breath then spoke, "Why were we assigned to this mission? We're not the top-ranked freshman team nor are our skills enough to qualify for something like this. I was given no notice of this up until two days ago, and all my attempts to get an audience with the mission guidance office haven been blocked. With all due respect Professor Mulnix, what the hell is going on?"

Again, he really wished he could have had a smoke. Running a hand over his scarlet-colored hair he faced the three teens with a straight frown. "To give you the honest truth, I don't know. While I may be a teacher I'm not that high on the totem pole." Flashing a smirk he said, "If you want that answer you'll have to ask someone like Professor Goodwitch or the Headmaster himself."

"True, but you are a former tactical forecaster." Chicahua shot wiping the smirk off the man's face. "You're smart enough to put all these pieces together, much smarter than the four of us. I'm sure you can imagine how it'll look if we, your students, could put all this together and you couldn't."

_And here I thought I hated Qrow's little smirks, this kid could give him a run for his money in that department. _The bearded man thought as the Eagle continued smiling at him from his seat. _This is probably why you kids were chosen to be on this detail, because you're a hell of a lot smarter than most of your classmates. _"Alright then, you want my honest opinion: someone must have requested it. As you all know clients can request certain teams or people. I'm not sure who or why, but someone put in a personal request to have you guys added onto this detail. Don't ask me who because I don't know; there's a handful of names I'm sure you all already know who might have something to gain from giving you this mission." Blaine watched the Viking, samurai, and Eagle Knight withdraw into themselves as they mulled over the information. Despite seeming to be asleep he knew Neil had heard their entire conversation and was digesting the information as well. Olivia was the easiest to read, probably because odds were someone in her company had put the request in. _Still, as influential as Rikugun is I doubt it'd be enough to sway Ozpin's mind, same thing for the Schnee Company since this is a big gamble for them to. There's another hand at play here. I'm not too sure I like that. _"Look on the Brightside guys, if this mission goes well it'll be a big shiny star on your records. When you graduate Beacon that'll probably help you find employment in some guild or PMC. Have any of you given some thought on what you want to do after graduating Beacon Academy? I'm sure you'll have a lot of options open."

Nervously chuckling the bronze-haired axe-user was the first to respond. "Sorry Professor, I kind of got nothing on my mind. For the most part I just worry about getting through the day-to-day work you guys give us, personally I don't like to think that too far off since I'm still only a freshman."

It tough to tell just how much of what the kid had said was a lie, but Blaine could believe Izaak wasn't the kind of person who looked down far down the line. He guessed he could give him a free pass on that one. "Fair enough, you've got four years to make up your mind Izaak. What about you Olivia? I'm assuming once you graduate you'll be working for the family company then fighting your way up the corporate latter."

"You got me." She laughed leaning back into her seat with a content smirk over her face. "Maybe our transfer was for the better, Beacon is after all the best ranked combat school in all of Remnant so they'll help me fend off some naysayers."

"That it would. What of you Chicahua? Do you plan on returning to your tribe or are you going to explore what other options open up to you?"

Unlike his partner Chicahua's was thoughtful and rather than stony pride his posture spoke of deep thought. "If possibly I'd like to do a little bit of both. I do one day intend to become king of my tribe, but in order to do that I'll have to learn as much as I can about the outside world, what I know now simply isn't enough. In addition to that I'll have to become _much _stronger because like my partner, the road to the top isn't going to be easy for me. Granted that's how I want it to be because otherwise becoming king of the flock would be boring."

Blaine was beginning to feel out of the four he liked Chicahua the most-the kind had fire in his eyes but it was tempered, a rare trait in youth. Turning his green eyes the second knight he asked, "So what about you Neil? Any plans on joining Fianna?"

Cracking one eye open the dual-wielder responded, "Maybe, it all depends. I wanna go some place I can actually do some good. While a guild is preferable I'm not closed off to the idea of becoming a free agent. Like Izaak I'm keeping my options open."

"You could always become a teacher at Beacon. Train the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses to defend the world, I'm sure that would qualify as good." Blaine offered.

"Nope." Chicahua snapped.

"Not in this life time." Izaak echoed.

"You see Professor Mulnix, our dear Neil is just not qualified to teach." Olivia stated in mock sadness. "He barely has it in him to follow the most basic instructions, not to mention he practically hates giving instructions to others. Sadly the teaching lifestyle you seem to have found joy in is simply not for him."

"I could always start early on a killer-for-hire career by taking your heads." He snarky replied.

The Huntsmen and three students burst into laughter ignoring the side glare the knight shot their way before returning to his light slumber. "Well before you consider murder for money I'd advise you to give it some time. Take it from a former student himself, Beacon has a way of changing how you look at the world. Mostly it's for the better."

Suddenly the intercoms came to life with the one of the pilots' voices informing the occupants they were crossing into Lennox airspace and would be disembarking in less than ten minutes.

"Well kids, this'll be it, another moment to shine."

The four teens remained silently as the landing procedures took place, instead each of them took the view from the window. A sprawling array of old stone and shining steel buildings lay outside the window stretching for what appeared to be miles. Beyond them lay vast swaths of forest they were sure was teeming with wildlife and Grimm. Cutting the forest off from the rest of human civilization were almost forty-foot walls topped with gun batteries, some manned and others entirely automatic.

"Here I thought Atlas had a massive defense budget." Neil remarked.

"What I'm curious is if there's in landmines within a two hundred yards of the walls. I doubt it." Olivia countered buttoning up her jacket. "Better buddle up boys, reports say it's going to drop down to thirty by the time five o'clock rolls around."

"Exactly how long is this mission supposed to last anyway?" Neil questioned outstretching his arms.

_**DING! **_

A part of Blaine had been expecting the message while another part of him had been hoping it wouldn't come. Before he read it he'd at least answer his student's question with what he felt was an honest answer. "Honestly Neil, I can't give you a firm answer. All I can say is we probably won't be getting back to Beacon until midnight, hell, if worse comes to worse we might have to spend the night here in Cichorium."

"Yahtzee." Was the dry reply of the team leader as the airship finally touched the ground.

* * *

As much as he hated to admit it he rather would have been wondering around the base with his students then walking down the halls of HQ to meet the base commander. _It wouldn't be that hard to say no, granted it would probably look bad on the academy. Not to mention what little reputation I have left would probably go down the toilet so there's that. _Maybe instead of a smoke he could have a drink instead, he had promised port a shared beer or two at one of the bars in town. That was the image in his mind he kept up to keep his spirits up.

Softly knocking on the door he heard a strong male voice beckon him inside. Gently pushing the door open he found himself standing in an office he'd last seen almost seventeen years ago. The only difference was the occupant behind the desk had changed.

"Still sporting red I see," The fifty-eight year-old man noted stepping out of his chair and heading over to the coffee machine on the right side desk of the room. "Black or sugar."

"Black. I'd rather you not have called me here Hamon. I'm a teacher now, I can't leave my students unattended; they could end up getting lost." Blaine muttered taking a seat on the coach adjacent to the polished wooden desk.

"Still cracking jokes I see, nice to know all these years haven't changed you too much Blaine." The black-haired general chuckled turning to face him. As Blaine remembered Hamon's uniform was prim and proper, two stars proudly adorning the collar of his uniform. Handing him his cup Blaine silently noted the burnt patches on his right hand had yet to fully heal, or rather, Hamon hadn't gotten the scars removed. "I'm glad you came down, it's been ages since we've been able to talk man to man."

"Well I always assumed you were too busy to worry about little 'ole me, besides I had some things to take care of myself." The instructor stated feeling an unpleasant rumble in his stomach. "Thanks for the sentiment though. You can imagine hearing someone with rank actually wanting to talk to me is something of a shocker." Rather than look his old squad mate in the eye the Huntsman focused on what changes had been done to the office. Directly across from the coach he sat on lay a giant painting of For Lennox. Accordingly every man given the title of base commander took pride in the painting, created little more than six hundred years ago. Scouring the room he found very little had changed in the years. Same bookshelves and photos hanging on the walls with new additions and some personal decorations, especially on the desk. "Really know how to spice the place up Hamon."

"Perhaps you could invite me to Beacon one day so I can see what your classroom looks like, we could exchange notes." The general's cerulean eyes cackled with familiar amusement as he leaned back into his chair. Hamon's face softened seeing the half smile on his old friend's face. As usual it was too easy to tell when he was carrying too much emotional baggage. "While I may still be pretty low in the great pyramid I can tell you not as many people care about the Revolution as you think. It's been twelve years, in great cesspool of disgraces your names kind of gotten lost."

"Lost, but not forgotten I'll bait." He somberly stated finishing off half his coffee. "I'm happy where I am Hamon, really."

"You told me you hated kids." The general fired off with a crooked grin.

"That was two decades ago, people change." The redhead shrugged. "Technically speaking I'm not working with kids, they're young adults." _"Who I hope will make better decisions than we did." _"Hamon, we've got a good crop of students this year."

"With all due respect Blaine, I've heard that before. Since you're the one saying it I'm trying to stay optimistic." Whatever else he was about to say was cut off by the series of beeps coming from his computer. Putting his coffee down he tapped a few keys; in seconds Hamon's straight frown went slightly dark. "There's a little more pressure than we expected at Gate-Eight, the town guard is having about all they can handle."

"That won't last long."

Hamon's eyes narrowed. "I'm assuming the team that's been sent there is skilled enough to deal with something like a Nemean?"

"A Nemean? Hah!" Blaine threw back his head in laughter not caring if he looked unprofessional. "Let's just say this team has faced much worse than Simba's evil cousin. This team is part of that good crop I told you about earlier."

"This team got a name you're willing to share with me or am I gonna have to read it in the after reports?"

Based on the sly grin the former tactically forecaster had on his face the two-star general made a mental note to look up this team. It had been a while since he'd seen Blaine smile like that.

"Finally! Some honest to God action for us!" Yang shouted slamming her fists together as the wind fiercely whipped her hair.

"Yes, something simple and basic you can follow." Weiss complimented arming Myrtenaster with the appropriate Dust shells. "The perfect chance for you to work off all that energy you built up this morning during breakfast."

"And you. Don't act like Yang's the only one who's been holding it in." Countered the team's feline ninja. In truth she was looking forwards to joining the ongoing battle below them just as much as her partner was. Everything that had been discussed this morning and following hours had left her slightly on edge. Though reluctant to admit Yang had indeed taught her how to blow off some of that stress with combat. "Ruby?"

Below them the battle didn't seem to be going in the humans' favor, which was why they were going to be diving straight in. Fortresses, warheads, and glory were concepts Ruby had had a tough time wrapping her head around. As the day wore on she probably would, but only when her nerves had been calmed. Luckily the dozens of black masses shifting below them provided the perfect opportunity to do so. "Everybody ready?" It was sweet relief to see her three teammates flash her confident smiles. Hosting Crescent Rose up she took the first step forward. "Then let's go!"

Following the reaper's lead the heiress, ninja, and brawler leaped from the ship's opened haul hundreds of feet above the chaotic battlefield. Each of the girls wore grins of various magnitudes on their faces representing their joy at finally being set loose.

Down on the ground the Grimm looked up to see four colored dots descending towards them. At first they halted in their advance not knowing what the objects were, then their demonic howls went up like wildfire. By that time it was already too late for the all-girl team had already begun their attack.

* * *

_**To be Continued in Pt.2 **_


	46. Chapter 46: Unbreakable Fortress Pt2

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 46-The Unbreakable Fortress Pt.2 **

When the Grimm looked up it was as if a star was repeatedly descending towards the earth leaving a trail of blazing flames in its wake. These Grimm, who'd launched several attacks on the walls for decades, immediately knew the object was dangerous and would kill countless of them if they didn't evade it. Even those in the middle of mauling cornered humans broke off and retreated with the others. Their caution was rewarded with fewer causalities when the star finally made impact releasing shockwaves and flames that tore apart anything they touched. As expected a heavy dust cloud went up obscuring the new combatant from the Grimm's eyes, but not their ears and noises.

Yang grinned through the dust cloud she'd kicked up; if the Grimm could see it then they'd know her little drop attack was merely a division to draw their attention away from her teammates.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **_

A continuous chorus of thunder-like booms turned the attention of the soulless beasts tot the sky where dozens of bullets zoomed downwards. On contact with solid matter they exploded into fields of static electricity that immobilized anything caught within their net.

Before blindly rushing in Yang took a moment to look back at the defenders of the wall, all of them trained military who now seemed embarrassed they had to have their asses saved by in-training-Huntresses. Some of them looked flat out amazed how teenagers just growing into their adult years were handling monsters that had torn through their ranks mere seconds ago.

_**SLISSSSHHH! **_

"Anyone who thinks they can still fight is more than welcome to join, otherwise just hang back and don't get caught in the crossfire!" She didn't bother to see what they responses were, she had a job to do.

Blake's slashes and her flaming projectiles caused each static field to explode taking anything that was caught in them into a fiery oblivion. Those that weren't destroyed staggered away from the craters either still on fire, paralyzed, or missing multiple limbs. Yang saw an Alpha Beowolf staggering out of a smoke cloud and changed directions towards it so she could put the Grimm out of its misery.

The oversized werewolf caught the blond brawler racing towards it and reacted accordingly, unfortunately Yang had faced worse than a half dead Grimm. Easily ducking the claw sweep she rammed her fist directly into the Grimm's gut then fired Celica Embers. There was an explosion of red and black then Yang tore her hand out of the hole and moved onto the smaller Beowolves coming to avenge the slain Alpha. Just like the Alphas all it took was a single well-placed punch to pulverize the black-furred beasts. Sure she got some splatters of inky blood on her arms and chest, but none of it touched her hair courtesy of the winter cap she'd chosen to wear. Peeking through the collection of shadowy bodies swarming her Yang could see her teammates were having just as much trouble as she was dealing with the Grimm-little to none.

Yang had been wondering what she could due to brighten Ruby's mood all morning, it figures a good fight was what was needed. Truly any despair or unease Ruby had been carrying melted away as she obliterated Grimm in her usual carefree manner. Her smile was probably an unnerving sight to onlookers, a teenage girl grinning like a fool while effortlessly hacking and slashing apart soulless monstrosities that had slaughtered countless trained soldiers. Crescent Rose left hundreds of black droplets riding the jet streams it created with its movements; the red and silver metal was slowly overtaken by the black with each rise and fall of the blade. When the blade unfolded the thunderous sound of gunfire replaced the _slish-slash _noises created by the scythe.

Blake was doing something similar freely switching between Gambol Shroud's scythe, blade, and pistol forms. Like Ruby Blake was too nimble for the Beowolves and Ursa to get a beat on, and it cost them dearly. Yang always got something of a kick watching her partner battle, she was without a doubt the most acrobatic of the team. Each time the time a claw swipe failed to produce a bloody corpse the Grimm would stare in shock only to realize Blake was either blow or above them, by the time they realized what had happened Blake had reduced the Grimm to nothing but a decaying corpse and broken mask pieces.

_**THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! **_

Yang looked up to see something new had joined the fray, a few Beringels had decided to join the battle by hurling anything they could get their oversized hands on including their fellow Grimm.

"Heads up people!" Someone screamed moments before every manner of projectiles began sailing through the air then hitting the ground with thunderous thuds and tremors.

Near the rear end of the battle Weiss fell back and threw up a wide line of protective Glyphs that repealed anything that touched them. The bigger the object the more strain but she could take it. Behind her dozens of soldiers and guards took up positions with every form of heavy weaponry imaginable. As soon as someone gave the word Weiss would drop the Glyphs and let them handle the rest, while they may not outright kill the Grimm they would do a good job in lighting the load. Each rattle of a Glyph was transmitted to her teeth and arms make it feel as if her entire body was shaking. It didn't help that a few of her classmates had thrown up barriers to support her as she was still the centerpiece of the defense.

She barely caught her teammates a little further up still battling the Grimm who hadn't seemed to mind being used as literal cannon fodder, even those that had been used as cannonballs simply got up and continued attacking any human being in sight. For the most part her classmates weren't having too much trouble handling multiple opponents, but then the Beringels that had been hanging back chucking everything they could at them decided they wanted a piece of the action too.

"Drop the shields! We're opening fire!" One of the commanders barked from behind Weiss and the rest of the defensive line.

Simultaneously every barrier came down and in turn artillery shells, missiles, grenades, and bullets the size of tires sailed across the sky into the forest line creating a field of explosions.

No one was surprised when scores of Grimm came blindly rushing out of the flames, their bodies still burning and breaking apart with each step they took. Someone gave the order for suppressing fire and everyone, student and soldier alike, did such switching from melee to whatever firearms they had on hand. Since a majority of the smaller Grimm were mere seconds from death anyway all it took was s ingle shot, for the others one bullet or energy blast only slowed them down.

From out of the pack a lone Beringel came rocketing towards Yang, its body still ablaze with fire and its face half burnt off. Yang quickly side stepped the vicious downward blow it threw at her then dropped to her feet to kick the overgrown gorilla down. The minute the Grimm was down Yang slammed her left fist into its backside emptying three shells into it.

"Yang! On your six!"

Her reaction speed just wasn't enough to keep from being body slammed by the second Beringel. If not for her above average physical strength Yang knew she would have been a pancaked. Granting her teeth in frustration she forced herself up to one knee while supporting the gorilla Grimm above her with just one arm while the other was reeled back. The beast got one murmur of confusion before Yang threw her fist upwards causing an explosion on impact; black blood splattered her face blocking out her eyes yet she performed the same action again. It took a third blow for the Beringel to finally split apart into two dissolving hands.

Yang didn't have long to savior her victor or mourn her down ruined clothing before the sound of heavy hooves pounding against the ground caught her attention. Snapping her head to the side she saw three bull-like creatures chagrining through the wall of gunfire, one of them speeding her way. She heard calls for her to get out of the way but Yang had another idea, one that was equal parts bold and crazy. Crouching down so she was almost eye-level with the pair of horns coming her way she patiently waited for the Cretan to come within range.

The demonic bull angrily snorted while the blond brawler victoriously grinned.

In the split second the Cretan surged forth to impale Yang the blonde threw her body towards the Grimm's legs and neck area catching it in a tight hold. The Cretan had a bout a moment to give a startled cry of outrage and shock before Yang rammed her fist into the beast's chin then fired her weapon spraying bone and black blood across the grass.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Blake said as she offered her hand to help her partner up.

"I've had a crap ton of information rammed into my head and had Olivia take a crack at me, I've been waiting all morning to vent on something!" The blonde responded flicking the gore off her right hand. Wiping her face with her other arm she found almost her entire left sleeve stained with the disgusting black substance that passed for Grimm blood. She didn't need to look to know some parts of her hair had been stained as well; just thinking about it was enough to make her want to grab the next Grimm and strangle it to death. "They should have just told us this was what we were going to be doing all day long, it would have made things so much easier!"

Blake was going to say they couldn't afford to dillydally on a battle like this, but seeing Yang's lax expression was enough for her to decide silence was the better option. The more Yang was able to vent the better she'd be able to focus during the latter part of their mission, plus it meant less work for her and the others to do since she'd greedily taken to the battlefield.

Elsewhere Ruby and Weiss succeeded in freezing and destroying the second Cretan while another group of students downed the third leaving little more than the standard rank and file Grimm running amok over the destroyed field. Beyond the field was a different story.

The ground never stopped shaking courtesy of the nonstop aerial bombardment occurring almost a mile away from the clear field where Team RWBY had been fighting. Compared to the cacophony that was happening in the forest the field seemed to be little more than a schoolyard brawl.

"You guys seem to be having fun up there." Weiss sharply called into her Scroll as her team reassembled. "Do please keep it up, I'm sure there's an achievement for flattening an entire section of forest."

"It there is Nora's working on it as we speak. They let her take one of the miniguns." Ren's monotone voice replied. In the background his partner's jolly laughter and the roar of the firearm could be heard. "How are things on your end?"

"We've got things under control here, for the most part anyway." The heiress answered as another explosion rocked the ground. "Listen, what is it we're looking at here? I'm having a hard time believing such rank and file Grimm were enough to give-"

_**BBOOOMMM! BOOM! **_

The four girls looked to the skyline to see two airships were now falling towards the ground as blazing piles of wreckage and another was jerking back and forth causing other airships to distance themselves from it. Over the com links panicked chatter exploded with requests for aid and others to shoot the aircraft down. Cutting through the argument was a bestial roar that preceded the aircraft erupting into flames then hitting the ground like the other two. All throughout the field students and soldiers clenched their weapons in preparation for whatever it was heading their way.

"Ren, what the hell is coming our way?" Blake questioned reloading her weapon. All her animal ears could pick up was the sound of earth tearing and bark being broken apart.

"Maybe a couple of Quinotaurs, an Alpha Beringel, and a juvenile Nemean." Came the urgent answer. "Based on what we're seeing the Quinotaurs are going to get to clearing first so brace yourselves."

"So we have a load of bull, Kong's ugly twin, and Simba's evil step brother." Yang drily remarked. "This should be fun."

"Sometimes I wonder if there's something mentally wrong with you or if you get off on cheating death." Weiss remarked.

"I'd say the first one Weiss, but then I'd be lionin' to you." The blond grinned prompting her friend to face palm and her sister to giggle.

Before the white-clad teenager could call out her teammate thunder shook the ground and the demonic grunts of Grimm killed the voices of the humans. From out of the tree line came six black-furred bulls who seemed larger and more armored than their Cretan cousins, not to mention they sported three more horns than they did. Two red-tipped horns on each side of the head and a fifth on top looking sharper than the others. The six Grimm didn't really bother looking around to see which targets were the most vulnerable or where the line was weakest, they simply ran ahead full step bulldozing anything, or anyone that got in their way.

For Team RWBY two of the four decided they were worthy targets after blowing through a trio of heavily-armed students without losing any steam. "Ice Flower, Blake, Yang, same thing we did with Roman and the Paladin." The reaper commanded cocking her rifle while Weiss prepared the appropriate Glyphs.

Off to the side Blake took a running start at the Quinotaur charging her and Yang. One slash after another left her blades yet none of it seemed to do the slightest bit damage to the charging Grimm, if anything it merely enraged it. The good news was its attention remained entirely focused on her instead the blonde trailing behind her. It was when she was sure the distance between her and the Grimm was less than ten feet then she activated her Semblance. Behind her Yang watched the whole thing happen in less than a second, one minute it was Blake the next there were two of them, the original jumping off the shoulders of the double who was outlined in a mystical green aura. Yang reared her left arm back then shot it forward releasing the Dust-filled cartridge from Ember Celica's barrel.

As soon as the explosive round passed through the wind-composed clone it practically doubled in power turning into a fireball of equal size to the charging Quinotaur. That one he couldn't completely shrug off, when the fireball made contact the beast staggered for a moment or two in confused pain. Not breaking her stride Yang spun on her heel and delivered a resounding uppercut that lifted the Grimm off its front legs. Seconds later a black cloth-like material wrapped itself around the Grimm's neck restraining it, or last partially doing so. Hurrying over Yang joined her partner in reigning in the now infuriated Quinotaur.

"You know I'm the one who usually does all the heavy lifting right?" She winked.

"Just be careful, I really don't want to have to spend two nights putting Gambol Shroud back together." The Faunus laughed letting go and allowing Yang to take full control.

"Noted!" This wasn't the first time they'd done this, and this misshapen bull wasn't the largest creature she'd ever wrangled, but it was giving her a run of her money. Focusing her Aura where it was needed she firmly anchored her feet to the dirt and pulled bit by bit feeling the Quinotaur losing the struggle.

The Grimm gave one more futile shriek before it was finally yanked off its feet and spun around in the air courtesy of the roaring blonde literally holding it on a leash. Looking around the battlefield she saw where a wrecking ball was needed and directed her newly acquired  
"flail" in that direction.

It was actually pretty remarkable how durable the Grimm's body, it had smashed through scores of its own kind including one of its kin who'd be encased in hard ice courtesy of Ruby and Weiss. She imagined it only had a few more hits left in it before its body gave out.

"Yang, Kong's evil twin is here." Her partner stated pointing her towards the forest line.

Yang saw the oncoming Beringel, easily twice as big the normal members of its kind, tearing a path towards the rest of them. Half grinning and snarling she released the captive Quinotaur in the oncoming Grimm's direction enjoying the painful shriek it released as it flew through the smoke-filled air.

Wide grins broke out amongst the students who paused in their fighting to watch the five-horned bull sail towards the Alpha Beringel. Several predicted either the improvised projectile would KO or at least leave the Beringel with one less arm. In the few moments it spent wining in pain they'd close in and put the soulless creature out of its misery.

Such a thing would have been an interesting sight, but it was not to be. The three meter-tall gorilla sneered at the incoming Quinotaur, and in one mighty sweep of its arm batted the flailing creature away. The Quinotaur broke apart into two pieces upon hitting the ground; the second half went rolling some ways away turning into a melting pile of darkness before coming to a stop. The Beringel snorted then looked in the direction of the one who'd used the Quinotaur as a makeshift cannonball.

"Ah crap." Yang huffed already knowing what was coming her way.

"You have to admit, it was a nice thought in concept." Blake offered getting ready to move at a moment's notice.

The Alpha wasn't taking any chances with projectiles as its brethren had done. Angrily beating its chest first it then slammed both of its gigantic fist into the ground resulting in spider web cracks spreading along the shaking ground. Chunks of earth jetted up and broke apart knocking men and women off their feet, when they weren't swallowed whole by the snaking fissure.

On the other end Yang and Blake reacted quickly in getting out of the fissure's path only to find themselves dodging another one sent by the Beringel.

Releasing war cry that relied the surviving Grimm the Alpha began charging at the defensive line much like the Quinotaurs ahd done earlier. Like before all manners of bullets and artillery shells were deployed to halt the frontal charge further destroying the once flat grassland that spread out in front of the town wall. In response to this the Alpha scooped up any close-by Grimm and hurled them with the force of cannonballs and minimal accuracy. Said accuracy was just enough to take out one of the APCs that had taken up a position behind the first and second line of barricades. Almost everyone could hear their teeth rattle as the armored vehicle exploded showering soldiers with flaming shrapnel. The smaller Beringel did as their Alpha had done and began hurling their fellow Grimm again, this time with noticeable more accuracy than before.

The human and Faunus paired docked behind one of the many steel barricades that had been set up in the opening hours of the battle, both of them breathing heavy clouds of cold air. "So is this enough excitement for you or do you want something more?" Blake questioned.

"What? We've been in tougher spots and we've faced worse!" The blonde argued.

"You know we can't spend all day here right? We have other things we have to do."

"Alright, alright. Jeez Blake, can't you just let me have a little fun?" She peeked over the barricade catching sight of a few Huntsmen trying and failing to subdue the Alpha Beringel. Cursing she dove back beneath the cover as volley of dirt was kicked up in front of her. "Alright, here's the plan: I take out the Alpha, the rest scatter and we do mop up and we're done by one, sound like a plan?"

"There she goes again, then again, out of all of us you've got the best chance at killing that thing." Weiss's voice came through the speaker of Blake's Scroll.

"Can you make it in close without getting hurt?" Ruby's concerned voice echoed.

"Oh please Ruby, you know I've-"

Whatever boast Yang was about to give was cut short by the barricade she and Blake were hiding behind being destroyed by a chunk of rock the size of a minivan. Both girls went rolling across the ground groaning in discomfort while their Auras worked to repair the damage that had been done to them by the sudden attack. Recovering rather quickly they looked up to see the Alpha Beringel heading straight for them, murder blazing in its eyes and a struggling Beowolf clenched in one hand.

"Get behind me." Yang barked getting to her feet and readying herself to shot the Grimm down.

The Grimm threw its arm out releasing the werewolf who'd tucked itself into a compact ball to increase its speed. Half way through the flight the Grimm uncurled itself turning the throw into a lung that Yang readied herself to intercept then deal with the oncoming Beringel.

From out of nowhere a jet-black disk appeared in front of Yang and directly in the path of the lunging Beowolf. Unable to alter its course the Grimm barreled head long into the dark disk completely disappearing into the mysterious object which rippled like water. The Beringel blinked confused at what had happened and what the strange object was. In a way its wonder was answered when a second disk appeared in front of its lower region spitting out the Beowolf who tumbled into the gorilla's legs causing it to trip and crash into the cracked ground. A third disk appeared above the Beringel's back and from it came a grown man in a dark coat wielding a three-pronged spear which he viciously drove into the Grimm's back.

As expected the Grimm arched up screaming at the near mystical energy surging into it from the spear, banging both fists against the ground it prepared to roll over in a bid to flatten the unknown attacker against the earth. A series of clicks sounded from the staff and the Huntsman removed the lower half of the shaft revealing what appeared to be a pump action shotgun.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! **_

Throwing its head back the masked creature howled in pain, now standing on its thick legs it began to topple backwards. The Huntsman dragged his spear across the back and through the creature's side as he stepped out of the Grimm's shadow. Sticking the barrel of the shotgun into the open wound he pulled the trigger three more times causing the Beringel's body to fill up with colorful light then explode.

The Huntsman turned from the wheezing Grimm to the two girls with a lazy grin plastered over his face. He had some fuzz growing around his chin and a solid goatee that matched his inky black hair. "Well girls? I'm sorry if I ruined a moment, but you're free to take the killing blow if you want!"

Yang for her part huffed to the side kicking up a few pieces of rubble. "We could have handled it Professor Foley."

"Maybe, but you might have broken a bone or two and as your teacher I can't allow that to happen." Beside him the Alpha gave a gurgled gasp as it tried to rise despite the gaping hole in its left side. "So you'll pass on the killing blow?"

Before Yang could even take a breath to respond Blake shot off covering the distance between her and the downed Grimm. Racing up the creature's mighty chest she came to the chest where she swung Gambol Shroud in a silent yet deadly horizontal arc. The pressure and energy put into the slash nearly split the Beringel's head and neck in two. The head fell back, just barely hanging on and the Grimm's entire body went still, as usual the finger tips were the first body parts that began to dissolve into withering darkness.

"Yeah, that sort of thing is right up your alley." Yang stated watching her partner jump down.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Professor Foley chuckled shooting Blake a little wink which she returned with a smile. "This isn't some medieval tournament with rules and these aren't humans, I'd be disappointed if either of you thought otherwise."

"I suppose we should get ready for that Nemean we heard about earlier."

"Actually no Blake, Port is handling it as we speak." Instantaneously the teenagers' faces went sour causing the grin he had on his face to drop. "What? You look like Port's the one who's about to have your asses handed to you on a silver platter."

"No…but we're going to be needing earplugs." Yang groaned as the ground shook from another explosion. It might have been her mind playing tricks on her, but she was pretty sure she could hear the bearded professor's thundering battle cries ride the explosions.

* * *

"It was an unfair fight, but this was a battle for survival and as a Huntsman I could give no leeway, especially to a soulless monster such as a Grimm. Naturally the Nemean felt the same way thus came at me with all of its remaining claws and fangs bared. Rather than engage in long range combat I decided to meet the creature in its element, close quarters which also happened to be my favorite as well. Of course I knew the risks of doing such a thing, but bullets have little to no effect on a creature whose fur is said to be stronger than steel, not that I didn't have stronger than steel ammo on hand. No, there would be no fun or honor in that at all. That and who needs bullets when you have a trusty blade on hand!"

"And who needs Grimm trying to kill you when you've got a chatter box who can do it with words." Yang mumbled not caring if she was heard or not. At least if she was heard by the professor that would have brought his story telling to an end. Shooting a glare her in her partner's direction she dared her to refute her statement.

"Gah! So you killed an overgrown pussy cat. Nothing to be proud of Port." Another of the professors shot back slamming his mug into the table.

"And slaying an overgrown flying gecko is?" A Huntress a table over called earning a round of laughter from her drinking partners.

"Gecko? Hah! Monkeys make for better sport, a shame I couldn't bring you all back a few trophies from the battlefield." Dwayne countered jabbing Port who sat beside him.

It was at that moment the remaining freshmen chose to sneak away from the table leaving the professors to converse with the other Huntsmen who'd taken up shop in the bar. Finding a table to themselves the teenagers released a collected sigh of relief.

"Even here, thousands of miles away from Beacon we aren't free." Ren moaned leaning back in his sit rubbing his head.

"What's wrong Reny? Can't hold your liquor?" Nora joked downing another glass of gold-colored ale then motioning for another round.

"Someone remind me," Weiss spoke up with an angry knot forming on her forehead. In front of her sat a near completely filled mug of ale that looked as if it hadn't been touched yet. "We have been given an S-class mission to guard what is likely the kingdom's strongest defense against the Grimm, for all we know death is around every corner, and already some of us have been injured enough we can no longer continue the mission, we-"

"Can you please just skip to the point?" Yang said.

"Why the hell are we sitting here in some damn tavern drinking?! For God's sake, half of us aren't even old enough to drink yet!" The heiress shouted throwing her hands up in frustration.

Weiss's furious voice was entirely drowned out by the maelstrom of voices polluting the tavern. It was an intoxicating mix of laughter, shouting, slurping, and mugs being slammed against tables over and over again; it wouldn't have been wrong to mistake the tavern for painting or reenactment of centuries old taverns and bars. The first two levels were populated by a mix of students and fresh Huntsmen while the upper two seemed to have been reserved solely for the professionals and veterans. Throughout the entire place the smell of alcohol was heavy as evident by the thin red streaks running along the faces of many of the tavern's occupants.

Blake looked at Weiss her customary dry stare, "Old enough to kill old enough to drink, that's the saying I believe."

"I thought that was for ninjas?" Nora mumbled.

"It really fits to an occupation where killing is considered part of the job." Pyrrha clarified. "Weiss, I think everyone is just trying to find some way to relax. Just this morning some of them were probably given the same information dump we were and were left feeling the same way."

"Getting drunk during a big mission is considered relaxing?" The heiress hotly replied.

"You'd rather be spending this time elsewhere?" The Spartan guessed.

Weiss looked at the redhead like she'd just asked the stupidest question imaginable. "At least at Fort Lennox or one of the transit stations I'd be doing something constructive with my time."

"Yeah…like making out with Neil in some little corner." Yang cackled causing Weiss' face to go red. Laughing it off Yang reached over grabbing Weiss' glass and lifted it to her lips. She was quite surprised when instead of liquid solid flavored ice met her lips. Looking up she saw a familiar Glyph spinning at the bottom of her glass. "Still can't take a joke can you? Or are you just jealous we're here while they're at the big fancy fortress?"

"If I remember right didn't Neil say he and Izaak had a brother who was stationed at Fort Lennox?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, apparently one of them is into weapons development." Yang answered. "Seriously though, I kind of wish we got to see the place."

"Frankly I hope we don't have to see it." Ren admitted placing both hands on the wooden table. "Quite frankly it's the biggest target around here and the closer we are to it the more dangerous our situation is. I'd prefer it if we could just remain here in town or be sent to one of the transit stations."

"What I'm surprised at is how Ruby's not going moony-eyed or crying because she can't see all the shiny weapons they got stored there." Nora quipped catching everyone's attention. Grinning she pointed with her thumb, "Those two haven't talked to anyone but each other since they got back."

Teams JNPR and RWBY had arrived at the tavern whole, but before the first food orders could be placed the team leaders departed for a quick stroll around town. Doing so had spared them some of the torment their professors had heaped upon their classmates with their storytelling. When they came back they'd secured a table for themselves by the window and had begun a rather lively conversation.

"A dolt and another dolt, who would have guessed." Weiss quipped watching them.

"They're still not as good as yours." Ruby smiled as the waiter took away their plates. Her face was a mess of crumbs she'd gathered while practically scarfing down three whole plates of pancakes, strawberry, chocolate, and blueberry respectively. All the while her blond friend had watched her in semi-amazement wondering how on Remnant he'd ever managed to cook enough to satisfy her in the morning.

"Well thanks for the compliment, good to know my cooking is up to standard." Jaune responded sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he always did when he was nervous.

"You know if you ever cooked for everyone they'd know your cooking is way more than standard. Seriously, why don't you offer to cook more?"

"I, well, cooking isn't exactly the thing I want to be known for."

"Jaune," She sounded disappointed in him, much like Pyrrha and his sisters did whenever he diminished himself.

"Sorry you guys didn't get to fight the Nemean." He cut her off hoping to change the conversation before it went any further. "You said you always wanted to fight one."

"I'll get another chance, besides I hear Nora had a lot of fun using one of the airship's miniguns."

"Oh you could say that, a pretty nice fifty cal' that pretty much tore apart anything she aimed it at. I'm actually a little scared she's going to see if she can work something like that into Magnhild." It was thanks to Ruby he'd learned to tell one weapon from another. Because of that knowledge he knew for certain no one was playing around in ensuring those warheads were delivered on schedule. _All of the airships were packing some pretty heavy gear, makes me wonder what they're using at Fort Lennox. _"To be honest with you I'm kind of happy we're not at Fort Lennox, it's a pretty scary place."

"You've been there before?"

"No, but my dad and two of my sisters have been assigned to guard it." The knight clarified looking down at his plate with heavy eyes. "They said it's like a beehive, always active and always trembling because they're testing out some new weapon. My sister, Jasmine, loves it because of that same reason. She's kind of a weapons enthusiast like you." At that the reaper smiled. _Great, now I gotta worry about keeping those two as far apart as possible. _"Anyways my dad told me when I was kid he once got a tour of the place, he said it felt more like a giant tomb than a fortress. Based on what we saw when we passed over it I kind of agree with him."

One thing that Ruby had noticed with Jaune was that he was practically her opposite when it came to weapons and technology. Whereas she was prone to falling in love with the shiniest or coolest weapon that caught her eye Jaune was one who'd act with caution around it. While he didn't scorn weapons outright he did act with an air of caution around them. In a place like Fort Lennox he'd probably be extremely jumpy at the thought of some random weapon misfiring and hitting him by accident. Looking down at his hand she reached over and lightly tapped the top of it. "I read up a little on Fort Lennox when I was in Signal, it's a pretty cool place, but I don't think I'm ready to see it just yet." Taking a moment to enjoy the look of shock on his face she added, "As cool as it would be to see all the cool weapons and mods they've got stored there I don't think they'd give that kind of access to a fifteen year-old girl. I'd rather be here with you guys than spend all days having some tell me over and over again how I don't have the proper security clearance or whatever to go here and there."

Despite seeing her logic Jaune was still having a hard time believing he'd heard those words come from his fellow leader. A part of him wanted to congratulate Ruby on what he saw as a rather stunning act of maturity. He opened his mouth to say something but Ruby motioned to the side with her finger and a wide grin; following her finger he saw their teammates watching them closely. Once his eyes fellow on all of them most of them scrambled to act as if they hadn't been watching, Nora and Yang weren't among them.

When Jaune turned back to face Ruby he returned her smile, then they both added their voices to the collection of laughter that had overwhelmed the tavern.

* * *

_**Transit Station Three, 1:35 PM… **_

"You really, really, really suck at this game don't you?" The blue-haired spearman of Team CRDL grinned at his fuming partner. "Maybe you'd like an easier opponent, like maybe Russel or Cardin?"

"Best two out of three Sky." Dove snarled.

"We're already at best out of seven genius. Instead of Remnant maybe you should try playing normal cards." Cardin chuckled watching the anger mount on his friend's face.

It was Professor Bennet's words that finally pushed Dove over the edge. "If it's a normal game then I'll gladly be your opponent, I take it easy on you just to be fair."

"Can somebody just set the damn board! I'm winning this time, no questions asked!" The dirty blond teenager shouted with fire somehow blazing in his cold eyes.

Around the five students various soldiers stopped to question how the Beacon occupants were able to play a game of _Remnant _at such a critical time, some questioned why they brought all the game pieces period.

"Alright, alright, I guess one more conquest won't hurt." Sky said beginning clearing the board so he and his partner could start their sixth round. "Just please, try to be a little less predictable this time, I've gotten tired of crushing Atlas' military again and again."

Grabbing a chair Russel took a sit between the two so he'd have a good view of both the board and the cards in either player's hands. This didn't go unnoticed by Dove who shot an annoyed glare at his teammate. "Why the hell do you have to be the overseer? You're a known cheater."

"Exactly, because I'm a known cheater I know what to look for to make sure both you play fair." The knife-wielder proclaimed proudly buffing up his chest. "Right boss?"

"Just don't give me a headache." The mace-wielding knight stated turning his back on his teammates and heading over to a window overlooking the train tracks. He didn't mind too much that the professor followed him over. "How come you haven't punished me for what I did at Aemon Strip? We both know I'm long overdue for a lecture, a detention or something, or something."

"I'm surprised you're still thinking about that." The chem teacher chuckled. "Then again, you Winchester always had pretty good memories, you guys sure as hell know how to hold a grudge. True, what you did warranted some disciplinary action, but I could understand where you were coming from so I let it slide. Just don't let it happen under me again."

"I don't get three strikes?"

"You're a reforming bully, you get three strikes when you've fully crossed over. Again though, you'd probably go through those three in less than a week so I suppose it doesn't really matter." Out of the corner of her eye saw the orange-haired knight grumble something incoherent. Anuli felt her smirk widen. "Did your father ever talk about me? Did I make his list of most memorable people from his school days?"

"He did tell me you were a talkative unbalanced person with pyromaniac tendencies." He admitted sticking his hands in his pockets. Outside a gray sheet of clouds had rolled over obscuring the sunlight from the land. Through little holes and thin layers the sun's rays shined through though even then they weren't particularly warming. Cardin always hated how in winter the sun seemed to lose its ability to warm. "Other than that he told me to listen to what you had to say about fire."

Nodding in silence the Huntress and student listened to the speakers make their daily announcements reminding the station soldiers the first batch of warheads would be coming through in less than five minutes. Anuli looked away from Cardin over to his teammates who hardly reacted to the news. A small smile was tugging at her lips, "You've got a good team, definitely not the brightest or kindest, but they're a good fit for you."

Cardin didn't react to the teacher's words. Three stories below and in front of him lay six lines of train track that had taken the better part of sixty years to construct. When they were built Grimm from all over came rearing to tear the metal apart and paint the ground red with the blood of the human builders. Instead all they'd found were trained Huntsmen and Huntresses welcoming them to their deaths. Among them were Cardin's grandfather and grand-uncle, two men whose shadows Cardin had tried long and hard to escape from. When he heard the stories of their defense of Fort Lennox a desire to visit the fortress had been born, in time that wish had gotten lost only to be found nearly two days ago. Looking back Cardin chuckled to himself before falling asleep for the night, fate had a strange sense of humor. Admittedly the fortress had taken his breath away when he flew over it, a part of him honestly wondering what it would have been like to be in command of such a mighty base. He remembered the awe dying as despair and sadness painted the face of one of his teammate mates.

"Thanks for…what you did for Dove, he needed something to take his mind off things."

She could tell thanking someone wasn't his strong suit, yet another Winchester trait she found irritating and somewhat cute. Seeing that trait in the seventeen year-old Cardin made somewhat reminded her why this coming batch of students were amongst her favorites. "Someone really needs to tell all these military dads there's more to fighting than just taking a sword or gun and killing anything that moves."

"It's a different story when you can barely use a sword or a gun properly." The student countered. "Just having our names associated with this mission should be enough to square some things out for Dove and his father. Thanks to him Vale will be able to sleep a bit safer so that should give him some ammo the next time they get into an argument. Same thing with the others."

"Hm, alright, but what you Cardin?"

"What about me?" Now there was an edge to his voice warning her she was walking on thin ice.

"I imagine you want this mission success on your record for when it has to be decided rather you or Kindle will be the next head of the Winchester Family. If I had to guess he must be pretty upset his youngest brother got assigned to such a high level mission."

A rather wicked grin overtook Cardin's features at the mention of his oldest brother. "I'll give you that one, even if I'm just a supporting actor I can still rub it in his face that I was hear and he wasn't." The grin fell and a shadow overtook the young man's face, in accordance with this his Aura cooled losing some of its heat. "Truth is…I…didn't really come to Beacon to do this kind of stuff. To me this is all cool and good to have on my record, but…it's not my end goal."

Anuli said nothing as she observed Cardin stand motionlessly in front of the glass window, his eyes looking off into something far in the distance. That look didn't belong on a seventeen year-old boy, yet too many kids came to Beacon carrying it. Inside her coat pocket her Scroll went off reminding her of the tight timeframe they were running on. "Get your team ready to move, the first shipment's about to come through and we've got to be ready."

"Alright."

The dark-skinned Huntress felt like the transition happened in seconds, one minute they were watching the tracks through a window and the next they were standing on the tower rooftop with Sky pointing the business end of his rifle at the ground, Russel crouched at the ready, Dove sitting by a terminal, and Cardin watching the whole thing with his mace in hand. Anuli herself felt the urge to unsheathe her twin blades just to sooth the unease inside of her.

Station Three consisted of two five story complexes on either side of the track, each with a tower overlooking the train tracks that led out of Fort Lennox and through the wilderness. Of course the tracks were protected by twenty-foot high wired fencing and military checkpoints, but none of that had stopped the Grimm before. From time to time they made attacks on the tracks checking for new weaknesses they could exploit. This day with all the activity the Grimm would no doubt be tearing the various fences and barriers that protected the train track from the untamed wilderness outside of human control.

A thunderous sound blared through the base and surrounding forest alerting the soldiers and occupants that the train was on its way. Seconds later and the militarized train came to a roaring stop inside the station where routine checks were ran.

"So how long are we going to be here?" Russel asked.

"As long as it takes to make sure nothing goes wrong." His partner answered in a gruff voice.

"That train is carrying four warheads Russel," Anuli stated placing a single hand on the cold railing. "There are twenty warheads in total, each one is going to be coming through within five minutes of each other and is going to go through a routine check-up."

"In other words we're going to be here for a while." The Mohawk-haired teenager sighed.

Though Cardin agreed with his best friend's statement he didn't mind it too much. Given everything that had happened in the past few months he'd feel safer knowing the kingdom had such powerful weapons safe in hand and out of the reach of fanatics like the White Fang. _Sixteen left with a five minute interval between them. At the rate this is going it's going to feel like an hour in Port's class. _A wintery wind rushed past him reminding him it wasn't just the Grimm and unknown factions they had working against them. _Yeah, I feel like this is going to be a shitty end to a shitty day._

* * *

_**Fort Lennox-Transit Central, 2:02 PM **_

"Uh-uh, alright, just keep your eyes open up there. Alright that was Team BRRY, the airways are clear." Izaak stated closing his Scroll.

"I still think transporting them by air would have been a better option." Neil grumbled.

"Too much of a flight risk with the weather, besides air travel possesses too much of a hijacking risk." Olivia countered in a cold tone. "If not hijacked a stray flyer bringing it down is always an option then we have a mad scramble for-"

If not for Chicahua's comforting hand on her shoulder Olivia was sure she would have rambled on adding more tension to the scene. Feeling the Faunus warm hand on her shoulder killed the unease that had been mounting inside of her allowing her features to unwind. Neil did so as well reminding her she wasn't the only one who felt as if each second was a moment spent being boiled alive.

Izaak kept his gaze on the train car that contained the next four warheads, all tightly compact into a container almost twenty- meters long and twenty meters high. To say the weight was immense would have been an understatement, and the kicker was the warheads weren't the only things being shipped out. Each train car had at least two manned or unmanned gun torrents stationed on the corners to ward off attackers. Based on the design and suspicious looking knobs placed on several of the cards and wheels Izaak guessed if need-be a force field could have been deployed by command from the driver's cab. In spite of all the weight Izaak knew the twelve-car train could cover at least half the kingdom in a day meaning they'll all be reaching their destinations by midnight tonight. He imagined once they did the Council and Headmaster Ozpin would be able to breathe easy, not to mention people like his female teammate.

He doubted the students would be kept the night over, Beacon had been stretched too thin and students simply weren't ready to handle this kind of mission yet. _Even if Beacon was under pressure why not give the meaningless or low-key missions to us freshmen and second years? That makes a hell of a lot more sense than this set up. _

The professional Huntsmen who had been brought in had made it clear they disliked working with school children, some of them being quite vocal about it. Not even the older students who'd been sent with them had been free of this. _You'd think they'd remember they were once students like us too._ Izaak thought catching a stray glare from one of the Huntsmen on the ground floor. _Gee pal, we're just here for extra muscle, just like you. It's not like we're going to be stealing any of the glory._

Announcements sounding signaling transfer was about to take place. Every soldier in the station tensed and took their positions as the startup procedure began. The high-tech train gave a long series of clicks and grunts before it slowly began to move down the tracks out of the train station towards the tunnel that would take it into the outside world.

Then it came to a stop quiet literally knocking the wind out of everyone in the station.

Immediately Izaak's hand went to his Scroll and he was talking to the leader of Team BRRY. "Something came up?"

"Yeah, a whole lot of black, furry, ugly somethings." The third-year team's leader, Barbados, stated in evident frustration. "Stand by, we've got a lot of Grimm converging on Station Four, we can clear 'em out but it might take a minute or two."

"Oh please, take your time, I'm mean it's not like-"

"IZAAK!"

Chicahua's warning came about a second before Izaak heard his Scroll go dead followed by the same sound happening to every other electrical device in the station. His wide hazel eyes went to his teammates who checked their Scroll then nodded grimly; he didn't need to look around him to know panic was already spreading throughout the base's transit station. Over head the hundreds of lights went out leaving the base to be lighted by what little light poured in from the windows.

Pandemonium broke out less than a heartbeat later.

"Chicahua, which way?" The Viking leader asked already feeling his heart rate starting to turn frantic.

"Outside." He said before practically launching himself into the air towards the doorway leading back to the rest of the base. In the darkness Chicahua looked like a slightly colored blur moving through the darkness; his actions only added to the widening confusion sweeping the station.

"Olivia."

"Hang on."

The Viking and knight placed their hands on the onna-bugeisha's shoulder, in a flash of green light they found themselves standing before the transit station watching hundreds of soldiers running back and forth demanding to know what the hell was going on. Based on what they saw the power outage had extended to the entire base, they hoped when Chicahua came down he'd tell them it didn't.

"Someone please tell me this isn't happening." Neil said already feeling his stomach drop.

Izaak looked up seeing Chicahua hovering about thirty feet above them. He took in a single breath to call out to the Faunus when a long series of clicks and clanks sounded throughout the base signaling the power returning. In that split second Izaak's instincts screamed for him to move, to run, to do _something_. Unfortunately his reaction was too slow.

Behind him and his two teammates a sudden and unexpected blast of heat and air knocked them off their feet slamming their faces slamming their face against the ground with the force of a sledgehammer. The last sight all three of them saw were orange and red domes going up amongst the collection of steely gray buildings, some of them completely disappearing in the sudden infernos and others collapsing as they had their bases destroyed. The sound of metal bending, the ground breaking apart, flames roaring, and screaming, endless horror-filled scream, followed them on their way into darkness.

* * *

**I thought I'd never get to this part of the story. *wipes a tear from the eyes* It's Been a while since I was able to pump out a double chapter, and given how tired I am I remember why I don't do it that often. In retrospect it's probably a good thing because it's probably going to be a good few weeks before I'm able to update this story, with April just around the corner I've got a lot to do, writing wise and professional wise. **

**Story Notes For the past two chapters: **

**Jinrai is Japanese for "thunderclap" **

**Cichorium is named after Cichorium intybus, a bright blue, or white or pink, woody herbaceous plant that's part of the dandelion family. **

**Dwayne Foley-Dwayne is an alternate spelling of the English name Duane which means "little black one" and the last name Foley is derived from the Irish surname Ó Foghladh which means "a plunderer", in other words a thief of pickpocket which his Semblance makes him quite handy at. **

**Cretan-The generic bull Grimm of this story. Named after the Cretan Bull from Greek Mythology that sired the Minotaur. For all intents and purposes it acts like a normal bull, only it's a hell of a lot meaner and the older they get the bigger they become and the more armor they gain over their bodies. Undeterred they can reach keep outpace a train and outright ram through a military Humvee with no trouble. The most vulnerable place to hit them is in the eyes, a rather easy fit if you stand still and let it charge at you, provided you can aim straight having about two thousand pounds of savage fury coming at you. **

**Quinotaur-A five-horned bull-like sea creature from Frankish mythology. It's slightly stronger and more bulkier than its Cretan cousin, at least when its fighting solely on land. Get it around water and its hind legs can transform into fins and its speed increases, this feature is based around the concept that the original Quinotaur was connected to Neptune, in fact the way its five horns were arranged are said to have represented Neptune's trident. Unlike the Cretan the Quinotaur's horns have trace of poison in the tips that can paralyze a full grown man long enough for them to be trampled on.**

**Nemean (which I sadly wasn't able to work into this chapter)-A lion Grimm based on the Nemean Lion slain by Hercules. Like its mythological counterpart its skin is nigh impenetrable to almost every weapon, including Dust-powered weaponry. Like Hercules himself wrestling or pummeling it to death is the best way to deal with it, provided you've got the guts to do so. **

**Yang-You should have let us handle that thing, would have been better to read about than listening to Professor Port gloat about stealing our big kill! **

**Cosmic-…Your wish shall be granted. **

**Ruby, Weiss, and Blake-YANG! **


	47. Chapter 47: Fortress Blaze

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 47-Fortress Blaze**

_**Fort Lennox airspace, 1:58 PM… **_

Even from almost a mile away Vesuvius could smell the ashes of the explosions riding the wind. Before the operation was through he was sure the skies above the fortress and surrounding town would be darkened with smoke turning day into night. He honestly doubted the sunset would be visible if all went according to plan; if it wasn't he supposed that would just further add to the tragedy. The forecast said there wasn't going to be any rain or snow until the end of the week so the likelihood of his flames being put out by this time tomorrow were low. They'd keep burning while Grimm overran the town, no doubt killing any townspeople that were foolish enough to stay behind. Looking out from the airship he saw a line of railway tracks cutting a clear path through the forest. For probably the fourth time that day he regretted agreeing to be the field commander of this mission.

Ahead of them Fort Lennox steadily began to come into view. Naturally the first thing he saw were the slate gray walls that encircled the fortress, stone walls hundreds of feet high that had withstand everything nature had thrown at them. Well, human hands were about to take a crack at them.

Ordinarily the multiple cannons stationed on top of the walls would have shot the airships out of the air by this point. The fact they hadn't meant step one of Operation Lightning Thief had already succeeded. From where they were the radio tower wasn't visibly meaning the first wave of explosives had done their job in taking it out. Without it Fort Lennox, and by extension Cichorium, were entirely cut off from the outside world. By the time news of what had happened got out it would already be too late; Vale would always be welcomed to fight the Grimm for what remained of the fortress or the town. Various columns of smoke had already begun to rise, some reaching the lighter shaded clouds creating an ominous dark coloring. Before dusk Vesuvius knew the skies would be pitch black with smoke. The thought made him a little excited since it reminded him of the old days, hell, he was reliving his younger years.

_It's almost laughable how so many little things haven't changed. Me about to wade into a death-filled hellhole and turn it into a flaming hellhole. Then again, I don't think I ever want that part to change. _A ping of sadness brought down the rising excitement when the Huntsman realized there wasn't anyone placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder nor speaking words of encouragement. Backing the sadness back into a corner he reached into his earpiece to begin the sound off. In minutes they'd be over the drop area and he needed everyone to be ready. "Sound off, Ortho?"

"Blue Squad is ready."

"Pox?"

There was a brief bout of cackling before the young man was able to give a defiant answer. "Yeah V, we're all good here. Just make sure you don't hit us with your little dirt show okay?"

"Heh, if I do it's your fault for being in the way." The reaper snorted. "Hoyt, how's it looking?"

"Great so far. I can personally tell you the base command center is burning and it'll be a pile of rumble within the next ten minutes or so." The scar-faced man answered. Vesuvius could almost hear the grinning in his voice. "My boys are reporting in we've caused a real shit storm down on the ground. Don't blow all that hard work for us."

"Wittmann?"

"Squad Green is good to go. According to our forces on the ground these bastards have stuck to their training and are cuddling around the warheads, hell, some are still trying to ship them out."

"That won't last long." Vesuvius muttered impressed at the ironclad tenacity of the soldiers. They'd certainly earned a decent amount of respect for not breaking down and panicking like the rest of the base. Sadly it would all be for not. "Pox, fly over town and make the people dance. The more chaos the better, even the town defenders won't be able to maintain their position when they know their families are in mortal danger."

"You got it V." The redhead cackled through the com. "Once we're finished raising hell there we'll circle back around for part two. Hey Wittmann, let us know if you need us to bail your ass out!"

"Watch it you little brat! You want me to make you a fatality too!"

"Remind me why don't we drop those two into the base and let them kill everyone in the crossfire? It'd save us a lot of trouble." Ortho grumbled getting a laugh out of Hoyt.

"Seriously? We got a literal shit storm waiting for us and that still hadn't enough to get your blood boiling?!"

"If you want to see my blood boil give me a challenge that'll actually force me to get serious. A bunch of pants-shitting soldiers running around with their heads cut off isn't exactly going to do that. Not even a stray Grimm will unless it happens to strong enough to strong blood." The blond retorted in a monotone.

"Christ, you're not even blood-related and you still sound like your old man." The Huntsman grumbled while in the background Pox and Wittmann could still be heard arguing with each other. "If he hadn't asked you too I'm sure you would have just sat this mission out. I mean it's not like we really need your help or anything."

"Let's see now, there's Pox, Wittmann, and of course you Hoyt. Oh, and since he won't be able to keep an eye on all of you Vesuvius won't be able to pull any of you back if you start going off script. Yeah, actually I do need to be here."

As enjoyable as the squabbling was Vesuvius knew he had to take the mic back, "Boys, are you done or do you want to sit this thing out and pass your positions onto someone else?" When silence met his question he grunted in approval. "Ortho, Wittmann, you're on the warheads detail, kill anyone who tries to stop you. Hoyt, you get to deal with our friends from Beacon. Remember who's on the no-kill list. I don't want another repeat of last time where I have to listen to Adela chew me out for not keeping a tighter leash on you."

"I got it commander," The swordsman waved off. "Now V, don't you have some fireworks to show us? I've been waiting all day to see them you know."

Vesuvius looked down and saw he was right above a good drop sight. Already he began to channel the power of the earth into his theorized drop zone as he took out his scythes. "The minute I step off this ship get clear! You all have your orders!" A collective voice of approval sounded from the pilots and the soldiers aboard the airship. Before he'd stepped out he felt the ship moving away then his feet leaving the metallic floor entirely. He always enjoyed this part, the rush of air that flew past him as he fell like a rock through the sky. His earliest memories were of doing this same activity and scaring the crap out of his parents and servants. If only they could see him now. In his hands the bottom shafts shifted so the ends were now pointed solely towards the ground; both of them became consumed by his flame-like Aura. Seconds after his scythes his entire body combusted into a mass of flames that left trails of black and red in its wake as it sped towards the ground. In the midst of the flames Vesuvius continued channeling his Semblance so when he made impact the plentiful earth would spill its deadly contents into the air. "I guess they were right, war is better when it starts with a bang!" the Mistral native shouted seconds before finally making impact.

The twin scythes tore into the ground a few seconds before Vesuvius's heavy boots crushed the earth on impact. A normal person or even Huntsman might have suffered broken bones or exhausted a large amount of their Aura attempting to cushion the fall, but not Vesuvius, he'd left normality far behind. Beneath his feet his Aura connected with the earth and as he predicted it answered him in earnest.

The severe tremors lasted less than a minute but they were strong enough to shake steel buildings as if they were nothing. A brief silence fell over the drop sight, and then it was broken by the explosive roar of the earth itself cracking up and releasing its red hot contents. From the dozens of fissures Vesuvius's fall had created magma and ash erupted in towering geysers that had onlookers shrieking back in wide-eyed horror and amazement alike. The latter faded when the magma and ash continued to rise higher into the sky until it began falling down as giant drops of rain. Horrified screams were drowned out by the sound of molten fire utterly consuming anything and everything it touched while volcanic ash began to roll through the open air. The magma and ash, super-heated as per Vesuvius's Semblance, raised the temperature from the low fifties it had been all day to the point not even the hottest summer in the land could compare.

Soldiers who'd already begun to run instantly felt the heat wave heat them like a truck and many collapsed accordingly. No one had expected such a thing, how could they have? The somewhat heavy winter uniforms they'd worn were now cooking them alive where they stood as lava rained down upon their heads. Those desperate enough and fast enough were able to remove their clothing and restarted their escape. All that did was open up their naked bodies to the skin-searing heat produced by the advancing ash cloud or left them wide open when they were hit by the raining masses of lava.

The loudest screams probably came from those who were hit by the fallout of the lava rain. The globs of magma coming down were about half the size of a car, not enough to completely crush a man but cripple him if they took a direct hit. What made them truly deadly though were the sped they came down and the resulting shrapnel that exploded upon impact. Superheated rock barley the size of a fist that punched through skin and bone alike leaving the victim in such excoriating pain instantaneous death was a blessing. Even so, those who suffered that fate got a few good seconds of screaming done providing their vocal cords were still working. Those that didn't fell to the ground already dead leaving their eyes to lifeless eyes to stare at the chaotic landscape around them. Countless soldiers tripped over the bodies of their slain comrades in a mad haste, some even catching fire when they fell over a flaming corpse or were caught in the path of another oncoming projectile. If that happened both bodies usually vanished in an explosion of fire, smoke, and rock that left little behind in the way of corpses. Maybe there was a burning arm or a leg left, but that too would be nothing but ashes in time with the hellish heat continuing to conquer the air of Fort Lennox.

To look up to the sky to predict where the next death ball would come from was an open invitation to death. Not only had the advancing ash cloud blackened the sky making it impossible to tell what was coming down, but the ground had begun to shake with the massive eruption as science dedicated. Falling off their feet soldiers quickly pushed themselves back up to continue running only to fall down again as the ground continued to rage. As the earth broke apart the gapping fissures opened swallowing vehicles and collapsing even the sturdiest of structures as if they were sandcastles. Inside those buildings panicked soldiers and workers screamed to each other as they all made way to the exits, exits which lead only to a land breaking apart at the seams. Many didn't escape as they were crushed during the collapse. Compared to how they could have met their end perhaps that was the better choice, at least then they wouldn't have to see the sky become black and fire rain down like divine judgement.

At the epicenter of the eruption Vesuvius remained in his crouched position with both of his weapons still buried in the earth. It never lost its charm, the rush, the power, the sheer joy of having the all mighty power of the earth itself bending to his will. It felt even better with Fahrenheit coursing through his blood further enhancing his Semblance. If he had to take a guess the euphoria was akin to a high or sex even. He knew though he hadn't reached the climax just yet, no, he was only getting started. Breathing in the smoke and ashes he forced his scythes deeper into the ground pouring more of his monstrous Aura into the ground like a pump. A wicked grin formed across this face when he felt the land itself answer him by giving him more power. _Sex, it's definitely sex. _The dark-haired Huntsman mused.

From the reaper new, wider fissures opened up and snaked out infected the rest of the base like a stain spreading across paper. Fresh ash and lava erupted from them soaring so high they almost towered over the five story buildings and fortifications.

What Vesuvius had done was unnatural, an obstruction against how nature was supposed to operate, but that was why for as long as he could remember he loved the Semblance he'd been born with. This is what his family had wanted for centuries, the power to bend nature to their will. He was sure his ancestors would have been proud all their hard work had finally bore fruit, and even better was the fact it was being used against the Kingdom of Vale. Apparently sometimes it took the hand of the living to make good on a supposedly dead and empty threat.

* * *

As a weapons development facility it was only natural For Lennox had several underground levels, each more expansive than the last. The underground was just as impressive, if not more so, than the top level of the base. Almost six floors that stretched downwards almost like a beehive with the kingdom's most advanced and most destructive weaponry being tested on each level. For anyone with a love of weaponry or just the art of war itself it was like Santa's workshop. Of course that also meant the security of the place had to be top notch. Rare as they were that meant guarding against any sort of earthquakes that might have come along.

This time though, things were different because the earthquakes before had always been natural. The epicenter of the quake wasn't miles off but practically right on top of the underground levels. Not to mention never before had the steel plates and reinforced barriers have had to withstand hot magma that moved in swift paths like rivers. On the first level the ceiling didn't just shake but it began to outright melt allowing small droplets of lava to fall down burning halls in the floor and scaring the scientist to death. Then came the severe tremors the likes of which the underground labs had never seen before. If the explosions above ground hadn't been enough to declare the highest state of emergency possible the earthquakes were. Every level was hit, the beehive had been knocked by a baseball bat and every man and woman was feeling the effects. Anything that was securely fastened to where it was toppled to the ground, and on some levels that tremor resulted in a very unfortunate boom that took up entire rooms.

Over the blare of the alarm hundreds of voices demanded to know what the hell was going on only to get static and confused stairs from coworkers. Naturally chaos fell over all six levels of the underground. In a blind panic many rushed to the elevators that connected the above ground to the subterranean labs, those same elevators that had shut down. For those trapped in those same elevators darkness consumed them for a few precious seconds then the emergency lights flipped on. Outside of the shafts angry workers banged against the doors and in some cases attempting to ply them out. This had rather desire consequences when a tremor shook the lab and the force holding the doors open was removed allowing them to slam shut. Blood splatters large and small caused these same crowds to recoil back in horror while in other parts of the base the tremors brought further disaster.

Across the base emergency shutters activated on their own cutting off hallways and entire sections of the base. This did nothing to sooth the erupting chaos, if anything it actually enhanced it despite the lockdown being standard protocol.

Amongst the hundreds of scientists and researchers within the underground there were a hand few that remained perfectly calm. The looks on their faces were almost eerie given how stoic they were.

Even when their coworkers turned to them and asked how they were so calm in the face of such terror.

"Because I'm not scared." One of them spoke mere seconds before striking like a viper, wrapping their hand around their fellow researcher and squeezing until they heard the snapping of bones.

Onlookers reacted in expected horror, but there was nothing they could do as the murder moved on, killing them all one by one until he was the only one left in the laboratory. Very little blood had gotten on his body, even his lab coat had few splatters of red on it.

"This is Plant One, to all Plants you may now begin to bloom. I say again, you may all begin to bloom."

With the signal given similar events began to play out across the base's underground levels. The sleeper agents gave no warning or indication, they just acted. Some of them killed barehanded while others grabbed weapons and mercilessly turned them on their 'coworkers'. Mixing into the blaring alarms were new screams and shocked outcries followed by gunshots. In some parts explosions rocked the entire complex alongside the tremors.

The alarms continued sounding off asking for all occupants to remain calm and follow standard protocol. Needless to say no one did so, at the rate things were going there wasn't going to be anyone left to follow protocol.

* * *

_**Transit Station One, 2:08 PM… **_

All it had taken was one gunshot and the doors to hell flooded open. It was almost too easy, but in a way that made the plan all the more beautiful.

Since all the soldiers at the transit station were armed their fingers immediately went to the trigger of their weapons when the first gunshot was heard. That put their senses on alert and readied their ears for orders. What they heard was the continuous sound of gunfire followed by the startled cries of their own. Many eyes turned to see where the gunfire was coming from, and mouths went agape when the shooters were revealed to be men in uniform gunning down their own. For many the response was automatic; ask no questions, simply shoot to stop the shooting. One shot triggered ten more and it continued from there until nearly every soldier in station was firing their weapon at anything that moved. Overhead grenades started flying, once they hit the ground they exploded further adding to the confusion.

The chaos happening outside was nothing compared to the hell consuming the inside of the transit station. Bodies dropped like flies and explosions blew platforms apart sending flaming corpses smacking against the ground. It wasn't too long before the railway itself became stained red with blood, even acquiring a few bodies on top of it for decoration. Before the last clip was emptied the whole floor was covered in scarlet red and mangled corpses.

* * *

_**Transit Station Two, 2:10 PM…**_

There was little left to do when Ortho arrived at the second station, still, the soldiers on guard were attempting to put up a valiant fight. He supposed as a commander it was his job to finish the job so the mission could proceed to the next stage. "All units withdrew, I'm taking the field."

Seeing a young twenty year-old dropping down from an airship was a strange sight, one that caused some of the soldiers to hold their fire. The wiser ones didn't stop, in fact, they were concentrating their fire on him. A valiant but wasted effort.

"I know you guys are soldiers and all, but I'm sure none of you pictured dying like this. Sorry, it's nothing personal." Even before he activated his Semblance nothing the soldiers threw at him could touch him, all of it merely bounced off his Aura shield. Once his Semblance kicked in all the bullets and projectiles melted into molten slush, a few of them actually briefly caught fire. Ortho couldn't see the faces of the soldiers before him, but he could picture their terrified expressions as they watched a miniature sun being born right before their eyes. He supposed that wouldn't be a bad sight to carry with them to the afterlife. Holding up his hand he intensified the light so now it seemingly illuminated everything in front of him.

The burning light was bad enough, heat so intense if cooked the bodies of men and women alike, especially if they were wearing any sort of armor. That alone would have been preferable to dying in the other via radiation like half of their comrades were. Weapons clattered to the ground and hands desperate clawed at throats and stomachs. Everyone who was bathed in blinding luminousness fell to their knees, blood and vomit exploding from their lips and their eyes filling with hot tears. The gruesome displays were nothing compared to the unbearable pain they felt eating away at them from the inside, the sheer sense of burning agony that tore its way through their organs. For many of them the sensation was akin to having a firecracker going off inside of them. Amazingly in spite of the pain a few actually found the strength to crawl, granted even a turtle could have outpaced them as this rate. In actuality moving was making their situation worse, in some cases it was literally causing their organs to explode inside of them. When that happened a great many of them dropped dead further horrifying their comrades.

In addition to catching fire their skin began to show the first stages of skin cancer and proceed from there. Some had the unfortunate luck of having their clothing fused to their skin as both burned making tearing at the uniforms and body armor useless. Hands were amongst the first to go as many soldiers had instinctively thrown their arms up when Ortho activated his Semblance, a knee-jerk reaction that any human being would have had. If they could see then they would have been treated to sight of their fingers simultaneously catching fire while at the same time rotting off of their hands. They probably felt the sensation though just as they felt their eyes exploding within their sockets. From within their mouths teeth rotted and tongues swelled up preventing the dying soldiers from even screaming, not that they had any breathable air left to scream with anyway.

Once Ortho began to power down his Semblance he saw the usual; corpses lying in pools of their own blood, melted flesh, and bodily juice. While a normal person would have been horrified, stunned into total silence, Ortho wasn't because he was not what one would call a normal person. The massacre before him, it was normal, it was what he was born to do.

"Move in to secure the target." He spoke into the coms. "Oh, and make sure to mind the bodies."

"Yes sir."

That was the good thing about the G-Troopers, he could say something incredibly stupid and obvious like that and not get called out for it. Then again, even if Ortho hadn't told them they really didn't care. Not even the ones who'd spent months living with these men and women as their fellow soldiers. Truthfully it made things go a hell of a lot smoother.

He hung back and let the G-Troopers lead the warheads out into the open where an airship hooked onto the container with cables then reeled it up. Upon hearing the satisfying clicks and seeing their cargo was now securely fastened it began to pull away into the gray sky then head off into the distance.

Just like that millions upon millions of lien and years of research was gone.

"This is Ortho, we've completed the raid on Station One, status report." What followed was the expected bit of good news he'd been waiting for. The all-clears and promises of soon to be completed raids. At least until he got to the units at Station Three. "Repeat, you're what?" The blond didn't exactly get a clear answer, instead all he got was grumbled up chatter that could barely be deciphered. Reacting accordingly by pulling out his Scroll he checked the number of G-Troopers that had been assigned to Station Three. Ortho was genuinely surprised to find the number of troops was dropping off in rapid succession. "Well what to you know, looks like Station Three drew the lucky number. It's not like it'll help things in the long run though. To our birds in the sky, this is Ortho, release the Burning Grimm in the designated areas. I repeat again, release the Burning Grimm."

Making his way to the other end of the station he could see the multiple smoke stacks and fires burning from miles away. It was a bittersweet thought knowing for all the destruction Vesuvius had caused the fire was only just getting started. Before they'd completed their objective all of Fort Lennox would be engulfed in burning hellfire and Vale would have the image burned into its memory forever.

* * *

_**Western Cichorium, 2:22 PM…**_

Everyone knew it, they just _knew _something was going to happen even if no one was willing to say it out loud. If anyone did no doubt when that something happened they'd catch hell for inciting fate. How bad things were going to be was anyone's guess, no one would to voice their opinions for fear of their predications actually coming to pass.

Sudden and unexpected airstrikes sweeping over the town mere seconds following explosions at Fort Lennox. The attack on Fort Lennox barely had a minute to sink in before a squadron of airships flew above the skies of Cichorium unloading dropping all manners of bombs and ordnance upon the civilian population center. Buildings and streets were blown apart while the townspeople disappeared in the resulting explosions rocking the ground. Even those living on the other side of town could feel the slight tremors, precursors to the fate they were about to suffer.

Blake was speechless at what she saw happening before her. It looked like a scene from the Faunus Rights Revolution torn from history and dropped into the modern day. Whatever was left of her rational mind noted how the airships seemed to have no particular target in mind: no police stations, courthouses, homes, or even districts, they were merely firing on anything that looked like it'd draw attention. What was truly heart stopping was watching bullets and bombs break apart the streets were hundreds of people had no doubt stopped to ponder what had happened to cause the explosions and tremors. She didn't want to know if they had enough time to scream or even attempt an escape.

"This…this…" the ex-terrorist couldn't find the words to vocalize her horror nor could she find the strength to do anything but watch. The calls from her friends and classmates on the ground for a situation report went largely unheard.

Like any soldier on the battlefield what snapped the Faunus out of daze was the sound of death approaching then staring her in the face. Blake blinked once then she realized one of the airships was facing in her direction. Her breath caught in her throat as she could practically see the pilots squeezing the firing triggers.

"_EVERYONE MOVE NOW!" _

She remembered she'd actually touched the ground and took off run along with everyone else when the missiles made impact. Like everyone else Blake was thrown off her feet and sent rolling across the pavement getting a mouth full of dirt and asphalt that left her hacking and coughing. With her enhanced hearing the pain was even worse and the feeling of every bone in her body aching was almost enough to make her black out, Aura or no Aura.

"Bl…Bla…ke." She heard Yang's grumbled voice through the ringing in her ears. Quickly enough she felt her partner's arms wrapping around her, hauling her to her feet then ferrying her away as the sound of flames and crumbling stone sounded off behind her. "Wh-What…happened?"

"What happened is our stay in this town just got extended, probably until the end of the week!" Yang huffed.

No one was shooting at the airship, not when it was still firing on them forcing them to seek cover. Even the senior Huntsmen who'd survived the attack could do little but run and hope they'd catch an opening to counter attack. Vigorously pushing confused and terrified citizens to the side the trained warriors dashed down the streets which had now become a warzone.

Towards the front of the group Pyrrha was cursing her inability to halt the airship's assault, if she could get a solid beat on the aircraft than she could stop it, but then she'd have to face a second of nonstop gunfire. Her teammates would rather run a hundred city blocks than let her do such a thing even if she could survive it. There was one thing she could do however. "Everyone keep your heads down!"

"Oh like we weren't doing that before?!" Someone shouted.

Reaching out with her mind she tore off every piece of metal she could reach that was about the size of a door. Pulling it all together she created a makeshift shield above the group's heads, a collection of car doors, hoods, door frames, and exposed pipes. Crude, but it at least did the job of taking the enemy fire. It wouldn't last long though.

"Everyone get clear, Peter," Foley's voice barked.

"Students, comrades, if you don't want to be pulverized I suggest you do as he says."

The two professors disappeared into one of the Foley's dark portals, not long afterwards the gunfire came to an abrupt end. It didn't take a vivid imagination or keen intellect to guess what had happened. Since no one could see they could only go by what they heard, which wasn't much thanks to the panicked screaming of wounded and dying citizens.

Based on what anyone could hear Port and Foley were most definitely giving the crew a run for their money. The sounds of engines shutting themselves on and off sent everyone's heart rate spiking, especially when they heard what could only be described as a rapid descent. A short time later and the sound of metal rudely crashing against the ground made the students' and Huntsmen's eardrums bleed.

Pyrrha threw away the metal shield allowing everyone to gaze at the sight of the crashed airship, modified VTOL painted and christened with PESTILENCE's personal colors and emblems. It took up almost an entire block of the street bearing countless dents and scratches from the hasty descent the two professors had subjected the aerial vehicle to. While ordinary citizens fled in horror the residents of Beacon approached the aircraft with weapons at the ready.

The cargo hatched opened and a host of bodies came rolling out, standing proudly behind them were Professors Foley and Port, each sporting bloody smears on their clothing.

"Before this goes any further please tell me at least you of knows how to pilot an airship _properly_." Weiss stated with a deadpan expression.

"Wow Weiss, they just saved our lives and that's the first thing you ask them? Good to know for the next time I have to save your skin _and _give you a ride." Yang joked.

"To answer your question Miss Schnee, no, for all my talents aircraft piloting is not one of them." If Professor Port took offense he didn't let it show, or he didn't care. There were no traces of the jolly man who'd been telling old war stories and laughing with his comrades ten minutes ago, now he truly had become the Huntsman his boastings claimed of. Planting the business end of his weapon down he turned to the crowd with probably the most serious expression any of the students had ever seen the bearded man wear. To say it was chilling would have been an understatement. "I won't sugarcoat it for anyone, we knew _someone _was going to make a move, the White Fang, this Cinder Fall woman, or this PMC that's been on the rise, apparently it's door number three. Regretfully we've been unable to contact anyone stationed at Fort Lennox, I don't need to tell you what that tells us about the situation. As it stands we need to find out what the hell is going on up there so there's only one thing we can do. One group will head to Fort Lennox while another will stay here to reinforce the town's defenses."

"Wait, you mean we're s-s-s-splitting up?" Ruby stammered.

"You have a better idea how to handle the situation?" Weiss chided.

"The only question is who stays and who goes." Ren solemnly stated with half his face illuminated by the scattered fires burning across the street. As if his tone of voice wasn't enough to make the situation darker.

"Professor Foley will be heading to Fort Lennox with this airship and anyone who's willing to go with him. The rest will stay with me to help secure the town. I don't mean to sound rude, but your time to decide is short and we need to know now."

It shouldn't have been surprising Pyrrha and Weiss were the first ones onboard the airship, almost immediately their teams followed suit, regardless of whatever fear they might have felt at seeing the smoke columns. A few of the senior Huntsmen looked somewhat taken back at seeing their possibly seats taken by such young children, a quick glare from Port silenced any objections they might have had. Eight rookies, sure they had all seen combat, but they were still rookies. For this reason nothing but senior Huntsmen and Huntresses loaded up onto the remaining seats leaving the remaining students to gaze at Teams RWBY and JNPR. It was hard to tell if they envied them or pitied them for knowingly walking into what they knew was going to be a meat grinder.

"Hold onto your seats people, this isn't going to be a smooth ride, you see something coming at us shoot it, no questions asked." Foley commanded from the cockpit Seconds later and the aircraft began to take off casting a shadow over those who remained on the ground.

_Oum watch over them, for my sake. _The old Huntsman prayed as the airship took off towards the hilltop fortress. With his prayer finished he turned to those who reminded, all of whom were looking at him for directions. "Everyone, get moving, we've some hunting to do."

Port knew it was going to be a long and costly hunt, one that he was _not _going to enjoy retelling any time in the near future.

* * *

Afraid, terrified, panicky, petrified, numb, scared shitless, any one of those could have been used to describe Jaune's current state mind, yet none of them would have been enough to sum up what he was feeling. It was Ameon Strip all over again, only it all seemed to have been magnified by ten. The only thing that made things worse were the fires, the moment he saw the smoke stakes rising into the sky he felt his blood run colder than it ever had. Why? Why did it always have to be fire? Was it because of his blood? Was his family truly cursed to end in flames? Was this where he was going to die?

The Spartan looked over to see the thinly veiled terror rapidly consuming her partner's face. It had been a long time since she'd seen Jaune this scared, not since the school year first began, when his confidence was at an all-time low. It wasn't a good indicator of how things were. "Jaune," she started reaching over and clasping his sweaty hand in hers. His terrified blue eyes shot to hers, his grip tightened not too long afterwards. "Just stick close to me okay."

She wasn't sure if she heard him even though they were sitting right next to each other. Outside it seemed like the entire sky was coming down. The fact they hadn't been shot down yet was something of a miracle itself, one they knew would end once they past the gates of Fort Lennox. The closer they got the thicker the smoke became somewhat obscuring the window views. Having their vision obscured only served to let their imaginations run wild.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Above the passengers hands alarms blared meaning they'd come under fire, rather it was from the base's automatic anti-air defenses or the mercenaries they didn't, not that knowing would make much of a difference. Everyone's teeth were rattling given how frantic and wild the aircraft's turns where, sometimes explosions nearly throwing occupants from their seats then needing reassurance once they were back in their seats. Up in the cockpit Foley tried and failed several times to raise anyone on the communications.

"_D-D-D-DWAYNE! DWAYNE!" _

"Blaine! What the hell's going on over there!? We're two minutes out and I can see the command tower burning like a candle!" The former dark-haired man barked hoping the connection stayed up long enough for him to get some answers. "Dwayne? Dwayne!"

"_F-F-FI-FI-FIFTH FL-LOOR! FIF-" _

"What?! Fifth floor what!? Ah, God damn it! Everyone hold on this, this is going to get bumpy!"

Jaune knew one of two things were going to happen: either his motion sickness would have him barfing over the floor or they'd be blown out of the sky. Actually, the first one seemed the most plausible given the unruly waves crashing around in his stomach, he knew his face was getting greener and greener by the second. _God, what'll be worse?! Vomiting as we're blown out of the sky or vomiting and we're NOT blown out of the sky?! _

_**BOOOMMM! **_

The left side wall blew out taking a senior Huntsman and a Huntress with it, when they were gone Jaune saw Nora was now half hanging out of the hole with Ren's hand being the only thing keeping her inside. Everyone broke out into a chaotic panic as Foley lost control of the aircraft turning it around and around while the enemy continued shooting it up from the ground.

"Nora! Nora, get in here!" Jaune screamed not sure whether or not to unfasten his seat belt to help pull his partner back on board.

Deciphering the words coming out of the Valkyrie's mouth were impossible over the chaos, but once Jaune saw the look in her eyes he knew words were no longer needed. For a time the airship came to a stop in front of a multistoried building, one that was completely on fire. A hole had been blown out on the fifth floor, a hole multiple armed men were using to shoot down anything that came into their line of sight. Nora looked at the soldiers then at the others, her face told them not to try to stop her. Naturally all three of them cursed when she broke off from Ren's grip, unfolded Magnhild and leaped through the airship's burning hole right into the soldiers' mix. Jaune couldn't see too clearly, but he was able to make out a cloud of pink-colored lightning expanding from the hammer shielding Nora from their gunfire, after that they went for another spin.

"Is that girl out of her damn mind?!" Someone shouted.

_Actually yes, she is. _Is what Jaune wanted to say but couldn't. Though his stomach was still doing summersaults his leadership instincts were screaming for him to make sure Nora was alright. Those instincts were the cause of his next words, "Steady us! We're going in after her!" From Professor Foley all he got was a grunted yes followed by a startled cry from across the cabin. For a second he saw a pair of silver eyes looking at him with concern and maybe even fear. Jaune didn't have time to dwell on them for too long, he could feel the airship slowly righting itself and the hole Nora had jumped through earlier aligning with the building. "Everyone go!" He shouted to his remaining teammates seconds before bolting from his seat then throwing his body out of the airship shield first.

Those precious seconds Jaune could have sworn he heard his own heart beat and nothing else, it was surreal and terrifying at the same time. The sensation suddenly ended when his shield arm crashed into hard and hot ground and he went rolling along a burning floor that set his jacket ablaze. Immediately his first thoughts were removing it while his teammates opened fire on the enemy.

"_DOWN! GET DOWN!" _

"_COVER FIRE!" _

A firm hand yanked him to his feet and pressed him against the wall, it didn't do anything to unscramble his brain which was already close to imploding from the sensory overload.

"You're not what I pictured for backup, but you're better than nothing kid!"

He knew that male voice, it was Professor Mulnix's. _At least we didn't go splat on the ground. _His vision returned enough for him to see the fire, well, it was hard not to since that's all that was around them.

Fire, fire, and more fire, it was everywhere and still spreading. Looking down both ends of the hallway he saw everyone was burning, the far end disappearing into a tunnel of red, orange, yellow, and everything in between. Despite this there were two wounded soldiers on point keeping their weapons trained on the other end of the hallway. Looking to the opposite end he saw his teammates, Nora and Pyrrha on the left and Ren on the right, firing from behind the corner against some unseen enemies. Forcing down the vile in his stomach he turned to Professor Mulnix who was trying to dial a number on his Scroll. "P-Pr-Professor, w-what happened?!" He hadn't meant for his voice to sound whiny or scared by he couldn't help it. This was definitely not what he'd pictured happening when he woke up this morning.

"What happened Jaune, is someone just pulled the rug out from under us and now we're sliding down the stairs cracking out skulls along the way!" Apparently he was able to raising Professor Foley as he began feverish talking into the device saying they needed a portal out, _fast_.

Around them the sound of metal beginning to collapse made his heart jump inside of his chest. It didn't take a genius to figure out any second the entire building was probably going to collapse. A consecutive series of back to back explosions from the two hallways adjacent to him practically knocked him off his feet and sent his suppressed vomit gushing out. Looking up he saw Ren and Pyrrha giving the all clear sign allowing the six or so soldiers Professor Mulnix had gathered with him to move forth towards the blown out hole.

"Now would be a damn good time Dwayne, we're not exactly in need of a tan ya' known!" Professor Mulnix barked into his Scroll. Almost a minute later and a familiar void-like black hole six-feet wide appeared just a few feet in front of the group.

"Where the hell is this thing going to take us anyway?" One soldier questioned.

"Someplace not here, just shut up and go through!" The redheaded Huntsman snarled.

"Hey now guys, leaving so soon? The fun's just getting started though!"

When Jaune saw Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren's eyes go wide as dinner plates he knew whoever had just arrived on the scene was trouble. Against his better judgement he turned around to where the hallway disappeared into a tunnel of flames to find a man dressed in military uniform standing before them. It only took one glance for him to see the shimmer of an Aura shield protecting him from the intense flames eating away at everything else around him. His navy-blue hair was thrown all over his face and the dancing flames made the scar running up the left side of his check look absolutely grotesque, but none of them made Jaune's heart explode in fear. What did that were his eyes, pure silver that reflected the raging flames around them like a spotless mirror. Unlike Ruby or Buruan's silver eyes there was nothing kind or serene about them, madness danced in those unholy orbs staring at the lot of them with that wicked grin stretching from ear to ear.

"_EVERYONE THROUGH THE PORTAL NOW!" _Professor Mulnix screamed preparing to the soldier he'd been carrying over his shoulder through the dimensional gateway.

Jaune didn't have to be told twice as his legs were already moving with the speed of God propelling him forward. Just before he took the leap he turned his head back to look back at the mysterious man, he was holding something in his hands. He'd learned enough in class to recognize a Dust-powered fire bomb when he saw one. Just the demonstration of a mock one was enough to make him skittish around fire Dust for the next two weeks.

Seeing a live one set off by a madman less than twelve feet from him would be enough to make him never touch any flame attributed piece of Dust again. Provided he lived through this.

As the reports floated in Pox felt like he was walking on cloud nine. The one regret he had was his brother couldn't be there to witness the carnage with him; the dream they'd both been held onto for the past fourteen years was finally starting to unfold and he was stuck in a lab instead of being able to enjoy it like he was. It was during that pondering that he remembered he still had his Scroll with him, he could always give Typhus the greatest hits from the operation.

Stepping out he titled his Scroll horizontally so he could catch the wide angel, the only shot possible to capture the full splendor of the destruction. Everywhere the camera went it was more of that oh-so sweet combination, fire and death. Pox made sure to zoom in on the dying bodies of the base occupants running from one place to the next unsure of what to do. Apparently there was no protocol for what to do when some unknown enemy completely one-shots your entire base full of new and shiny weapons and toys. A pity he couldn't go for the up close pictures just yet, those would have to wait for later.

He'd gotten in about three minutes of filming when the screen changed showing the dull face of his superior. "Oh, hi boss. Is it time?"

"Yes Pox, it's time." Giovanni responded.

Temporarily shutting off the camera he switched his Scroll over to the proper channels so the other airships would hear him. With absolute glee in his voice the redhead yelled, "You heard the boss boys, it's finally time. _RELEASE THE GEIST!" _

"_GODDAMNIT POX!"_

* * *

**Yang-That bastard stole my thunder! He's gotta pay for that! **

**Cosmic-Uh-uh, I'll remember that Yang. Now then readers, what did you think? I might have had a little too much fun describing the Vesuvius and Ortho killing just about everything around them. On the upside consider it a sneak peak of what our brave young heroes will be up against when they go up against them! **

**Jaune-(whimpers)…**

**Ruby-(whimpering too) Can somebody please hold me?**


	48. Chapter 48: Hellfire Pt1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 48-Hellfire Pt.1 **

"_**Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws them."**_

_**-African Proverb **_

It was strange having something other than instinct guiding its actions, almost as if for once the puppeteer had become the puppet. Grimm didn't have emotions, at least not the wide range of emotions humans enjoyed, what they had was closer to animal instinct, granted there were some similarities. _Annoyance_, that was the word. The Geist felt annoyance at having something other than its own instincts directing it, telling it what to do. Even if it all paid off in the long run it still didn't like it, especially since it was humans doing it. If it were a fellow Grimm then it would have been easier to stomach, regardless, the orders of the humans were absolute and the Geist had little will to resist them.

The Geist felt the hot rush of air hit them right in the face the second the cargo hatches opened. After that came the rush, like heavenly nectar it beckoned to them, calling to them as if they were insects. Stopping in midair the Grimm marveled at the sea of flames that stretched out before it. Even through the cargo container it could sense the mounting chaos, it was a tingling sensation that spread through its gas-like body. Something hard and powerful clapped down on the Geist's mind, forcing it to move its body the way it wanted it to, if not for this strange grip the Grimm knew it would have run rampant across the battlefield doing whatever it pleased. In time it would have its chance to add to the death and chaos, but for now it was to return to darkness.

With the raging fires and general chaos of battle no one noticed the squadron of Geist moving through the flickering flames. It wasn't like if anyone saw them they could do anything to stop them. Disappearing into the various cracks and fissures the Geist descended further down into the base's subterranean levels. There was no shortage of misery and fear to stimulate the Grimm's hunger, if they had mouths they would have been watering from the sensory overload. They heard all the frightened whispers and calls for help, the slow destruction of hope as seconds passed without any sign of rescue, some had already lost hope of rescue. In addition to laughing the Geist would have grinned like idiots, wide sickening grins that would have terrified any living creature that laid eyes on their faces.

In time the Geist would relieve them of that fear the only way they knew how.

One by one each of them found a nice little corner to call their own and settled down. Once there they began their usual process of spreading out and absorbing the native materials, with so much negativity flowing in like rain water for many the process went by incredibly fast. They had so much to work with as well, so many wonderful new toys to play with, the likes of which no Grimm had ever seen before. Amongst the Geist one in particular dove deeper than the others, heading down further into the underground where darkness dominated and light was practically nonexistent. Reaching what it only guessed to be the bottom it made its nest, and began to consume.

_Grow. Grow. Grow. Grow. Grow. _A subtle voice in the creature's mind urged, and it did as instructed without a care. Shadowy stitches reached out from its body contacting with anything solid, spreading across it like cracks on a mirror. The Geist breathed in and out via unknown means, each breath carrying the sweet taste of despair.

_Yes, _What passed for thinking fell from the Grimm's mental lips. _Grow and consume, grow and consume, and then…then…_

* * *

**3:01 PM Topside **

"So how has your day been so far? This little mess notwithstanding." Was the first thing Izaak said to Jaune and Ruby when he laid eyes on them. It amazed them how lax his voice was despite the pandemonium around him, it fact it was almost scary how calm the Viking was when almost everyone around him was a second away from breaking down. "Our day was boring but acceptable until we started seeing fire coming from the base's labs and the sky started raining lava, heh, pretty drastic change huh?"

While almost everyone could only stare in shocked-confusion at the brown-haired male Weiss wasn't having it. Seeing him so at ease infuriated her, made her feel small and weak when those were the last things she needed. "How the hell can you be so calm at a time like this?! Are you deaf and blind!?" She screamed walking right up to him and grabbing him by the edges of his jackets and pulling his face towards hers. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

What passed for a command center had been set up near the transit station, or at least the first front half of it. It was the closest rallying point anyone could get to, not to mention the only one they'd been able to hold against the sudden invading enemies now tearing their way through For Lennox. Any attempts to contact other parts of the base and the outside world had been a dead end, the latter probably because the base's radio tower had been destroyed leaving them now completely cut off from the outside world.

"They notice we've stopped transmitting the government will send reinforcements." One of the surviving senior officers spoke up.

"Yeah, one problem with that though, we'll all be dead by then." Yang had drily replied when hearing that one.

"You don't say Yang," Olivia added with a dry chuckle.

Neither teen shrunk back under the heated glares of the adults, nor their teammates who silently begged them not to make the situation worse. Thankfully no one was willing to voice how the situation could have gotten much worse, anyone who was still thinking straight had already pictured that and weren't happy having those images put into words. All one had to do was look outside to see the situation was only going to get worse, or listen to the vibrations that shook the station every passing minute. Not even the air inside was free of the taint, blood and smoke filled everyone's nostrils further driving home how direr the current state of affairs was.

"Since you asked," Blake began in an unsure voice. "Our day was going rather well, we got to fight on the field before we headed into town. That's where we were when…"

"Least you guys got to actually fight before this mayhem started." Chicahua snorted.

Being students the three teams had happily exiled themselves to the edges of the room that had become the command center for the base's survivors. In the center the surviving officers had gathered with the Beacon teachers to try to map out some sort of response to the surprise attack. For Teams JNPR and RWBY, untrained in military matters such as these, all they could hear was a lot of shouting and cursing, for Team IONC every word was just a further nail to a coffin they had a sinking feeling was going to be theirs. Thanks to their respective Auras and relative quick thinking the team of problem children had been spared any major injuries aside from clothing damage. With the heat inside the station steadily climbing all four had chosen to forgo the winter coats and sweaters they'd put on in the morning leaving them three of them in simple t-shirts save for Chicahua who'd decided to go completely shirtless. All their wounds, especially Izaak had healed giving them the appearance of being completely unaffected by the last thirty minutes. Looking at the eyes of the four teens; however, told a very different story. Team JNPR, who'd barely twenty minutes ago escaped a burning building, still looked a little shell shocked from their close encounter. Jaune especially was the worst off, his body constantly fidgeting and his hands twitching. It was as if he was expecting the entire building to come down upon them any second and be forced to fight his way out, given how things were progressing the possibility couldn't be completely rolled out. Even Nora, normally loud and ready to take on any challenge, had an air of fear and anxiety around her. They'd been in bad situations before, but this one took the cake. Maybe the only reason she wasn't reacting like Jaune was because Ren kept her hand clasped in his giving her an anchor. Lastly there was Pyrrha, who was too lost in her own thoughts to really notice anything going on. What was running through the Spartan's mind now was anyone's guess.

Team RWBY's leader was in a similar boat as Jaune and Nora, instead of Ren she had Yang softly rubbing her hand as a subtle reminder she wasn't alone. Yang found herself pulling double-duty as Blake, despite answering Izaak's question, looked ready to cut and run any second. No one could really blame her. Following behind Yang Weiss perhaps looked the bravest of the four girls, her feet constantly tapped against the floor in an impatient manner created a steady beat. Her eyes stayed locked on the adults speaking in the center of the room, going from one face to another listening to every word being uttered. As Beacon students these men held their lives in their hands, and that didn't set well with Weiss at all. Flicking her eyes over her classmates she wasn't surprised to find Olivia staring back at her.

Despite their differences both girls had grown something of a begrudging respect for each other, partial out of the fact their minds operated on the same course, and both hated having their fates taken out of their hands. There was one stark difference between them, and that was Olivia was a hell of a lot more forcefully than Weiss was.

"Since no's brought it up, I guess I have to. We have to kill the warheads."

Olivia's words were like a sledgehammer shattering whatever fragile tranquility there was in the command center. Now as the shards fell to the ground everyone braced themselves for the steep drop that was awaiting them.

"Are you out of your Goddamn mind girl?! Do you have any idea what you're talking about?!"

"Listen, just because your family had a hand in building those warheads-"

"That's exactly why I'm telling you all we need to kill every last one of them as soon as possible!" Thunder was the only way to describe Olivia's voice, a booming sound that made the heart of every person in the room, adolescent and adult skip a beat. Behind her Ruby and Nora visibly squeaked, completely caught off guard by the sudden change while the others merely stared at Olivia with eyes as wide as the moon. They could feel an aura of power and authority radiating from her and casting a shadow over them all. The adults in front of the arms heiress had the added bonus of being able to see her eyes, gray-green torches that welded their bodies in place. "I know perfectly well, that every man and woman here, knows damn well what those warheads are. You all know what will happen if they fall into the hands of an unknown enemy, one who's heavily suspected to allied with the White Fang." Her words cut through the air like a blade silencing any naysayers while at the same time inviting them to challenge her statement. The silence she'd created was so stifling every tremor that ran through the transit station could be heard and felt in perfect unison. "As painful as it is to say this, we must face the possibility the enemy has already managed to capture at least one set of warheads. No contact from any of the other transit stations right?"

Ironically it was Professor Mulnix who answered her. "Nope, and we're probably not going to. Based on what's come in it's pretty safe to say we've lost all the transit stations including half of the HQ. One shipment was able to be sent off, but the one after it," he shook his head telling the teens all they needed to know.

For the first time Olivia shuddered, visibly shook from what everyone knew could only have been fear. The teenagers in the back, especially her teammates, were glad they couldn't see her face. Izaak, Neil, and Chicahua, being her teammates, natural knew that when Olivia was scared of something than shit had well and truly hit the fan.

"Yahtzee." Izaak whispered so quietly only his brother could have heard him. If Neil did, he said nothing about it, no doubt his mind was running through every Gaelic curse he knew of.

"So our main objective is securing the remaining warheads, our first and only priority right?"

"…Yes." One of the men admitted with crossed eyebrows. "Believe me Ms. Takeko, as the personal of Fort Lennox, we can sympathize with your rage."

"Then please sir, give us directions to stop this, at least give us something to do so we won't have to stand here like idiots dwindling our thumbs."

All the adults looked at each other then back at the students who all moved forth as one joining Olivia. Some of them were injured, half of them looked scared, but they all knew this was what they'd signed up for. At this moment they weren't normal kids, they couldn't be if they expected to survive. With a heavy sigh the senior officers turned to Mulnix seeing as he'd had the greatest sway over the students on top of being a rather skilled tactician.

For probably the tenth time the bearded professor wished he'd had a smoke. "I won't sugarcoat it for any of you, we're probably five steps past this whole thing being FUBAR, but we gotta try. As it stays there's multiple factors keeping us from moving out, the most pressing one being the wildfire and mini-volcano right outside." Placing his Scroll down on the floor an eye-widening 3D projection of the base appeared before the twelve teenagers. Over half of it was covered in red blinking dots and being consumed by a sea of orange flames. From what they could see the sea of flames was growing at an alarming rate. "We need to put this fire out, now."

"I guess I'm up." Team IONC's dual-wielding knight muttered.

"Neil, isn't this a little much for you? Summoning up a rainstorm strong enough to douse a flow of magma?" Ren advised.

"Not with me backing him." Chicahua counter argued cracking his knuckles. "Neil and I can synchronize with each other."

"Oh, well never mind, that should be enough to give us some elbow room."

"You two can use Aura Synchronization?" Weiss questioned raising an eyebrow at the two boys.

Ruby knew the wiser choice would have been keeping her mouth shut, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Uh, quick question, what's Aura Synchronization?"

"Something that's going to keep us alive a little bit longer." One of the officers growled unhappy with the sidetracking. "Fine then, you two," he pointed at the two knights with narrowed eyes. "Go to the roof and call in the biggest rainstorm you can, don't stop until you're completely and utterly drained of Aura. In addition to dowsing the flames it'll prevent the enemy from taking off with the warheads if they have aircraft capabilities. They'll buy us enough time to counter attack and reclaim the other warheads."

Dwayne, who'd been silent until now, stepped up and placed his hand on a spot near an area labeled the airfield. "We're amassing whatever forces we have to retake the airfield, we have to because apparently this bastards left that spot largely intact for rather obvious reasons."

"Yang, Nora, we'd kindly ask of you to be a part of that force and do what you two do best." Mulnix grinned watching the fear and doubt melt away from both girls. Hopefully the good news would be enough to keep their spirits up, at least until they made it out onto the battlefield. "As powerful as you two are the second the enemy catches sight of either of you they'll more than likely attempt to take off immediately, odds are neither of you will be fast enough to catch them."

"Then I guess that's where Blake and I come in." Ren sighed casting an apologetic smile towards his feline counterpart.

"I guess someone's going to have to look after those two and make sure we're not billed for excessive damages later on."

Dwayne scuffed, although to the teens it sounded more like a laugh. "If anyone's going to get billed it's going to be us Beacon staff. All we'll do is make you brats pay for it with mountains of extra work." He coughed once into his hand symbolizing the return to seriousness. "I'll take you four and a unit of well-armed soldiers to bring the airships down. It's going to be a fierce firefight that we may or not make it out of. If I see the situation is going too far south I'm going to open a portal back here and order everyone out." His dark eyes swiveled back to the commanding officers who were now looking at the dark-haired professor as if he'd just proposed a suicide march. To his credit he didn't back down when some of their glares grew even more heated; it was obvious the mind of the professor and the officers weren't matching up as everyone had hoped.

"Onto the next matter, the second weapons lab." The spoken area quickly became highlighted in red. "I don't need to go over the specifics of why we need to take back this section of the base at all cost, and if we fail at that all the data within the lab's mainframes will have to be wiped. Olivia," The olive-haired student snapped to attention while her leader silently walked up beside her. Clearly the Viking had read the situation and come to the same conclusion Mulnix had. "From what I read you're a fairly skilled hacker, skilled enough you might just be able to wipe the base's entire digital mainframe and records if you have the time and resources."

"That's where I'll be," The bronze-haired youth spoke up. "I'll cover her while she's doing her thing."

"Not just you," Mulnix gravely added. "You two will be a part of another unit going to the weapons lab, you will hold your positions until every scrap of useful data has been cleansed from the base's computers. The secondary objective will be the recapture of two sets of warheads that were in mid transportation to the air hanger for transportation. Speaking of which, that's the next area of interest. There was another shipment of warheads there, not to mention aircraft the likes of which I can assure you we'd rather destroy than allow to fall into the hands of the enemy."

Jaune knew something was coming, he could feel it in his bones. The foreboding feeling actually worried him more than the constant tremors and outside noises. Maybe it was his budding sixth sense or some other fighter-borne instinct, all he knew as he hadn't been assigned a role yet, and that wasn't a good sign. On one hand he was doubtful he'd be worth anything since his combat ability was the lowest of all the students assembled. On the other hand he could swear from time to time Professor Mulnix's eyes would shift to him, silently sizing him up for something he wouldn't say. Just when he was sure he'd be left behind with a handful of others to defend the transit station he heard his name being called.

"Jaune? Jaune?"

"Huh?" Of all the times for him to space out he knew he'd picked the worst one with the heated sneers he got from the surviving commanders. Desperate his eyes searched the map hoping to pinpoint the latest area of interest. Quickly enough his eyes found what he assumed to be a second radio tower right a few paces to the right of the airfield. "Defensive duty?"

"Yes, that." Professor Foley affirmed. "Due to its proximity to the airfield that radio tower was spared from the initial attack. If we can retake that we may just be able to call for back up, or at least get word out fast enough for reinforcements."

"We're told you have a shield type Semblance," One of the officers said looking directly at Jaune with cold focused eyes. "Is that true?"

Around him Jaune felt his team ready to explode in protest. They all knew the danger he'd be facing and knew for a fact he wasn't ready, it was only natural they'd try to stop him. "I do and I can hold the line while the technicians get the word out." His response came out so fast it felt like it'd been shot out the barrel of a gun. As soon as he said them he could see his common sense face palming. _Nice, you just volunteered for your own execution! Enjoy your little stroll through hell!_

"I'm going with him."

All eyes went to the rather short rose-haired reaper who'd up until that point been as silent as a mouse.

"Ruby," Professor Mulnix cautioned. "This is serious. We-"

"We need to get help out right? We need to clear out the area right? I'm good when it comes to crowd battles and dealing with large groups of enemies so it should help right?" The fifteen year-old argued forcing her body to remain firm.

"Can you take life though?" Professor Foley jabbed narrowing his eyes. "To do this you're going to have to do a lot of killing. When the enemies die their bodies aren't going to disappear in puffs of black smoke. Can you handle that?" he pressed.

"I will if it means saving lives." The little reaper nearly screamed tightening her fists to keep them from trembling. She was very aware of the fact her sister and Weiss were shooting her dirty looks, silently begging her to reconsider, but she wasn't going to budge. Briefly she looked over the eyes of the other three members of Team JNPR. All of them silently pleaded for her to look after their leader, to protect him. She'd do it even if it cost her an arm and leg.

All that adults looked between each other than back at the teens. Some of them were still trembling, but the fear that had overridden them before had now been replaced by something harder and stronger.

"Very well then, everyone, prepare to move out."

* * *

Looking out from the top of the central transit station Neil was glad he hadn't been born with the same telescopic eyesight Chicahua had. What he was seeing with his limited human eyesight was enough to give him nightmares for months on end. The only time he'd ever seen anything that could be described as a 'sea of fire' was in old pictures and paintings depicting epics battles and sieges hundreds of years old. What lay before him was exactly that, only instead of stone buildings they were steel towers and domes that housed Vale's greatest scientist and soldiers, many of whom were probably dead by this point. Hundreds of twisted smells rushed into his nostrils, carried by the multiple jet streams created by the sprawling inferno; again, Neil was happy he didn't have Faunus' senses because he didn't want to know what was burning.

"Seems like no matter where we go trouble follows us like a vulture stalking a wounded animal eh?" His animal-blooded companion laughed. There was no humor or spirit behind it, a rather dark and unusual thing for the normally sunny and positive warrior. "Even in my dreams I didn't picture fighting on a battlefield like this, at least not until I'd made a name for myself."

"Come on C, this is how guys make names for themselves." The human countered setting his eyes on the growing black ash cloud that seemed to have settled over the center of the base. Something in his gut told him the enemy had some aerokinetics are some method of dispelling the ash so their own aerial abilities wouldn't be hampered. Or maybe they were hoping the base's inhabitants would do something about it for them. Spreading out his hands he established the mental link that connected his soul to that of the increasingly darkening sky. Once the link was established he was quite happy to find a rainstorm had been just a little ways off when the attack happened.

"I'm not sure anyone's concerned about making a name for themselves today. Not over something like this." With every breath Chicahua took he could feel his body swell with energy. No matter how long the battle raged as long as the flames remained he could keep replenishing his energy, perhaps one of the few trump cards they had left. For various reasons the thought of this bloody battle prolonging itself didn't feel him with any sort of glee of excitement, the longer this dragged on the lower their chances of survival were. Twisting vines of fire and raw energy swirled around the Faunus' wings, now outstretched to both sides. The brightly colored feathers quickly began glowing with flame-like radiance mirroring the plethora of colors covering the ground. Slowly feather by feather the wings began to change from organic in appearance to now resembling blow torches. From them the power flowed into the seventeen year-old's body alighting all of his senses. As usual it felt as if his entire body had been injected with metric tons of pure adrenaline nearly drowning the Eagle Knight in a dream-like euphoria; it was combination of tempered will and outside influence that kept Chicahua from losing himself in the rush of power.

Said outside influence was the rumbling of thunder, mighty drums that shook the earth with every beat. All day the sky had been growing increasingly darker with many predicting rain or at least a passing drizzle. The sudden gale-force winds were indicators what was about to come was a torrential storm that rarely took place in winter. All signs of a blue sky disappeared behind a sheet of black and gray clouds that cast a shadow over the crimson inferno Fort Lennox had become.

Neil had clapped both his hands together and shut his eyes as if he were praying. Those familiar with the gray-haired youth knew he wasn't praying but concentrating, willing nature to do as he commanded it, and nature was responding. The dual-wielding student was steadily becoming surrounded in a whitish-gray light with faint cackles of electricity around him. The closer Chicahua got to him the heavier the air became, a testament to unchecked power his teammate was summoning up from the depths of his soul.

"This is going to take us out of the game for a while, but hopefully it'll give everyone a chance to make the winning play." The shorter of the two managed to say seconds before he felt both of Chicahua's hands lock onto his shoulders. No matter how many times they synced Neil could never totally get use to the feeling of Chicahua's Aura interacting with his, probably because it was rare to find someone who held as much power as he did.

Unseen thunder exploded within the clouds momentarily stunning those stuck on the ground, forcing them to look up in awe as the jet-black clouds burst into torrents of ice-cold rain. The needle-like droplets fell onto the surface inflicting a stinging-like pain on any person unlikely enough to be caught outside. Even those who were protected by layers of clothes and armor found themselves feeling an icy cold snaking its way up their bodies slowly but surely numbing their senses. That was saying nothing of the fierce winds that whipping through the burning hilltop causing metal to shudder. Coupled with the rapidly dropping temperature and the wind could have been compared to an arctic gale spreading layers of frost along its path. Against these things even the volcanic flames that had suddenly erupted from nowhere began to decease and shrink as nature turned against them.

More thunder boomed though there was no lightning, not even a flicker amongst the black clouds. From the viewpoint of the townspeople at the bottom of the hill it looked as if some supernatural storm cloud had settled over the fortress and chosen to remain there, as if now firmly anchored to the patch of land. In a way it was anchored to the skies about the Unbreakable Fortress, two in fact.

Once those anchors were cast off the storm would fade yet there were no certainties the skies would be clear.

Or that the battle would be even half way close to being over.

* * *

"So, really quick, what's Aura Synchronization?" Yang whispered as their unit assembled before the various portals Professor Foley had opened up.

With a silent roll of her eyes Blake did one last check of her equipment. "It's when two Huntsmen are able to synchronize their Auras, think of it like two roads running parallel to each other then joining into one. Once they do the abilities of both warriors increase provided they're able to stay perfectly attuned to each other. Hear that rainstorm outside, that's probably because Chicahua and Neil have synced themselves to each other." The feline ninja explained.

"Uh-huh. Why don't we try something like that when this is over with eh? I'd say we'd be even more kick-ass than before." She questioned with a cheeky grin. "If it's all about staying in sync with each other then we should be able to master it in an afternoon. Maybe fast than Ruby and Weiss."

Blake didn't know if her partner was being genuine or just trying to lighten the mood, either way a part of her couldn't help but smile at her question. Whereas panic was always her first response to the deeply unexpected Yang met every challenge with a laugh and smile, something she'd admired. The blonde was probably one of the few who could still smile despite the fact everything around her was falling deeper into hell by the second. It'd be a coin toss rather or not that smile remained once they set out into the field.

"Just don't be too reckless out there okay?"

"Come on, you know me."

"I'm serious Yang. This isn't Mountain Glenn or the highway." Blake pressed gripping Yang's hand. "Promise me you won't do anything crazy stupid."

"Alright, alright, fine, I promise. Just make sure you do the same alright?"

"Hey! Move it you two!"

Grabbing her partner by the shoulder Yang rushed them through the swirling dark portal that would take them to the other end of the fortress. At Beacon students often joked about what going through Professor Foley's 'Dark Holes' were like, some speaking from firsthand experience while others merely guessed base on rumors. Yang was amongst the latter group since she'd never done so herself, now she could count herself amongst the former. What struck her first was the immediate drop in temperature, as if she'd suddenly walked into a giant cooler. Though her sight was the only sense that went completely dark her other senses were thrown for a loop as they all blurred together temporarily turning her stomach. The one constant was Blake's grip on her shoulder reminding her they hadn't separated yet. As trippy as the sensation was it only lasted for little over a second, when she felt air enter her lungs she was seized by a very real chill that reminded her they were in the starting days of winter.

When they stepped through the rain was dying off but its effects were still going strong. From what they could see the mysterious soldiers had to halt their operations when they found themselves caught in the middle of a torrential storm even they couldn't work through. Now they stood before a force of half a dozen soldiers, all incredibly pissed off at the indignity and horror they'd suffered at the hands of the mysterious invaders. In turn the mercenaries seemed more annoyed than surprised at their sudden appearance.

Yang didn't remember anyone giving an order, not that an order was needed. Recklessly she threw herself into the first group of mercenaries she saw before her, after that everything else simply became a foggy blur or explosions and shouting.

Almost immediately the mercenaries opened fire on them while jumping to form defensive lines in front of the aircrafts they'd procured. Literal waves of bullets and shells exploded from the barrels of their weapons and sped towards the advancing attackers, some of them hitting their mark and others being deflected. Their enemies responded in kind putting all their emotions into their attacks.

At the forefront were the Beacon students who'd been assigned the airfield. Raw fury blazed in their eyes as the bullets bounced off their Aura shields allowing them to close the distance between them and the enemies before them. Once the gap between them was closed the students let loose with all their pent up fury smashing into the defensive lines like human wrecking balls. Amongst them was Yang, her shotgun gauntlets roaring like angry beasts knocking down three or four men at a time with each strike. A combination of raw physical strength and the power of her Dust cartridges made each blow comparable to a grenade going off, and with so many happening in fast succession there was little to no defense against it.

Tempting as it was Yang knew she couldn't lose herself in the rush of excitement that was currently sweeping through her, not that her enemies would let her. Unlike the White Fang at Aemon Strip the Mercenaries gathered themselves and pushed back against the students once they'd directly confronted them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw rifles being dropped in favor of combat knives, hatchets, and some opting to go simply barehanded. Grinning Yang met those masked soldiers knowing her skills exceeded theirs.

While Team RWBY's blonde brawler made herself content with drawing the enemies' attention Blake's eyes were elsewhere, scanning the battlefield for their target. Doing that while trying to keep herself alive was tough, yet at the same time the same adrenaline that followed through her partner was now pumping her in her veins. With every swing of Gambol Shroud and its sheath she saw pieces of armor, flesh, and blood scatter, some of it staining her coat and face. She didn't bother to lament some of her strikes were killing blows because if she did she'd fall to the ground dead just as countless others were. Driving her blade into the throat of an attacking soldier she used his limp body to get a leg up, lifting her off the ground and into the frigid air.

What she saw were two groups of masked soldiers, one holding the line against them and the others doing everything they could to load a set of custom airships Blake knew hadn't been on the airfield when they'd arrived. If she had to guess there was almost half a mile between her and their objective. _At this rate we'll never make it there, not until they're about to take off! _

When she came down she heard an explosive crash behind her followed by an intense wave of heat that left her sweating in her jacket and cap. "So, on a scale of one to ten how bad off are we?"

"We came here to stop them from loading the warheads. Neil and Chicahua may have bought us some time but it won't do any good if we can't make to the airships to stop them." She answered reloading her weapon. "That's too much distance for us to cover."

"Then I guess now's a good a time as any of try this out!" The blond grinned before fiddling with the ammo rings on her weapon. "Cover me!"

"Yang?" Her partner asked concerned.

"Just do it! And when I give the signal try not to fall behind!"

No sooner had she said the words Blake felt the presence of five or six enemy soldiers. Dropping all her questions she switched Gambol Shroud into its kusari-gama form and spun her heel her. At the edge of her sight she saw the soldiers lined up with the flashes of their rifle muzzles making her blood run ice cold. Gnashing her teeth she infused the kusari-gama with wind Dust and swung her weapon by the ribbon. Immediately a violet-tinged whirlwind flew form her wind deflecting the bullets and temporarily knocking back the soldiers. Golden eyes flashing the ex-terrorist pounced on her enemies twirling Gambol Shroud in her arms.

_**SSSLLLIIISSSHHH! **_

Amongst the battlefield noise Blake waited and listened for the sound of heads dropping, one by one they fell to the battered ground. Barely a second later she heard the explosive geysers of blood erupt from their severed necks and smelt the foul odor invade her noise. She had no time to sit on her multiple kills when she saw something silver coming towards her. Ducking her head she recognized the hum of a high-frequency blade when the cackling of electricity running along the edge. Jumping back two feet she switched back to her weapon's blade form with its sharpened sheath in her other hand. In front of her now stood another one of the mysterious mercenaries, in his hands was a razor sharp katana that cackled with whitish-blue lightning. Like his comrades his face was obscured by a metallic mask with only two glass-like holes for eyes.

The ninja and soldier went at each other simultaneously, their weapons briefly meeting before separating. It quickly became apparent to the teenage girl whoever this soldier was he knew how to wield his weapon as too many time she felt the vibrating sword come too close to her skin. His attacks were swift and direct, almost all of them aiming at vital points or even parts of her arm that would leave her defenseless if struck.

"Yang!"

"Almost done over here!"

Her calculated risk paid off as her opponent lunged at her as she stepped back. A lightning-fast horizontal swing that would have taken her head off if she'd been a second slower, but she wasn't. Aiming the barrel of her pistol at the soldier's left leg she fired a Dust-infused bullet that left the limb covered in frost and connected to the ground; quickly enough she gave the other leg a similar treatment leaving the soldier immobilized. Sliding behind the soldier's back she lunged for the neck, the one area she knew she'd would be an instant kill with her Aura-infused blade.

_**CRACK! **_

Suddenly the ice shattered in an explosion of colored light and wind that left the feline ninja shocked. Free of his entrapment the katana user spun and around, his blade aimed at Blake's abdomen and thrust forward.

Rather or not he was surprised she couldn't tell, what she knew was that her Semblance at just saved her life. The soldier's HF blade was now impaled in a life-sized block of grayish-black stone shaped like Blake. With the sound of her blood thundering in her ear Blake rammed her Gambol Shroud's single-edged blade into the neck of the soldier before he could react to the trick. All at once his body went still causing his hands to fall from the handle of his weapon.

Darting to the right she saw another group of enemies approaching them, this time these guys were carrying guns. Acting quickly she charged into them, using the body of her slain opponent as a meat shield against their gunfire. Once she was sure the distance between them was enough she activated her Semblance again, and finally broke off. The flaming doppelganger continued her charge until it exploded in a cloud of flames and metal enveloping the soldiers and corpse with it.

Blake fell back with her breath coming out as cold clouds and sweat pouring from her brow. "Are you done yet Yang? Yang?" Finally setting sight on her partner she realized her sweat wasn't just coming from exhaustion but from the heat generated by her blonde friend. Ember Celica was burning bright red with a seething mass of heat and what looked like rock fragments in between them. Against all odds Blake found herself smirking. "So you were paying attention during class."

Yang merely grinned before slamming her fists into the ground. The Dust sped from her hands into the ground where it manifested as just geysers of lava and fire that tore through the ground in a singular direction. Everyone in the path of the blast either got out of the way or found themselves being burned by flames burning at close to fifteen hundred degree Celsius, enough to chew through Aura and body armor alike.

Try to her word Blake followed when Yang took her, hoping their allies got the messenger and took their cue. The fissure traveled further and further through the battlefield steadily losing power as it went on but still causing enough of a distraction for the pair to make their way across the field, dropping bodies when they had to.

"Blake, grab on to me!" Discording the emptied shells she'd used to fashion her little lava bomb Yang read the distance between her and the VTOL-like airship about to take off just before them. The roar of its four engines had her forcing her body to move faster than she thought possibly. Blake latched onto her back, wrapping both arms around her knowing what she was about to know.

Ember Celica's dual muzzles roared nonstop lifting the two girls through the air towards the closing hatch of the airship. The higher it rose the lower their chances of making it onboard seemed to become.

With an animalistic growl Blake summoned up two more doppelgangers, Yang's boots fell on the shoulders of the first while that one stood on the shoulders of the second. The second exploded in a blast of wind pushing them all further. When the other doppelganger went off Yang fired off another pair of blast, this time it did the trick.

Behind them the cargo hatch closed shut locking the two girls in with a ship full of mysterious mercenaries and their stolen weaponry. Neither of the girls were worried about that though.

Yang hit the floor of the cargo hold with a ground strike sending a fiery shock-wave out while Blake landed gracefully on her feet. Around them the soldiers and workers who'd been fastening the containers onto the floor crumpled to the ground screaming in pain at their ruined legs. Both girls stood up to survey the area: dark, cramp and filled with soldiers all taking aim at them.

Looking back at the closed hatch Blake sighed, "Looks like it's just us against God knows about how many well-trained soldiers with guns. This exciting enough for you Yang?"

"Yeah, just the kind of brawl I like: outnumbered and outgunned, it's perfect." She giggled as a line of soldiers took up formation in front of them while the noncombatants scurried away. "Well come on guys! It's just two little girls so how come you're so chicken? Don't tell me when you don't have the drop you turn into wussies."

Resounding through the chamber was a set of footsteps that grew louder and louder as they approached the student pair. The soldiers before them parted making way for the new arrival. "What the hell do we have to be scared off? A pair of grade schoolers thinking they're some heroes?"

The man appeared to be in his late thirties, perhaps his early forties based on his body build and face. At first glance he seemed bald until Blake noticed the thin layer of red hair that covered his head, something resembling a military style haircut. Two scars ran parallel to each other, one near the right end of his lip and another longer one starting from his cheek and ending at his chin just almost an inch away. They further added to the cool look in his green eyes which shifted from Yang to Blake and back again. Besides his arms his attire was pretty standard issue, military boots and pants with armor padding at the knees, a belt filled with grenades and Dust-canisters, and lastly an armored vast covered in more of the same. His arms were what caught the teenagers' eyes. They were clearly cybernetic, high class cybernetics based on the polished shine of them. Unlike the blocky and typical design of Atlas' cybernetics these were more refined, almost resembling human limbs in appearance given their shape and form.

Something in the guts of both girls told them there was something dangerous about the artificial limbs. Falling into their usual stance they kept their eyes solely on the mysterious man ready to act if he made a move.

"Heroes, maybe not, but we did waste quite a few of you bastards down on the ground so I'd say we're worth your attention." Yang boasted.

The augmented soldier laughed, a mocking sound that drove the blonde's temper up the wall causing her hair to ignite a little. "Right, a blonde bimbo and a furry are worth my attention." His green eyes cackled with amusement when he noticed the tension build up in Blake's body and her eyes narrow even more. "Oh? Thought you'd be able to pull a fast one on me didn't ya' kid? Sorry, but I've seen enough of you damn furries to single you out in a crowd. At least you don't stink as bad as the other fur balls I've had to work with."

"Shut it!" Yang barked.

"Why? You're not a fan of animal cruelty eh? Or…" The dark glee in his eyes was finally mirrored by the evil grin that split his face in that instant. "Is she the smarter of the two? In that case she goes first!"

_**Boom! **_

Yang and Blake saw the man throw out his arm, and then they saw a burst of flames erupt from the elbow. The next thing they knew the metallic limb spending towards them.

_**THUNK! **_

"GAH!"

"Blake!"

"Like I said, what the hell do I have to fear from a bimbo and a furry?" The man's voice called, this time much closer than before.

Yang and Blake looked down to find the mysterious man was now crouching beneath them. Blake struggled to shout, but the cybernetic fist locked around her throat paralyzed her vocal chords and kept her rooted to the spot. Yang brought up her fists to attack, but the mercenary was faster. His left arm drove itself into her stomach knocking the air out of her then sending her sailing against the wall. Quickly turning back to the immobilized Faunus he reattached his right arm then threw her towards her partner. To his surprise the feline ninja managed to land on her feet, now she was in a crouching position while her partner wiped the blood from her lips. Her blonde hair which had been flaring before was now timing with embers lighting up the cargo hold.

"Hmph, so a pryokinetic and a cat. I knew Beacon was understaffed, but I expected more from Oz the Great and Powerful. Heh, then again he's nothing but another old fossil cooped up in his little tower. I guess age is finally catching up to the bastard."

Roaring Yang launched four fireballs at the soldier then rushing in with Blake following close behind her. All four of the attacks hit home obscuring the soldier as Yang closed the distance and threw a right hook at where she believed his face would be. She hit nothing but air as the man emerged from the smoke unharmed and now falling back under the seventeen year-old's assault. Once again his eyes showed more annoyance than fury as he effortless dodged each of her blows while still keeping an eye on her partner who silently ran around them, her blade gleaming with violet energy.

"If you're gonna do a sneak attack, at least be sneaky about it." He snarled catching one of Yang's fist in his hand while shooting out the left.

"Blake!"

The ninja saw a red circle appear on the palm of the man's free hand before all her senses screamed for her to get out of the way. She did so just as a baseball-sized chunk of red energy exploded from his palm leaving a scorch mark on the spot she'd just been. More followed her as she darted around the cargo bay trying to figure out a point of attack.

"Hey! Keep your eyes open bastard!" The brawler shouted rearing back her other fist.

"Against a brat like you I don't have to!" Suddenly the man's outstretched arm crawled into a fist he threw directly into Yang's stomach, smashing through her Aura leaving her agape for breath again. He hit her again in the stomach then smacked her across the cheek. "You think this is some sort of game!" Grabbing her by the throat he held her up with his right arm while his left palm was placed against her chest. Red light built up forming into a cackling sphere of energy.

"Actually no, I think this is called a diversion." She grinned through the pain.

Blake dove for her target with both arms crossed and both of her blades overflowing with energy. Snarling the solider tore his hand away from Yang and let loose with the energy blast now directed at the oncoming Faunus. The red energy beam tore through the shadow duplicate while the real deal rained down a stream of bullets on top of him with her pistol.

The bullets pounced off his red-colored Aura like flies on a windshield. "_This _is the best Beacon has to offer?"

"No smart guy," Came the blonde girl's near feral growl gripping the wrist of the augmented man. For a moment surprise colored his face as he turned to her to find her golden mane was now fully ablaze with searing flames. Her eyes which were once a striking violet were now bright red, almost the color of blood. "This is!"

Blake covered her eyes when Yang went off, a contained fire bomb that caught everyone in the cargo hold off guard. Their opponent was forced to drop the blonde and focus on shielding himself as Yang's sudden burst of energy sent another, stronger shockwave through the cargo hold, actually setting ablaze some of the cables keeping the containers buttoned down. When she peeked through her eyes she was greeted to the familiar sight of her teammate surrounded by an aura of golden flames with her waist-length hair swaying from side to side.

"You guys went through a lot of trouble and killed a lot of people to get these things." Yang began looking over at the various crates the soldiers were now struggling to contain. She couldn't tell if the warheads were among them, none of them looked big enough to contain them though she knew she couldn't take that chance. "It'd be a shame if something happen to them." She chuckled. At once the flames concentrated around her arms, her grin turned wicked as the realization dawned on the mercenaries.

"STOP HER!" The augmented soldier screamed throwing out both arms to gather energy.

Too late, Yang threw two punches towards the cargo hatch, each releasing a fireball almost half the size of a car. They easily melted through the metal merging together into a greater explosion halfway through. No sooner had the hole been opened that air came rushing through setting off the airships alarms. Yang dodged the soldier's energy beam and threw two more fireballs of equal power widening the hole, now it was a good seven feet tall revealing the gray skies outside.

The airship's alarms screamed in everyone's ears as they tried to get all the hooks on the containers. When several of them attempted to do so a jet-black blade swooped in like a flash, sometimes severing their hands at the wrist or completely cutting the cables freeing the ten-foot tall crates of their only restrains.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Through the window sills several soldiers and technicians saw lightning flash followed by the rapid darkening of the skies. Their voices were lost as thunder shook the aircraft like a rattle, and then everyone heard the sound of melt exploding, on the outside.

The airship's intercom blared to life declaring one of the engines had been hit and all semblance of control had been lost. Another crack of thunder and it changed to two engines. Now the entire airship almost half the size of a city block was spiral back towards the ground with its crew and cargo playing pinball with each other.

"I hope like hell you have a plan!" Blake screamed as Yang joined her in hugging the wall as the airship began its fast descent downwards.

"Mostly!" Her partner called back pulling out her Scroll. "Professor Foley! We need a portal out of here!"

"_Where the hell are you two?!" _

"Look for the two colored dots jumping out of the big-ass airship falling to the ground!"

"_WHAT!?That doesn't even make any sense!" _

"Just look for the golden flare!" Yang screamed back into the Scroll before closing it. "Just like before, don't let go of me!"

"Of course, because holding onto you has worked out so well for me before!" The ninja drily laughed getting her teammate to smile.

"YOU STUPID BITCHES!"

As much as Yang would have loved to give a sarcastic remark she knew they had to escape first. With a fireball formed around her right hand and her other wrapped around Blake's waist she let loose blasting a hole big enough for the both of them in the wall. They didn't even have to push to jump out, all they had to do was just let the wind carry them. The second they were out Yang felt both of Blake's arms fasten themselves around her, she did likewise hoping like hell their teacher would be able to see them.

By reflex she flared up her Aura resulting in her entire body emitting a burning flash she hoped could be seen from the ground. She kept the flare going for as long as she could counting the seconds until she could no longer do so.

It was just then that she felt a familiar rush of cold air envelop her. Just before the world went silent Yang could have sworn she heard something, an ominous howl that sounded all too familiar.

Enticed she cracked one eye open and looked back; coming in behind them was a Nevermore, one whose body was ablaze with orange and red flames. She saw something forming in its mouth that made her blood run cold.

"SHIT!"

* * *

**Aaaannnddd I'm back from my months' long hiatus! Sorry for the wait, but I had some things I had to take care of. It nice getting this chapter out the day summer official starts, at least if you're living in the Northern Hemisphere. So the good guys have finally gotten their asses together and are attempting some form of counterattack, how do you think it's going to go? Next chapter we'll see how everyone is doing and maybe check back up on Yang and Blake after bailing Air PESTILENCE. As usual leave a review and have a nice day! **


	49. Chapter 49: Hellfire Pt2

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 49-Hellfire Pt.2 **

_**Central Station Rooftop, 3:25 PM...**_

"DUCK!"

When Chicahua broke the synchronization it hurt, like having a bolt of lightning suddenly passing through one's brain. Neil, for a number of reasons, had actually grown used to this feeling thus he was able to respond to it quickly enough. Without even really knowing what was going on he dropped to his knees, biting back the pain inside his skull. Mere seconds later he felt the tops of his head heat up and the temperature around him skyrocket in ways that were deeply unnatural. Snapping his eyes open he saw an oncoming object cloaked in red and orange flames. Hearing the demonic shriek immediately told him what it was.

The Nevermore closed in on them by the second, its flame-covered body taking on something of an arrow shape as it sped towards them with great speed. Ramming its enemies was something every Nevermore knew how to do by instinct, even a glancing impact was enough to leave an ill-prepared Huntsman with at least a broken arm or a leg, add fire to the mix and it would be a one-hit KO. For a second the oversized bird's eyes met the fierce orange of the knight's Faunus comrade; it saw no fear in them, only cold indifference. Shrieking in fury it sped up with the intention of turning the two teenagers into simmers on its flaming wings.

With a steely calm face Chicahua threw out his left hand, sending out his razor shield which glimmered in the light caste by the Nevermore.

_**SLISH! **_

"On your six!" Neil cried pushing his teammate aside just in time to see another flyer, a flaming Wyvern, approaching them. Beagalltach slay outstretched in his hand, the blade opened up revealing a glowing gun barrel from which a cackling blue plasma beam shot forth. Despite his head still hurting the scar-faced teen's aim was dead-on, hitting the growing fireball within the Wyvern's mouth caused the attack to explode prematurely resulting in an explosion that consumed the Wyvern's entire head. In addition to that it also illuminated the approaching forms of the other Grimm, drawn to the two by their previously flaring Auras. "Company!"

His calm face twisted into a feral snarl as Chicahua quite literally whipped out Sprekelia and swung the whip-sword in wide arcs while Xolotl continued traversing the sky, cutting apart anything it came into contact with.

It seemed with the break in the storm the newly arrived Grimm had decided to go after the sudden squall's orchestrators. More and more flame-covered black masses came at the two boys forcing them to push their backs together. With their prey coupled so close together the various flyers gathered in circle cutting off any hope of escape for the two teenagers. Within the jaws of the demonic birds and reptiles flames built up into searing fireballs they readied to expel at a moment's notice.

"Neil?"

"You do it, you need the energy more than I do." The gray-haired youth replied with his eyes closed in concentration. So engrossed with their supposedly cornered prey the Grimm had taken their eyes off the developing storm cloud above their heads.

Just as all the Grimm launched their attacks Chicahua spread his wings out, his entire body glowing with life energy. Across his body various tribal tattoos came alit turning him into a mass of burning light that drew in all the attacks. Like a vacuum it sucked them up and condensed into his wings which burned hotter than the flames of the Grimm. Shocked a handful of the Grimm fell back now cautious of the Faunus.

It was in that window of time that Neil struck, his eyes snapped open revealing his furious bluish-gray orbs. In the sky the storm cloud exploded releasing multiple bolts of lightning downwards towards the Grimm. Each of the empowered monsters were speared by the bright-blue bolts, sometimes more than two. The flames coating their bodies instantly died as whatever passed for a life force for the black demons was extinguished. Their death cries were pitiful and their bodies disintegrated into black mist while their shattered masks fell to the rooftop, breaking apart on impact.

An uneasy silence settled over Neil and Chicahua as they took the moment to catch their breath, Neil more so than his teammate. Fully rejuvenated the Eagle Knight stood proud and strong on the station roof top overlooking the base-turned battlefield. On his end Neil could feel his breathing coming out a little harder than usual, something he expected whenever he used his Semblance for something on the scale of creating a super storm. Unfortunately he couldn't replenish his strength the same way his teammate could. Kneeling on one knee he attempted to silence the residual pounding in his head.

"Not to sound pushy, but are you almost finished catching your breath?" His long-haired friend called.

"Heh, so it's that bad huh?" Neil responded with a small smirk. "Fine, just give me another minute and I'll be right as rain."

"I'll do you one better." Chicahua stated walking up to him while reaching into one of the many leather pouches he kept on his waist. Kneeling down he presented his comrade with a collection of green-dotted blue berries, each no bigger than his thumb. Chicahua frowned when he saw Neil scowl. "Don't start."

"You know how much I hate those things. How the hell do you eat them? Is it a Faunus thing?"

"No, it's a 'I want to live' thing, now hurry up and eat them." He pressed.

Realizing there was no point in arguing Neil grabbed the handful of strange colored berries and downed them. Immediately he felt his stomach lurch in protest, a feeling greatly resembling vomit rising up in his throat only to settle back down and churn his stomach like a blender. Though his taste buds were screaming in horror Neil could feel his strength returning to him. The headache he'd been battling quickly faded as did the disgust in his stomach. Already knowing the process Chicahua took his teammate in arm and headed for the edge of the rooftop. Knowing the process Neil held onto his friend's shoulder as he took the skies carrying him with him.

It was only after their feet had left solid ground did Neil notice one thing he hadn't before about his teammate-his entire body was shivering like a leaf.

* * *

_**Central Airfield, 3:33 PM…**_

While this was probably one of the most intense battles of Nora's life it was also one of the most exhilarating. Everywhere she looked death seemed to be around the corner claiming two or three lives at a time while continuously seeking out new quarry. Nora happily offered the reaper as many as she could, her beloved silver hammer rose and fell shaking either the earth or breaking the bones of anyone unlucky enough to be in her line of sight. Of course while she was having the time of her life her childhood friend and partner was rapidly reevaluating his life choices starting with why he decided to get out of bed this morning.

Ren knew they hadn't managed to change the course of the battle, not in any meaningful way. When he saw the giant airship begin to lean to the side with smoke bellowing from one of its hauls he knew their enemy had a backup plan, it was foolish to assume they didn't.

Oh, and when the Grimm showed up he definitely knew their enemy had thought things ahead. Multiple streams of fire tore across the field just as countless bolts of lightning had done earlier, only this time the targets were the base's defenders and Beacon personnel. The later of the two was quick enough either to dodge or shape their Auras into protective barriers, the former weren't on the other hand. Their death cries mingled together into a chorus of fear-inducing noise that reminded Ren all too painfully of his village's last moments. Shutting out the memories he attempted to do as Nora did-lose himself in the fight until it was all he could think about, the problem was they were losing.

The oncoming firestorm was heralded by dozens of ear-piercing shrieks and roars that chilled the heart of every soldier and Huntsmen on the battlefield.

Wyverns and Nevermores swopped down like vultures, killing anyone unfortunate enough to be within range of their landing, be they defender of mercenary. Wisely the soldiers who'd come with them began to pull back allowing the Grimm to press the field, spewing fire at everything that moved.

"I'm going in Ren!" Nora shouted raising Magnhild high while dashing towards the line of flame-coated monsters still wearing that near maniacal grin on her face.

"Uh, shouldn't you be going after her? Trying to stop her?" One of the soldiers beside Ren asked staring at the charging girl as if she'd just descended from the sky.

Despite the stress mounting inside of his chest Rena actually found it in him to laugh; it was actually kind of relieving being able to get some of it out. "Trust me, she's survived worse than this."

Nora charged through the onrush of flames without a care in the world, her Aura protecting her from the flesh-searing heat that had brought an end to countless others. The Grimm realized too late what they were dealing with was a fighter who knew how to handle herself, and enjoy herself.

She took a Wyvern's head off in a single swing, then flatten a Nevermore's when it made an attempt to spear her on its beak. Jumping at the last second she narrowly avoided the tail swing of a second Wyvern who then attempted to snap her up in its fiery jaws. For a reward it got a Dust grenade to the face, the resulting explosion propelled Nora further into the sky which gave her a good view of the mass of burning black bodies now eying her with well-deserved irritation.

The hammer-wielder's Aura manifested as pink lightning once she began channeling it into her beloved weapon. "Be happy guys, you're about to be witness one of the greatest Thunder Drops in history!"

Two shots was all it took to turn her into a cartwheeling mass of electricity and power that couldn't be stopped by the dozens of fireballs that the Grimm lobbed at her.

_**BOOOM! **_

Ren felt the ground beneath his feet vibrate upon Nora's ground impact, and his hair literally stand on end from the electrical discharge. _Fire and lightning, what a combination. _He mused running towards his teammate at full speed upon seeing the various flaming silhouettes approaching her. "Nora, down!" Ren called channeling his Aura into Storm Flower's dual blades.

Nora remained crouched over in as the smoke and ash fell away to reveal a dozen Beowolves and Ursa ready to jump her. If they could have seen the shit-eating grin on her face they would have rethought that move. Ren used her back as a spring board, like a graceful assassin he spun in midair, keeping the trigger on Storm Flower pressed while unleashing the pent up power of his weapons. Bullets and energy slashes tore through the Grimm, almost all of them going through multiple black bodies before stopping. Even if they didn't die they were repulsed long enough for Nora to make a three-hundred and sixty degree spin that completely pulverized their black bodies.

"Up front!" Ren yelled throwing his guns forward like boomerangs. Directly in front of them was a charging Boarbatusk almost the size of a tank. The twirling SMGs hit their mark in the Grimm's eyes both blinding it and enraging it. "Now!"

Taking the lead Nora raised her hammer high ready to deliver a knockout blow to the Boarbatusk as the distance between them shrunk by the second.

But the Boarbatusk had other plans.

Releasing a battle cry it curled itself into a tight flaming ball that sped towards Nora at top speed, and then it exploded right in front of her.

Even if she could withstand the blast, the suddenness and proximity threw Nora back into the arms of her partner. "You okay?" He questioned.

"Who me? Come on Renny, you should know by now it'll take more than that to keep me down!"

Ren was about to reply when he heard his Scroll beeping, digging into his pocket and wiping the sweat from his brow he read the messenger.

Nora knew something had happened when she saw the cool façade her friend had up collapse instantly. "What?"

"We're falling back."

"Fall back? But we're winning!"

_**CRACK! CRACK! **_

The two had a second to look at each other before simultaneously jumping away as the ground beneath them erupted. Both fell into a crouching position with their firearms trained at whatever new enemy was set to emerge from the depths of the earth. In seconds their enemy did emerge, but Ren and Nora were too stunned to open fire on it.

It looked like something out of a horror movie, a gross mixture of rock and metal held together by a disgusting oil-like substance that leaked out of any possible outlets. Standing at just a little over seven feet it easily towered over Ren and Nora, the two teenagers put together barely having half of the strange creature's size. Its four limps resembled tree trunks given their size and shape, five large metal spikes sticking out at the ends acting as fingers that dripped more of the black liquid. Within some of the cracks of the construct they could see orange and red glows that caste eerie light on the rest of the body. Speaking of the body the way it moved was stocky and slow, a given since the creature seemed to be made of the hardest materials it'd been able to find. There wasn't a visible head, at least not one instantly recognizable, only a small hump where the head should have been. That and a very familiar white and red mask.

"Grimm!" Ren screamed squeezing the trigger of Storm Flower.

The first year's bullets easily bounced off the Geist's body as if they were nothing but flower petals. The sound that came from the Geist's arm was a sickening combination of metal sliding and liquid squishing back and forth. Ren saw a bright blue light from the end of the hole in the Grimm's arm, and then the plasma beam shot forth like an arrow.

The long-haired male bit back a hiss of pain feeling the beam graze his right shoulder, it had torn through his Aura and cooked his flesh like raw meat. Falling to his side he saw Nora leap into action with Magnhild held high ready to flatten the unholy golem. "Nora, wait!"

Right before his eyes he saw the Grimm's other hand reconstruct into something resembling an axe then it met Magnhild in a thunderous clinging of steel. The edge of the makeshift weapon began to glow a bright blue that superheated the air around it and Magnhild. Nora cursed realizing somewhere down in the depths of the underground the Geist had gotten its head on some type of plasma weaponry and was now using it against them. Her curses grew louder when she saw the black liquid-like webbing begin to cackle with red lightning.

"Nora, break off now!"

"Yeah, no shit!"

The Geist got off one inhuman roar before the field of plasma exploded from within its body tearing up the ground around it. Its entire body disappeared behind the curtain of red plasma that superheated the air even more than it already was forcing the two teens back even further. Through the plasma wall it lashed out at Ren with its axe arm, the horrid limb extending almost ten feet thanks to the black substance that composed the Geist's original body. Rather than take a chance Ren skillfully rolled to the side letting the blade impale itself in the earth. He was about to go for the extended limb when he felt a chill run up his spine.

Just barely turning his head he saw the row of soldiers taking aim at him, assault rifles and if he had to guess rocket launchers. He didn't have much time to scream before all of them squeezed the triggers of their weapons and he took off running.

Nora screamed when she saw her friend's body go sailing through the air, his Aura shield flashing and breaking as he rolled along the ground like a ball. Looking at the soldiers with righteous fury she fired on all of them hoping it'd be enough cover for her to move in, but in doing so she forgot about the Geist who most certainly hadn't forgotten about her. Unlike Ren she was fully able to dodge the plasma beam that it fired at her, then get in close enough to at least take a whack at the weapon with Magnhild. She swung again only to find her attack repulsed by the toughness of the steel and concrete form of the Geist, the reinforced body it's created by using the resources of the base's underground.

Admittedly Nora didn't have much a plan after she stumbled back from her failed attack, but she wasn't longed to continue the battle at hand.

"Miss Valkyrie, we're pulling out!" A voice from behind her barked. Feeling the familiar cold chill against the back of her neck Nora made no argument as she fell back into the dark void behind her.

The next time she opened her eyes she was lying side by side with Ren, who'd lost nearly all his upper body clothing and was nursing what appeared to be a burned left arm. Looking around she saw a collection of other soldiers and students in similar conditions, some of them worse off. Amongst them saw the brawler and ninja of Team RWBY. "Yang! Blake!"

"Did you see the airship we downed?" Yang asked trotting up to them. Like Nora she was breathing hard, but she wasn't out of breath just yet. "What happened to Ren?"

"Geist," he groaned attempting to heal his wounded arm with his remaining Aura. His head was still ringing from the blast and the constant heat and explosions certainly wasn't helping. "They must have infiltrated the bottom level of the base during the start of the attack. If so then we're at a bigger disadvantage then I originally thought."

"Which is exactly why we're pulling back to the transit station." Professor Foley concluded walking up to the gang of four students. Like his students the dark-haired teacher had taken a beating, his coat was completely gone revealing a white undershirt that had nearly been torn to shreds, no doubt in fending off Grimm. For one reason or another the professor's entire right arm had been hastily bandaged up, Blake alone could smell the burning flesh protruding from the wounded limb but chose to keep quiet about it. Blood continuously trickled down the left side of his head from a nasty wound that looked like it had come from a too close for comfort bladed weapon. "We underestimated the enemy as well as overestimated ourselves, we're falling back and regrouping with everyone else."

"So much for a major offensive." Yang huffed still a little sore from her and Blake's crash landing into the ground. They'd just barely avoided being burned alive by the Nevermore hot on their tail upon escaping the airship.

Holding out his heads Professor Foley concentrated on opening five black portals which lead back to the only safe zone they'd managed to establish. It was clearly causing him pain as his breathing became visibly harder and his knees began to buckle under the pressure.

Cutting through the air like a knife was a feline roar that made almost everyone jump out of their skin.

"Shit, I thought I'd at least be able to keep that thing down long enough for us to escape." Foley bemoaned.

"Keep what down?" Blake asked not liking what she was hearing.

All at once all eyes went to the far left where the mercenaries had made way for a new arrival, a hulking figure that shook the ground like an elephant. For a minute the students believed somehow the enemy had a Goliath with them as extra firepower. As the beast drew closer they found they had something of equal danger, if not worse.

"Oh you've got to be joking." Blake snarled dropping into a crouch like the over-sized feline before her.

The Nemean roared a challenge at the assembled students as it took center stage before them, the mysterious soldiers hanging back with their weapons at the ready in case things went south for the Grimm. Standing at almost five feet with a mane of literal fire the students knew whatever luck they'd been running on might have just official ran out. The ember eyes of the Grimm looked between the students and the black portals which countless wounded were rushing through, in that instant its choice of prey was decided upon.

"Hey, pussy face, over here!" Nora screamed firing a volley of grenades directly into the Nemean's path halting its advance. Meeting its furious roar with a defiant grin Nora unfolded Magnhild and held the weapon in an offensive manner. "That's right you overgrown kitten, why go after the weak and helpless when there's a real challenge waiting for ya' right here?"

"Two challenges." Yang corrected bashing her fists together while stepping beside her orange-haired friend.

As one would have expected the flame-empowered Grimm leaped at the two girls with every intention of ripping them apart limb from limb.

"Professor," Ren called placing his uninjured hand on the older man's shoulder.

"Heh, should have known you'd stay here to look after a senior like me then enjoy your youth like those two." The former thief chuckled.

"I believe I can be of more use here backing you up then fighting with them. Just focus on keeping the portals open." Ren countered, it'd been some time since he'd used his Semblance, now seemed to be the perfect time to use it since it wasn't too hard to figure who the master of the portals was and how open a target he was.

Ever since coming to Beacon Yang and Nora had always dreamed of going up against the fiercest of Grimm the world had to offer. A Nemean stood pretty tall on each of their lists for obvious reasons, managing to kill one would be the first step they took on the path to become the Huntresses they always dreamed of.

Now, fighting a powered up Nemean in the middle of an under siege military base, with the lives of countless people including their teammates and classmates hanging in the balance? It wasn't exactly what either had pictured, but they'd be damned if they missed the opportunity.

The very first thing they noticed off the bat was blunt damage of any kind was not only nullified, it was next to impossible as the second they got close the Nemean's flames would flare to unimaginable levels turning them away. Of course that also meant the lion Grimm could continuously stay on the defensive by lunging and clawing at them, forcing them to fall back further and further.

Yang was done running, glancing back at the others who were still evacuating then back at the Grimm she formulated a plan, one that would have her sister screaming her head off and her other teammates questioning her sanity. "Hey, Garfield! Over here!"

Having just failed at impaling Nora on one of its claws the Nemean turned back to see the gold-haired female baiting it. The animosity emitting from the girl was too much for the Grimm to ignore thus it charged at her full speed.

"Uh, Yang?" Nora called?

"Are you crazy?" Blake shouted from across the battlefield.

"Just trust me!" She shouted as the Nemean pounced on her.

Beneath her the ground shattered when her fists made contact with the Nemean's flaming paws. Yang felt her entire body lock up as all her strength went to keeping her and the Grimm deadlocked in a power struggle she knew in her heart she wasn't going to be able to win without exerting all of her strength. Her muscles were already straining under the insane pressure they were under just keeping the enormous lion at bay, never mind the searing heat that the Grimm projected which left Yang struggling to keep her eyes open through the sweat rapidly pouring down her forehead. The Nemean roared above her showering the upper part of her head with embers, were it not for her already flaming hair she would have had flaming eating away at her sculpt. Just the mere thought of such a thing happened seemed to annoy her, realizing that she kept the image in her head and used it as fuel.

The Nemean roared and raged at the continued resistance of the blonde it was up against, humans weren't supposed to be this tough to defeat, especially ones just barely out of puppetry.

Taking her eyes of her enemy for a second she saw Blake and Nora moving into position behind the Nemean, who remained blissfully unaware of the other two girls. Yang felt herself grin when she caught the tight black fabric of Gambol Shroud wrap around the back legs of the Nemean. "Now!" She shouted to the other two girls pumping all her of her Aura into her arms.

Alone Blake didn't have the power to pull out the flaming Grimm, Nora, on the other hand did. The Nemean let out a startled cry when its back legs were suddenly yanked out leaving it off balanced. Yang took one step forward putting herself directly underneath the Nemean's head. Her right fist rose in an upwards lone directly into the Grimm's chin. Even with fifty percent of the force behind the uppercut absorbed the Nemean still felt a considerable amount of pain from the attack, it doubled when Yang delivered a second uppercut in exactly the same spot.

While the Grimm was stunned Blake jumped on to the back of the Nemean wrapping Gambol Shroud around its expansive neck. By instinct the flames surrounding the Grimm flared, but that was exactly what "Blake" had been waiting for. The doppelgänger glowed bright blue before exploding in a massive cloud of cold air and energy that completely covered the Nemean. Before the sub-zero cloud had settled Nora was charging at towards the now frozen Grimm with Magnhild charged with energy.

Through its frozen eyelids the Nemean saw the incoming girl ready to end its life with one swing of her mighty hammer. What was once indifference changed into roaring anger that reignited the flames that had consumed its body. _"RRAAAAAAAHHHH!" _

All three girls were thrown back by the fiery explosion that not only shattered the frozen prison Blake had created, but broke the ground beneath the Nemean. Where the four-legged beast stood was now nothing but a swirling mass of black and red flames with the Nemean's lion-faced mask being the only recognizable part left.

"Oh come on!" Yang screamed banging her fist against the ground.

It snarled at them before literally blasting off towards the portals which the others were desperately trying to escape through. With the speed and force of a rocket it blasted through one of the portals, burning alive the two upper classmen who'd been about to enter as well as disrupting the portal itself. Over ten feet away Foley cried out in pain at having the mental connection severed, worse, Ren cried out as well feeling the recoil from the Professor's agony. The Nemean continued shooting across the field ramming and burning through anyone that stood in its way before ascending into the sky.

Now well and truly worried Nora fired shot after shot at the Nemean as it began its steady descend back down to the ground, its size steadily growing as it drew closer and closer. The task grew incredibly difficult when she heard the sound of guns blazing behind her followed by the slow cracking of her Aura by waves of bullets. Along with Blake and Yang she hit the ground as the soldiers who'd been docile during the Nemean's rampage now opened fire with gusto on the defenseless soldiers. With everyone still off balance from the Nemean's attack as well as their escape route cut off the mysterious invaders took the opportunity to attack in full force gunning down anyone they could.

_Damn it Foley, get your shit together! Now's not the time to be sitting on your ass! _The dark haired professor barked attempting to clear his head of the pain plaguing it. In one sweeping gaze he knew if he didn't act everyone who'd accompanied him, soldiers and students, were all going to die, either by bullets or by fire. Catching the flaming Nemean in his sights he conjured up his remaining strength to summon up one more portal.

With its rapid speed the Nemean couldn't do anything expect snarl in rage as it vanished into the black void that opened up in front of it. Barely a heartbeat later and another portal opened up, right above the advancing line of mercenaries.

_**BOOOOOM! **_

Not taking any time to mull over his little trick he focused his remaining energy on opening up one last portal. "Everyone through, now!"

Nora grabbed Ren and practically threw him through the dark abyss before jumping in herself. Blake looked between her partner and professor before jumping through as well.

"Yang, go through now!" Professor Foley screamed as it became apparent they were the last two left.

"Sure thing tech, but you're coming with me!" She responded grabbing the older man by the waist and running towards the rapidly shrinking portal. After everything she'd been through she was running on her last reserves of energy, when they got back she'd have to take a break or else she wasn't going to be any good to anyone. Beneath her feet she felt the ground beginning to shake again; this time it didn't feel like an emergence and more like an earthquake. "Oh this day just keeps getting better and better!"

"Heh, and to think it's not even sunset yet." Foley chuckled seconds before the two passed through the final portal which had shrunken to the size of a car door.

For once Yang was happy for the sudden burst of cold that came with jumping through Professor Foley's portals, it was refreshing compared to the hellish heat she'd endured while fighting. Sadly it was only momentary as the feeling ended as soon as it began. Her face kissed the hard cold pavement leaving a slight ringing in her ears.

Voices blurred together in her head and her vision was foggy, figures and colors blurring together preventing her from getting a clear picture. Slowly it all began to clear, when it did she was honestly surprised to find a familiar pair of indigo-colored eyes staring back at her.

"Nice entrance Xiao Long," Cardin Winchester whistled. His normally well-kept hair was disheveled and a blue bandage had been hastily wrapped around his head. "Got to say, as far as badass entrances go that's probably the worst one I've ever seen, you may have actually beaten out Arc."

Despite the aching pain in all parts of her body Yang found herself laughing. "Ah, Cardin, I'm happy to see you too. How was your trip to the train station?"

"…Exciting."

* * *

_**Transit Station Three, 3:22 PM… **_

As shameful as it was Cardin was knocked out when the first of the explosions happened, his head had hit the tiled floor and he was out like a light. Of course when he woke up it only added to his already foul mood. He woke up to the sounds of explosions, shouting, and the smell of blood. The smell is probably what fully jolted his body awake, it was the first sign that something was very, very wrong. As it turned out that was putting it mildly, during his little nap not only had all of the transit stations been attacked, so too had the main base, oh and one set of warheads had been successfully stolen. Needless to say as soon as he had feeling his arms and legs Cardin wanted to find something to hurt.

He had a wide pick of what he wanted to choose from so in the end he decided to go to town.

Everything seemingly faded into a nonstop dance of violence and death that left him wondering if that blow to the head had unscrewed something within him. Either way, it kept him alive and served its part in putting down as many of the unknown attackers as he could. Given that they'd murdered countless soldiers, their own comrades, without a second thought Cardin didn't feel much regret when he painted the inside of the station with their blood and organs. At least none of his enemies made things easy, a great many of them didn't go down without a fight. He was slashed and pounded on, his Aura deflected most of the blows, but he could still feel small amounts of pain cutting through his shield. It didn't matter too much as Cardin was too hyped up on adrenaline and rage to care much for the injuries, only a fatal blow would be enough for that. His vision deteriorated into until all he could see where those firing at him and those no, everything took an extreme backseat so his mind could solely focus on bringing as much pain as possible to his enemies.

Eventually the blissful rampage he'd locked himself into came to an end when he found himself staring down a giant of man carrying a hammer whose head was almost as massive as his upper body. The soldier's visor glowed bright red as if challenging him, for a response Cardin lit his mace and took off keeping his weapon low. His opponent took several heavy steps towards him steadily raising his weapon for a downwards swing he was prepared to parry then follow up with a counter attack. He could almost taste the victory on his lips until he heard the two back-to-back explosions.

_**Boom! Boom! **_

Using the hammer as a crunch the massive soldier fell down, his legs little more than mangled burning pieces of meat. Cardin stopped dead in his tracks confused at what had just happened. Suddenly two single-edged blades came through the chest of the soldier, not a second later and they erupted in white-hot flames further adding to the man's pain. The redhead heard a disgusting gurgling sound then nothing at all as his body went still and the blades slid out. As the armored mercenary collapsed on the floor he was left staring at the annoyed form of Professor Bennet.

"Ever heard of kill stealing?" The teenager jabbed.

"Ever heard of caution? Honestly Cardin, there are some days I think you're trying to get herself killed." She replied sheathing her twin blades on her hips. "Still, impressive work, your father wasn't half the human bulldozer you're becoming."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He grumbled suddenly feeling light headed. Feeling a soft hand on his shoulder he wasn't surprised to find Russel had caught up with him and was now supporting his massive form.

"Dude, when are you ever going to give us a chance to beat your kill count?" he joked softly leaning his partner into a sitting position.

"Well Rus, that'll happen when you guys are actually able to keep up with me." He joked before his face became passive. "It doesn't sound so bad now."

"Well while you were off on your little rampage the rest of us managed to get our shit together and fight back. For now we've got this station back, but we don't know shit about the others. Worse yet, we've lost communications with Fort Lennox and the town." Sky explained.

"So in other words shit's hit the fan?"

"Yep." Professor Bennet admitted. "Hope you've got some steam left over because we're going to need it."

Before the mace-wielding knight could answer his team's resident lance user was on him examining his still bleeding head. It was something of a surprise it hadn't healed and he was still feeling a minor bit of pain from the wound. He supposed that could be chalked up to his tendency to devote all his Aura usage to attacking and defending instead of healing. Not exactly a safe tactic, but it was how he used his Aura. Sky said something about bruising then tore off a piece of cloth he'd been keeping one of his pockets then wrapped it around Cardin's ehead.

"Just don't go bashing your head against the concrete will you?" He offered pulling back. "We all know you're hard headed, but even yours can still crack."

"Noted," he said tugging at the cloth. _At least it'll keep the blood out of my eyes when I'm fighting. _"So Professor, now what?"

The "what" in question was something Cardin should have expected-damage control. The survivors of the attack were split between tending to the wounded with what little resources they had, trying to put out the various fires tearing the station apart, and raising anyone they could on whatever devices they had on hand. Long story short, they were completely and utterly helpless.

"Remind me, why did we take this mission?" Dove bemoaned slumping up against the wall while dozens of people buzzed back and forth in front of them.

"We didn't, our names just came up on the mission register." Russel corrected looking equally disappointed. "Then again, I think something must have gone wrong because there's no way guys like us should have been sent on a mission like this!"

Though he remained silent Cardin agreed, something was definitely wrong with this entire picture. _Freshmen teams are sent to guard Vale's newest and most dangerous weapons because Beacon is conveniently strapped for fresh teams with Grimm attacks and White Fang incursions happening all over the kingdom. The minute transportation starts the entire base gets attacked throwing everything out of whack just long enough for a successful theft of the warheads, not to mention a chance to destroy what is basically one of Vale's toughest forts, and its top weapons lab. _It didn't take a genius to figure out all of them had been played, badly. Despite not having any control over the situation Cardin found himself grinding his teeth the more he thought about it. _Someone at the top should have seen this shit coming! I mean come on, what's there to miss! _

"At least we're safe here." Sky muttered. "From what the techies have managed to pick up the main base is a warzone. Apparently somehow a lava vein opened up setting the whole place on fire, if that weren't enough it's crawling with unknown soldiers and Grimm that are killing everything in sight."

Hearing those words all three boys felt stones drop in their stomachs. Each of them pictured the scenario Sky had just described, and needless to say what they all thought of left them feeling greatly numb.

"Okay, I think I wanna stay here." Russel stated suddenly feeling his knees go limp.

"You realize there's a chance what's tearing apart the base might just make it here too right?" Cardin challenged raising an eyebrow. Under his gaze his partner practically resorted to the fetal position cursing himself for getting out of bed this morning. Seeing him resort to such a shameful display set something off in the knight. "Gah! Screw this!"

"Cardin! Cardin! Where are you going?" Sky called watching him storm away pushing aside anyone who got in his way. "Listen, we know you're frustrated bu-"

"Don't ask me to sit here on my ass!" He screamed with such force it turned more than a few heads. All three of his teammates looked at him shocked at the level of fury brimming on his face. "Dove, get your ass over here, now!"

Snapping to attention the dirty blond followed him with Sky and Russel joining him. Their leader pushed his way through the crowd down endless flights of stairs and through countless response teams struggling to make sense of the situation. In a short matter of minutes the four boys were standing before a smoking rail car that had miraculously survived the firefight. One by one all their heads turned to Cardin whose eyes remained dead set on the rail car.

"Can you hotwire it?" He finally said without looking away.

Dove took in a heavy breath while looking over every each of the rail car. He wasn't liking what he was seeing, but from what he saw he guessed it was still drivable. "You sure you wanna do this boss?"

"Not like we have a choice." He answered.

The sound of clapping made all four teens turn around to find the dark-skinned professor they'd latched themselves to making her way over with a duffle bag slung over one shoulder. "That's the spirit Cardin, I knew you were hard headed but not a coward."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" The Winchester snarled.

"I'm a teacher, what sort of teacher would I be if I let you boys rush off into an obviously dangerous situation?"

"Uh-uh, so what's in the bag?" He responded.

Dropping the dark green bag and unzipping she revealed the collections of explosives and armor she'd salvaged from fight. "Just shut up and take what you think you'll need. We're going to be wading into a warzone so best be prepared."

Wordlessly each teen dug into the bag picking what they wanted from what she had to offer. Her guesses about who went after what seemed rather spot on within the first seconds. Cardin took up as many explosives as he could, latching at least two belts around his waist along with a standard issue sidearm.

"Sure you don't want something a little stronger?"

"Not exactly a gun person if you couldn't tell, besides, as long as I have my mace I'll be fine."

Accepting his answer she looked to the other three boys. Unsurprisingly Russel went for the knives, he seemed to have quite a thing for small blades that didn't slow him down. He didn't take any firearms either, no doubt they'd do nothing but slow him down given his nimble and quick fighting style. That left Dove and Sky, the sole team members who used firearms. While unwilling to abandon their main weapons they did take secondary weapons, a high-powered rifle for Sky and a few pistols for Dove. One by one each of the four stood up, having completely discarded their winter wear leaving all of them in nothing but the armored vests she's procured for each of them. Annuli had to admit, out of the four Cardin looked the best since he was the only one who had any actual muscle on him.

"Dove, I hear you're the tech-savvy one so would you please?" She finally said stepping inside the car.

Once all five of them were inside Dove whipped out his Scroll and got to work bringing what power remained back online. Minute by minute the lights and systems in the rail car came alone, not long afterwards and they felt it slowly beginning to lurch forwards.

"Quite the teammate you've got with you, shame you guys spent the first months of the year being dicks to everyone." As she expected Cardin didn't grace her with an answer, nor did he give her any indication he'd even heard her. "Are you worried about the others?"

"Why the hell should I be?"

"They're your classmates Cardin." She stated.

"Alright fine, I'm just trying to be an upstanding Beacon student! Isn't that the best way to atone for what I did?"

Sky looked to his Mohawk-haired friend who was twirling one of his knives. He was whistling while doing everything in his power to avoid looking at the two. "Uh, Professor, if you're trying to get Cardin to play nice, you're going about it the wrong way. Usually when you try to get him to admit he cares about someone he just gets really grumpy."

"Ah, that just proves he does care about everyone, I knew you had a heart in there!" She laughed slapping the redheaded boy on the back.

Stomping over he grabbed Dove by the straps on his vest and barked at him, "Can't you make this thing go any faster?"

"What, you're not enjoying the train ride?" Russel joked.

Seeing the anger in his leader's eyes Dove tried to come up with an answer that would at least placate the knight before he blew a hole in the car. "U-Uh, n-no-not unless you, w-well, actually sorta, kind of, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Gah! Fine!" He let go of Dove then stomped over to the cracked window and crossed his arms.

"Ah, he' just like his father, always pouting when he has to admit he actually cares about another human being." Annuli chuckled alongside Russel and Sky. "Does he put up this much of a fight when any of you are in danger?"

"Heh, usually he's not as grumpy as this. Perks of being childhood friends." Russel laughed.

"Just out of curiosity how exactly did you guys-"

All at once the entire car lurched upwards as if it'd hit a bump. The breaths of all five Beacon inhabitants caught in their throats as a chill ran down their spines causing their hearts to skip a beat. No sooner had it all started that it ended leaving the car completely silent.

"…Guys." Cardin called from the window. "Problem."

At once they all rushed over to see…something moving through the earth, no, burrowing. Looking closer the group saw multiple objects were moving through the soil, further and further away from the train tracks down south.

"A-Ar-Are…they heading towards the…" Russel stammered.

"Not a lot of other targets available Rus." Cardin growled. _Something's happening in town, something that's causing a big enough panic the Grimm are ignoring us and going straight for the town. _"Dove, make this thing go faster. I don't care what you have to do, just do it."

_**RRAAAAAAAHHHHH! **_

"Beowolf, a big one by the sounds of it." Annuli confirmed heading to the back of the car with Sky following behind her.

Once they got to the back they found it wasn't just one Beowolf, others had joined the first's call creating in a small pack now racing down the railroad towards them.

"How the hell did they make it onto the track!?" Sky screamed loading both his weapons.

"Somewhere along the way a hole must have been blown in the fences. Dove, take this thing up to top speed!"

"I'm doing that, but I can't promise anyone it'll be a smooth ride!"

"Doesn't matter!" Sky yelled back already looking down the scope of his halberd and firing when he saw the chance.

Unsheathing one of her swords she kneeled down holding the blade in a reverse grip with one hand on the hilt. "Boys, might want to cover your ears!" The second her scimitar-like blade touched the railway tracks sparks exploded in all directions. Sky wisely withdrew from her side knowing he was no longer needed. Her Semblance trailed down from the blade into the metal railway turning the hard steel bright red. The Grimm pursuing them didn't pay the change any sort of mind until the rail ways spontaneously combusted into bright red flames spewing debris in all directions. Despite the obvious danger the Grimm pack continued coming at the rail car, hell bent on getting aboard and ripping all of them to shreds. On the positive side the sudden string of explosions actually were propelling the car forward, frightening fast.

"Okay, this is a little faster than I wanted!" Russel screamed grabbing onto the walls as the car's speed increased thanks to the string of explosions behind them.

"Shut up Russel!" Sky barked, his face was starting to look a tad bit green.

The black bodies of the Grimm disappeared in the explosive clouds, only to be replaced by new ones who continuously strode forward with flames still licking at their bodies. They didn't get far given their mutilated bodies; that would have been fine if it were for the fact the entire fiasco was attracting more Grimm from out of the surrounding forest. Annuli knew she needed to do something fast before things took a turn for the worse.

'_GGAARRRAAAAWWWWWHHH!" _

"Shit," She dead panned.

Bursting through the fire and smoke was Cretan, perhaps one on the crisp of becoming an Alpha given its hulking size and bulk. Headless it charged through the explosions in a straight path towards the rail car, its amber eyes all but screaming its intent to kill them all.

"Need some help Professor?"

Annuli supposed this was her karma for making fun of the second youngest Winchester child earlier. "Maybe," she chuckled. "You think you can take this thing down?"

Kneeling beside her Cardin raising his mace, which was now glowing with bright red energy from its Dust crystal core. "Guys, hold on to something!"

When Cardin added his mace to the fray the explosion resembled that of an artillery shell exploding. The first effect was a shockwave of crimson energy traveling along the red rail way until it reached the Cretan, the bull-like Grimm completely disappeared in an ear-popping explosion that shook the ground and kicked up monstrous amounts of debris in all directions. The second effect was it propelling the rail car forwards like a rocket, all of the inhabitants flew in the opposite direction due to the sudden force. Metal screeching and tearing echoed in their ears followed by the clanging that came with steel bending and breaking.

"CARDIN, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?" Sky screamed now fully terrified.

"SHUT UP AND GET YOUR AURA UP!"

Almost twenty feet away at the central station the surviving soldiers who'd been posted near the railway pointed in awe at what appeared to be a flying railway car. Quickly enough they realized it was coming at them with enough speed to serve as a battering ram and promptly fell back screaming at each other to take cover.

With all the force of a wrecking ball the car slammed into the station, tearing through the tracks into the main floor until it finally came to a stop. The thick smell of burning metal and rubber premating the station along with the sick distorted sound of metal bending and breaking.

_**CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! **_

One of the sides of the rail car fell open and out staggered a battered and very pissed off Cardin Winchester, his mace smoking from overuse and its Dust crystal half-depleted. Utterly stunned the soldiers kept their distance unsure how to respond or if the new arrival was even an ally. Cardin for his part didn't care as he turned back to the car where he heard the tired moans of his companions. He was about to call out to them when he felt a sudden shift in the air around him. Snapping his head to the front he saw a black portal open and spit out Yang Xiao Long and Professor Foley, both of them looking almost as bad as he and his team did when the firefight at Station Three broke out, maybe a little worse.

Walking up closer he saw Yang's hair was starting to lose its blaze-like luster, a sure sign the brawler was approaching the end of her Aura reserves. "Nice entrance Xiao Long," He whistled Got to say, as far as badass entrances go that's probably the worst one I've ever seen, you may have actually beaten out Arc."

He didn't know why but he was happy she was at least able to smile and laugh a little at his jab. "Ah, Cardin, I'm happy to see you too. How was your trip to Station Three?"

Recalling everything he and his teammates had just experienced within the last ten minutes Cardin could only find one word to describe it all. "…Exciting."

* * *

_**Front of the Central Station, 3:53…**_

Cardin didn't know how he ended up fighting side-by-side with Pyrrha Nikos of all people, if you asked him he'd say it was God's way of screwing with him. He thought he'd been screwed with enough today. While he didn't particularly hate her he did still have something of a grudge against her for completely humiliating his entire team in P.E.

He supposed saving her life when a mercenary was about to take her head off could count as the first step to him getting over that.

By reflect Miló slid into its rifle form as Pyrrha spun around to face her next opponent, the last breaths leaving the Ursa she'd just impaled through the chest then nearly bisected. When she saw Cardin standing over the body of one of the flaming soldiers holding his bloodied mace she did a double take. "C-Cardin, w-when?"

"Long story short, we're the cavalry, from the looks of things you guys need it." Swinging his mace he flicked off all the blood it'd accumulated on his way up to the front of the central transit station. It was just like the mess he'd left behind at the third transit station, only with a hell of a lot more fire. Deducing the stronghold of the survivors the mercenaries had sent wave after wave at the central station, humans and Grimm, a good chunk of them coated in burning flames that turned the ground they walked on into smoldering patches of rock and dirt. Fighting his way up to the forefront where Beacon's undefeated Spartan was had been a hassle, but one well worth the trouble. Before them stood legions of flaming humans and Grimm calling for their blood. "If you're worried about your partner then fall back."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb here, we need you focused and ready!" he barked back turning to her with fire in his voice. "You're worried about him, but in case you haven't noticed we've got bigger problems on our hands!"

There was a part of Pyrrha that did want to argue, but her logical side stepped in and took control keeping her mouth shut. Standing side by side with the boy who'd tormented her partner she reloaded her rifle. "You're right, I am worried."

"If Rose is with him then he should be fine."

"Is that you way of trying to cheer me up?"

"No, it's my way of telling you to get your head in the game so we all of us don't end up dying." He shot back not wanting her to get the wrong idea.

Beneath the feet of the two redheaded students the ground began to shake again, violent tremors nearly knocking them and everyone else off their feet. Hundreds of cracks appeared in the concrete, some of which had steam and ash exploding from them deeply shocking the defenders. Cardin and Pyrrha looked at each other then at the ground.

"C-Cardin?" She muttered seeing the truly fearfully expression plastered over the knight's face.

"Heat, there's a whole lot of heat-"

_**BOOOOOM! **_

Teeth chattering and faces white they both turned to see a solid eruption of fire and lava jetting up in the far distance. The resulting heat blast that washed over the base seemingly burned all the air out of their lungs leaving them, sweating, frozen statues basking in the eruption's ominous glow.

"R-Ruby…Jaune…"

Cardin heard fear in her voice, unfiltered fear that made his heart sink deeper into his stomach. Placing his hand against the ground he could actually feel the transfer of heat moving through the underground; it left him with a multitude of questions he wasn't sure he wanted answers to. One of the most prominent ones being exactly what in the holy hell had caused an eruption that powerful. Given Pyrrha's reaction Jaune and Ruby had been sent out in that direction. That assumption led Cardin Winchester to realize for the first time in his life he was actually scared for the life of Jaune Arc.

_**To Be Continued…**_


	50. Chapter 50: Hellfire Pt3

**Ah, Chapter 50, feels like such a milestone. I'll save the author's notes for the end. **

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

**Chapter 50-Hellfire Pt.3 **

_**Far right of the Airfield, 3:39…**_

Almost the second they touched down things for Ruby and Jaune's group went horribly wrong. While the super storm conjured up by Team IONC's knights had quelled the flames the enemy had simply carried out as if nothing had happened, covering the lost time in a frighteningly efficient manner. They came in expecting to find the enemy in disarray, instead they found them caring on as if the superstorm was nothing but a passing shower they could work through.

Jaune a sea of cold red eyes stare back at them before the dozens of rifles exploded at once in a unified chorus of death. Everything he'd been thinking of prior to that moment went out the window as survival took center stage. Catching sight of Ruby out of the corner of his eye he grabbed her and threw her body down to the ground along with his. The sudden maneuver quickly proved to be a life-saver as hundreds upon hundreds of bullets and plasma bolts ripped through the air directly into the soldiers who'd been too slow to react. Jaune did all he could to block out the sound of the following massacre without moving his body, not for the first time he wished Ren were with them as his Semblance would have been a major help in a situation like this. It might have given him and Ruby a better chance at survival.

The next thirty seconds felt like something out of a nightmare for Ruby, a continuous chorus of horrified screaming and tearing accompanied by the foul stench of blood. Not even Aemon Strip had been this bad, probably because she wasn't in the thick of what was quickly becoming a one-sided slaughter. She could feel her nails digging into the ground out of simple fear and longing for the insanity to end. What broke her out of the fear-induced paralysis was the howl of a Beowolf, by the sound of it, an Alpha. Finding the courage to peek her eyes open saw approaching figure, a hulking werewolf monstrosity with a body encased in hellish flames. There was a bright burst then the next thing she knew the Grimm was literally a fireball heading straight for them. "Jaune!" Roughly pushing the blond away while rolling to the side with Crescent Rose unfolding in her arms she readied herself for the coming clash. Sensing her fear the Beowolf went to her, its flaming jaws practically elongating to the point they seemed ready to swallow her whole.

Ruby sprung upwards when she knew the space between her and the Beowolf was less than five feet, more than enough for her to feel the unholy heat on the beast's face. Crescent Rose's blade rose in an upwards arc with insane speed with a thin red glow surrounding the blade's tip.

_**CLANG! **_

Ruby was thrown back by the collision, luckily her Aura was there to absorb most of the shockwave and eventually impact. Since this wasn't the first time something like this had happened she was able to get her footing back quickly enough. The Beowolf was knocked back to its original form by the collision, and like her it'd readied itself for a counter attack. The Beowolf and reaper locked eyes for a brief second then swung their respective weapons at each other. Sparks and embers erupted form the repeated clashes between the claws and scythe as both fighters fought to gain the advantage over each other. In physical strength the Beowolf had Ruby outmatched, but she was faster.

Red flames coiled around the Beowolf's claws enlarging them to gigantic sizes. Seeing her chance Ruby crouched then burst forth shifting her scythe into its polearm form. With so little distance between them it took a second for the red and black blade to completely run through the Grimm, but it wasn't enough to kill it. In response to the wound the Alpha Beowolf fueled more strength into the flames surrounding its black body. Ruby knew some of her clothes were beginning to catch fire, or at least show signs of it. With a quick turn of her hands Crescent Rose flipped from vertical to sideways, with the explosion of the gun barrel the blade returned to its original scythe form as it tore through the Beowolf's rib cage. An ear-splitting howl of agony left the Grimm's flaming jaws; however, Ruby paid it no mind. Twirling the scythe was more she brought it down on top of the Beowolf's right shoulder, then pulled the trigger again nearly splitting the Grimm in two with her attack.

The Beowolf looked at her with demonic fury promising her a pain on an unimaginable scale. Still wounded and cut up it charged her with fire bursting from all of its gaping wounds.

The redhead was out of options in that instant, she knew if she attacked she'd set the Grimm off like a bomb and more than likely kill herself in the resulting explosion, Aura or no Aura. A voice in her head screamed to run, and that's exactly what she did. Turning on her heel she found a familiar blond frantically approaching her. They practically slammed into each other in seconds, Jaune took her into his arms then turned so his shield protectively stood in front of them.

The young Arc's left arm screamed in pain when the Grimm slammed against it with all its force, and then howled in pure agony when it finally detonated. The team leaders felt their teeth rattle as the explosion threw both of them back a considerable distance.

Once the two teenagers stopped rolling the transparent golden ball of light protecting them flickered then vanished leaving them huffing and buffing on the ground.

Despite the ringing in her head and throbbing in her arms and shoulders Ruby felt a thank you was an order, "N-Nice save, didn't know your Semblance was that go-good."

Jaune would have said something in return if he wasn't alerted to a new danger via the hulking shadow that fell over them. Looking up both were greeted to the sight of a giant of a man carrying what looked to be a giant war axe, oh, and just like the Beowolf his entire body was covered in a layer of seething flames just like the Beowolf. Mentally cursing Jaune summoned forth the golden shield as the axe fell, its burning blade causing cracks to form in the light-composed barrier. When the mercenary hefted the axe back up for another swing Ruby sprang into action brandishing Crescent Rose with all the strength she could muster. As Jaune scrambled to his feet Ruby pressed her attack using her superior speed to outmaneuver her opponent who kept a cool head and counterattacked when he saw a hole in the reaper's defenses.

Watching the clash Jaune was torn between wanting to help and simply watching. A part of him knew if he did step in he'd do more harm than good, at best, another part of him refused to let Ruby continue fighting alone. The debate ended almost as quickly as it began when he felt a tingle run down his spine, an all-too familiar sign danger had found him again. Instinctively raising his shield as he spun to the left his arm once again cried out in pain when something heavy and hot bounced off his shield. Another blow came and by some miracle he blocked that one, and then one the one after it. Peering out from the corners of his shield Jaune saw another flaming soldier had found him, this one wielding a flaming broadsword that would easily split him in half if he wasn't careful enough. Summoning up what little courage he had Jaune waited until the last second to dodge the next swing, a horizontal slash that would have taken his head off. Using the skills taught to him he lunged at the exposed left side of his opponent. Crocea Mors' blade, though, never made contact with the enemy as the flames surrounding the attacker exploded outwards blinding Jaune as well as pushing him away. Behind his mask the soldier snarled then delivered a vicious knee strike to the blonde's face.

Falling onto his back Jaune had no time to mourn his broken noise or even reset it. The soldier angled his flaming sword directly above his chest then brought the weapon down. Rolling to the side Jaune was treated to the feeling of flames licking at his Aura-protected back sending hot waves of terror up his spine. That terror fueled his next actions: jumping to his feet, reversing his grip on his sword, and lastly thrusting it straight through the forearm of the mercenary. The flames surrounding the man's arms bit at Jaune's Aura, but he held out in swinging his shield arm around to smack the soldier in the head.

The mercenary and student broke apart, both of them equally stunned by the exchange of blows that just took place. Behind the visor-like helmet Jaune could feel the mercenary's hatred of his skyrocket as blood trailed down his torn forearm, Jaune's attack had cut so deep the left arm was practically useless from the elbow down. Feeling the malice bleed off the soldier Jaune readied himself for the next round by raising his shield and sword in a defensive position.

_**CRAAAACK! **_

Jaune and the mercenary sensed the presence of a new arrival to the battle, but only one of them knew right off the bat what it was.

Jaune wasn't sure he'd ever be able to fully purge the image of what happened next out of his mind. One minute he was staring at the mercenary he was about to do battle with, and the next his face was splattered with his blood and guts, all of it a sort of steaming hot that normally would have had him hissing in pain. The loud splattering of organs and blood on the ground followed by the loud thump shocked him out of the short-lived stupor. Turning to his right he saw the mercenary's killer, and immediately wished he could un-see it.

The ant was almost as big as he was, but it was bulkier with more muscle that as he just was strong enough to rip through a man in armor like a tank shell. Blood and intestines sled off the sleek black carapace of the monster ant, and its white mask and boney joints were stained bright red. The pincers of the beast angrily snapped as Jaune's paralyzed form fell into the line of its orange beady eyes.

Jaune knew what this creature was called, but the name escaped him, not that it mattered since the insectoid Grimm was about to kill him. Murder flashed in the eyes of the Grimm before it launched itself at him, the flash was exactly what was needed for Jaune to realize he had to act. A golden barrier appeared in front of his shield seconds before the ant slammed against it with all its might, Jaune felt the physical and mental pushback from the impact, but he held strong against it. The ant stumbled back surprised but not deterred from its attack. Lunging at Jaune with its pincers the blond side stepped then swung downwards with Crocea Mors' sword.

_**CLANG! **_

"Oh come on! You've got to be kidding me!"

Again, the shield saved his life when the ant swung its body around and lunged at Jaune with its full body. This time the Grimm dug its hairy legs into the earth and pushed against Jaune attempting to completely run him over. Anger and fear swirled within the Arc as he stared into the soulless black eyes of the Grimm, _I AM NOT GOING TO DIE HERE! I AM NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!_ The golden barrier glowed brighter and hotter causing the ant to chirp in protest. A brilliant flash proceeded the over-sized ant literally flying back dozens of feet into a burning fire finally giving Jaune some breathing room. As the light faded the Arc collapsed to his knees exhausted and sweating from all parts of his body. "This…isn't going to get me anywhere." He snarled looking at the nicked longsword that had been his family heirloom. Frantically his eyes looked around for a new weapon, one that would actually give him a fighting chance. Soon enough his eyes fell on the top half remains of the soldier the ant had ruthlessly bisected. The gleam of the broadsword in the flames might as well have been a light from God himself.

The monster ant saw the human diving for the corpse and sprang into action. Using speed that belayed its bulky body the Grimm was upon the teenager ready to tear him apart. Jaune gripped the blade with all his strength and swung pushing all his Aura into the sword.

Instead of human flesh what the ant Grimm got was a red-hot sword encased in fiery light cutting straight though its head down to its abdomen. All the speed it'd built up suddenly turned against it as the blade nearly split it in two. Its legs twitched for a second before going still on top the blond knight. Since they were so close Jaune was treated to the disgusting smell of blood and dirt which canvased the Grimm's dirty body from head to ugly toe. Vomit built up in his throat and nearly exploded out his mouth, but he held it all back through sheer will knowing barfing wasn't going to keep him alive. Before his frantic eyes the Grimm's body dissolve into black mist leaving behind a broken mask and bone fragments. The brief moment of happiness allowed Jaune to let his head down and breath out the air he'd been holding in. The broadsword tumbled out of his hands onto his side while his fingers trembled from the stress and fried nerves.

_**THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK **_

His sky-blue eyes went wide at the vibrations that traveled beneath his head and continued onwards, turning his head he saw a massive object moving through the ground on a warpath towards Ruby. "RUBY!" Remembering Nora he tried replicate the same golden barrier that had protected the orange-haired Valkyrie from the Kamakiri's blades. The pull in his gut was stronger and the surge in power lit his already fried nerves.

The sound of her voice being called was enough to get the redhead to turn from the enemy she'd been fighting. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the ground to her right explode outwards revealing a human-sized ant with pincers angrily snapping at her. "EEK!" Before she could respond a golden dome appeared around RUby, separating her from the chaos around her. The ant bounced off the barrier with a metallic clang giving Ruby a five-second window of opportunity; she took it in a heartbeat.

_**BANG! **_

As the decapitated body of the ant fell down several more burst up surrounding Ruby, but the reaper was ready for them.

"RAAAH!" She screamed swinging Crescent Rose in a beautiful three-hundred sixty degree spin that perfectly bisected each of the ants. As she came to a stop she saw the spinning form of an Ursa coming at her hard and fast.

_**THUNK! **_

Momentarily stunned by the golden wall before it the Ursa was too slow to react to the high-powered rifle barrel now aimed at its head. With a pull of the trigger the empowered Grimm lost its head just as the monster ant had early.

It wasn't until Jaune stumbled to her side did Ruby feel her heart even return to a normal pace of beating. Not for the first time she could actually feel the trembling in her arms, a combination of excitement and fear that was keeping her combat senses going at max efficiency. From the looks of things the same could be said for Jaune. "W-Was this what Ryswell was like?" It was a surprise to her that her voice managed to work.

"No, this is worse." Actually, it really was. In Ryswell Jaune was at least alone, a type of dark relief compared to what he was experiencing now: the dying screams of men and women fighting a battle they'd already lost, the fear of a national crisis hanging over his head, his teammates and friends being God knows where in this mess, actual human enemies who didn't bat an eye at killing teenagers, and even more Grimm. Compared to this Jaune actually wished he was back in Ryswell, alone and scared in a forest surrounded by Grimm who'd somehow magically gained the ability to Flame-On. Scared eyes flickering to the reaper Jaune choked out the next few words, "At least this time I've got you with me so it's not so bad."

It was cliché and stupid, yet the reaper he'd known for several laughed, a purifying sound that put his doubts to rest. For a moment Jaune actually felt he wasn't sitting in the bowls of hell, instead he was back at Beacon laughing with the friends he'd made.

And with the shaking of the ground beneath them the moment of clam ended bringing the two back to harsh reality. Hundreds of cracks opened in the ground moving the earth apart while knocking off balance anything that was standing on the ground. In the distance what buildings remained began to crumble inwards as their last foundations gave out reducing them into collapsing piles of rubble. Sulfur and steam exploded from the cracks forcing everyone to cover their eyes for fear of severe or permanent damage to their eyes. Their lungs came under attack next as the smog happily rushed through any exposed openings sending the survivors into coughing and hazing fits.

Beside him Ruby was a hot mess of matted hair, sweat, burnt clothes, and barely contained fear. It was clear Jaune was her one and only anchor as she clung to him as if her life depended on it, given the worsening situation that wasn't exactly a stretch to say. _She won't last much longer like this! _Stabbing his stolen sword into the ground Jaune threw both his arms around Ruby and whispered to her to hold on just as his parents and elder siblings had done when he was scared. The memories flowed into his head like water from a stream pushing out the fear and panic that had previously consumed him.

"_It'll be okay Jaune, it'll be okay." _

"Ruby, don't let go of me."

"Huh?"

"Just don't let go! Don't look up! Just focus on me!"

Miraculously she did as he asked and buried her head in his chest, it was amazing how small she was compared to his tall and lanky form. Subconsciously Jaune's breathing began to return to a steady and controlled pace and his thundering heart began to calm. Around the two teenagers star-like light rose up from the ground and encircled them like a protective cocoon, solidifying into golden hard light. Everything from the ashes to the fire completely bounced off the barrier leaving the blond and redhead safe within as the world around them took on the characteristics of a burning wasteland. Neither of them could see this as they'd shut their eyes in an attempt to wait out the calamity.

Behind them, hundreds of feet away the radio tower they were sent to capture disappeared in an explosive eruption of fire and magma that spiraled upwards like a tornado. The reinforced metal immediately liquefied under the intense heat. Within seconds the outline of the building vanished completely behind the red and orange twister which saturated the entire vicinity with heat so great onlookers felt as if they'd wondered into the heart of a volcano.

Time passed, on how was anyone one's guess, but eventually the twister dispersed. When it did nothing remained of the radio tower or anything within its vicinity, just a red-rimmed hole in the earth that led downwards into darkness. Beyond it, stretching all the way to the airfield the ground had been upturned and torn apart as if some mad deity had taken a hammer and smashed it up in a fit of rage. Survivors moaned and groaned as they came to finding the entire landscape had changed completely out of the blue.

Sensing the danger had passed Jaune's subconscious mind dropped the barrier letting the sullied air rush back into the lungs of the two teens.

"J-J-Ja…J…Jaune?" Ruby's terrified voice poked in his ears.

"Y-Ye-Yeah, I-I'm here…" Slowly he pulled away from her, his body shaking just as much as hers' was. It wasn't exactly easy as fear kept her clinging to his shoulders even as he tried to stand up. That was a problem given his legs had practically liquefied just like the radio tower. "A-Are you okay?"

For an answer all he got was a stunned nod. Still holding her in his arms the young knight rose to his feet, half-needing Ruby's support to do so. Their mouths went agape as they took in the near magically change in landscape: the surrounding area no longer looked like a military base but a flaming wasteland with pieces of wreckage sticking out in certain places. Like before fires were everywhere only now they were much larger than before creating visible updrafts. Craters and fissures stretched out for miles in all directions. There was no sign of any organized force like the base's occupants, the mercenaries or even the Grimm. If Jaune had to guess odds were the latter two were busy picking off survivors.

With that realization he steeled his legs and gripped Ruby's hands. "We're falling back to the central station."

"H-Huh?"

"Ruby, if we stay here we're going to get surrounded and killed! There's nothing left so we gotta move now!" It surprised him how forcefully his voice was and how his body had begun to move while he was speaking. "We're out of our league here! The best option we have right now is heading back to base and holding out there until help can arrive, warheads or not!"

Ruby didn't really argue with him as he guided them over upturned plateaus and over smoking fissures, not that she could have if she wanted to. From the minute they exited through the portal their mission was a failure, all they'd done was waste life and manpower. If they stayed all they'd be doing was ensuring this would be the place they'd die. The entire area now reeked of death meaning it wouldn't be long before the Grimm were swarming the place killing anyone foolish enough to be caught dead hanging around.

"J-Jaune, d-do you even know which way to go?" She finally exclaimed.

"Close enough idea," He answered looking down at his Scroll with focused eyes and a straight frown. "We at least have to get out of the open. At the rate this is going the fortress wall won't be able to keep all the Grimm in the forest out, odds are they're probably already at the walls as right now."

"You're right about that one! The Grimm are at the walls, in a matter of minutes they'll break through and this fortress really will become hell! Don't worry though, for you guys the Grimm won't be an issue!"

The hearts of the teenagers stopped dead moments before a solid wall of fire cut off their pathway forcing them to come to a stop. Seemingly reaching into the clouds the wall caste an orange-red light on the two of them who stared at it in wide-eyed horror. With their minds temporarily scrambled they barely heard the footsteps approaching them until the wall of flames receded until it was no more than twenty feet high, a fence that kept them from escaping. Slowly the two turned around to face the newcomer.

With a body that would put most athletes to shame and scars signifying a Huntsman's life Ruby and Jaune realized their luck had officially run out. Never mind the twin scythes the man carried in each of his hands whose blades were still glowing bright red, what caught their attention was the carefree smile he wore on his face. A look that they'd seen on dangerous criminals such as Roman Torchwick and a few White Fang officials-men who thrived on causing chaos and destruction.

Coming to a stop ten feet from them Ruby took in all of his features, silently praying his hypothesis was wrong. A deeply-toned body covered with scars and from the looks of things, a crossed out tattoo on his right arm while myriad of flames covered his left bicep. The weapons he brandished in his gloved hands were the same model as her Crescent Rose, high powered sniper rifles combined with scythes. Finally she took in the hair, a coal-like black that was tied in a short pony tail that bellowed in the ever present wind. His face was covered by a rather thin but well-cut beard. In the light caste by the surrounding fire his eyes looked to be orange-red, miniature embers in a human skull. All the signs were there from the appearance down to the weapons confirming her worst fears. "Y…Y…Y…Yo…Yo…You're….You're…You're…" she stammered out feeling what strength she had flee her body. Briefly looking back at the wall of flames she felt the desire to test her luck to see if she could run straight through the wall dragging Jaune with her and just keep running.

The mysterious man seemed to take amusement at Ruby's fear, while she was examining him he was busy doing the same to her. "Hm, redhead, gothic clothing, babyish face, ah, and that scythe! You're Summer Rose's little girl, Ruby! Nice to finally meet ya'!"

Surprised as he was Jaune didn't lower his guard. "You know this guy Ruby?"

Her face was a mixture of fear and astonishment. "H-H-H-He's…he's…V-Ves-"

"Vesuvius Tect," The man spoke up smiling. "Former leader of Team VINE of Mistral, top enforcer for PESTILENCE Arms and Enforcement." Hosting one of the scythes on top his shoulders his smile fell a little as he watched the dread fully manifest on the faces of the Beacon students. "It's nothing personal, but Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, I've got orders to bring you two in."

* * *

_**Weapons Lab B, 4:12 PM…**_

"You felt that too right?" Izaak questioned.

"Yes Izaak, I did, now shut up and let me focus."

"The second radio tower's gone Olivia." This time she didn't answer him, not that there was a need to. If he kept talking all he would have done was disrupt Olivia's concentration. Besides, he had his own problems to focus on. Strange as it was the sound of blood dripping down Stórrdetta's blades was actually soothing to him; in the past some people had said that meant he wasn't entirely stable if he found the sound of blood dripping from a weapon to be relaxing.

Izaak never argued with them because he knew somewhere deep down they were right. A normal person didn't find that soothing, and they didn't find single-handedly killing an estimated thirty people in less than twenty-five minutes to be more annoying than anything.

They barged into the weapons lab shooting at everything that moved, and by the time they found a working terminal for Olivia and the surviving technicians to jack into half of the forces they'd came in with were dead. Fast forward ten minutes later and Izaak and Olivia were probably the last Beacon students left alive, freshmen or not. He'd watched them die with silent eyes and a straight frown, his emotions kept in check by a tight restraint. Instead of breaking down or lashing out in anger he focused his efforts on cutting down anything that approached his teammate, be it human, Grimm, or machine. It'd served him well as evident by the bloody wasteland he'd created between the towering terminal Olivia was furiously hacking and the warzone beyond them. Above their heads the lights continuously flickered on and off as the ceiling rocked every five seconds and the ground which they stood on trembled almost nonstop.

_Odds are they've already gotten everything they came for, now they're just freelance shopping. _The Viking thought taking in the myriad of sounds and smells his senses were feeding him. Any minute he was expecting either the ceiling to cave in on them or the floor to give out and collapse down into an endless abyss, either way Izaak knew all they were doing was wasting time. "That terminal's not cutting it is it?"

"…No. Almost all of the data's already been copied and there's a virus working its way through the system." Olivia's quiet yet furious voice answered back causing her coworkers to flinch rather badly.

"Then why the hell are we still here?" He looked to the few remaining soldier's he'd held the line with. Unlike him they were well past their breaking point and it showed on their faces. "Look I'm not trying to be a cow-"

It looked like the floor was going to give out before the ceiling did as evident by the increased tremors rocking the entire area. All the fighting came to an instant stop as all around them the metal walls bent and shuddered as if they were being bent by pure force. There was another power surge before all the lights went out completely leaving the entire populace submerged in utter darkness.

"We're leaving!" Which Olivia's commanding voice cut through like a knife through butter.

As soon as the words had exited her mouth the emergency power came back on casting the entire floor in a bright red glow. The mercenaries went back to firing while everyone else made a mad break for cover.

Izaak planted his axe into the ground and threw up the widest gravity shield he could muster without straining himself. "I take it the terminal's out of power?" He called to his teammate.

"Yes, and soon the emergency power's going to go out." Olivia stated placing her palms together causing a thin outlying of green Aura to form around her body. "Everyone gather around me!"

In all they were only about ten people left not counting the two students. While the others huddled around Olivia interconnecting themselves Izaak looked back out at the approaching enemy, under the glow of the emergency lights they resembled metal demons whose only goal was the complete annihilation of anything they deemed the opposition.

"Izaak! Get your ass over here, I'm gonna need your strength if we're going to make it to the front!"

Without missing a beat Izaak joined in the circle transferring his Aura through the soldiers directly into Olivia. Though his primal senses were screaming for him to turn around and face the enemy rapidly approaching them he focused on strengthening his teammate. He saw and felt Olivia's Aura flare up to the point it caused a sizable burst of air to explode outwards. Izaak felt the wind rush through his nostrils and fill his lungs, and then the sudden burst of light nearly blinded him as soon as the feeling settled in his stomach.

Shocked and exhausted gasps left everyone's mouths as they got a fistful of smog-coated air. Even Olivia was not immune as she fell to her knees coughing up some bodily fluids while at the same time fighting off the slight nausea that came with teleporting such a distance and carrying so many people with her. It was going to take her a minute or two to get her strength back before she can make another jump back to the central station.

Izaak knew they didn't have that minute since the ground beneath them was still shaking, more violently now then it was than when they were inside. Planting his axe down as an anchor he turned back to the weapons lab, a set of three, rectangular buildings that had each been set ablaze and breaking apart by the second. Any second he was fully expecting one of them to give out and collapse or outright explode showering the area with debris. A heartbeat leader and such a thing occurred, just not in the way he expected.

The Viking's enhanced ears picked up the creaking, insectoid creaking that made his skin crawl and his hair stand on end. In seconds it was loud enough for everyone to hear it and stop what they were doing to stare in awe at the far left building. A shrill roar proceeded the roof exploding outwards as a gigantic red figure outstretched itself towards the sky howling in unholy rage. What was eye-catching were the pair of scimitar-like blades attached to the mouth, both of them roughly the size of two school buses put together, and no doubt possessing the strength needed to cut through them as well. Two whip-like appendages wildly flailed out tracing fiery lines across the blackened sky. The blades snapped and the Grimm roared again, a disgusting gurgled sound that was enough to make the blood of trained soldiers run cold. The squirmed and twisted as if it were still trying to pull itself out of the hole it'd dug, or it was trying to decide where to attack.

When it turned Izaak's group caught a glimpse of three of the Gigadeath's ember-like eyes. Izaak himself felt a lot of the fight leave him when the Alpha Grimm's titanic shadow fell over him turning him into an ant. Thin lines of fire traced the Grimm's underbelly, usually it's only constant weak spot if one every thought of slaying a Gigadeath. Now if one could fashion such a blade they more than likely would have gotten a flamethrower-like blast to the face. Its multiple legs twitched and clawed at the air longing for the hard touch of the ground.

There was another screech before the Alpha Gigadeath turned its head due south, a low chirp continuously coming from its lips. Unseen thoughts passed through the flaming Grimm's head as it gave another shriek then dove downwards creating yet another tremor that shook one half of the base. Even from miles away the group could hear the sounds of earth being dug up and torn apart.

"Wh-Wh…Where…th-the hell's it going?" One of the soldiers asked in a visibly frightened voice.

"To Cichorium." Olivia's tight voice answered. "It's going to Cichorium either because there's a greater amount of negativity down there or something's directing it to go there."

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **_

Grabbing Stórrdetta Izaak fired off four Aura slashes that flew across the ground directly into the oncoming fireballs that were headed straight for his group. The resulting explosions obscured the sight of the lab's front entrance which he knew had been blown clean open. Through the smoke he saw several red dots forming. "Everyone down!"

This time the fireballs came in too fast for him to stop, he heard two of them make impact as evident by the pain-filled screaming that assaulted his ears while the rest zoomed onward. After that he saw another red object zooming towards him, this one larger and faster than a fireball. By instinct he rolled to the side out of the object's way. Izaak heard the sound of a blade cutting through air and flesh followed by more screaming. Coming up out of his roll he saw single ember-like eye fall on him before the mysterious object zoomed towards him raising a sword-shaped mass of flames overhead. Growling low in this throat Izaak threw up Stórrdetta resulting in a nail-biting clash of metal that forced Izaak to steel his legs least he be overpowered. Up close he now had a better look at his new enemy: a Geist-controlled flaming Paladin mech.

The Grimm's putrid black essence had seeped into every joint of the Paladin's mechanized body turning it into a demonic puppet for it to control as it saw fit. In the center of the body where the cockpit was Izaak saw the Grimm mask staring back at him with a hollow hatred at having stopped its attack. Looking back to the arm he realized the weapon was more than likely a new attachment, something that had been tested in the labs down below but was now being used as an instrument of murder.

"If you think that's going to be enough to stop me, then you're out of your mind!" Fending off the blade Izaak grabbed the metallic arm of the mech and activated his Semblance. The space around the arm distorted as gravity took a violent hold on the arm crushing the metal and circuitry beneath it. Shrieking in pain the Geist aimed its left arm weapon, an energy cannon, directly at him. Jumping onto the arm then scrambling up to the shoulder he evaded the blast then separated the right arm from the entire body in one cut. Explosive jets of fire and black smoke exploded from the stomp forcing Izaak off but not away from the main body. Eyes flashing he swung Stórrdetta at the right leg severing it in one cut. Not missing a beat Izaak poured his Aura into his weapon then brought it down in a straight slash down the middle, cutting into the Grimm who only tried to flee at the last second.

Yanking Stórrdetta away then jumping back he avoided the explosive blast that came with the possessed Paladin's destruction. Before he could savor his victory he looked around to find there were now more of the possessed machines running around. Again, he fell within the sights of a red eye and now had another possessed Paladin heading straight for him, this one bearing a flaming drill on its arm instead of a blade.

"Really?!" He parried, an incredibly dangerous move that made his arms ache in pain at having to knock back the spiraling piece of metal aimed at his chance. The drill-equipped Paladin was a tad smarter than the last one as it was fast enough to parry Izaak's follow up attack. Out of the corner of Izaak's left eye he saw the secondary weapon, a malformed flamethrower charging up. Rather than a spray of flames a seemingly concentrated beam of fire shot out from the barrel nearly roasting him on the spot and chasing after him as he took off running to avoid the attack. Seeing him on the run the missile pods on the Paladin's shoulders and arms opened up and unleashed their payload. "Fine then, you wanna play rough then that's how we'll do things!" Stomping his foot into the ground the Viking slammed his giant axe into the ground. Around him a visibly sphere of purple and black appeared and broke the ground around him. The second it touched the barrier the flame laser distorted and fizzled out while the missiles all went off obscuring the seventeen year-old in a cloud of blazing orange and yellow.

_**THU-CUNK! **_

Screaming like the savage warriors of old Izaak rocked towards the Geist with Stórrdetta gleaming with brown and violet energy. The Geist was too slow to react thus it ended up with the oversized axe blades impaled in its face. Shrieking in pain the Geist attempted to push the student off by releasing streams of swirling flames from all parts of its body; however, thanks to his Aura the Viking hardly felt the heat thus he was able to keep hacking away. On the fifth the Geist's mask broke entirely dispelling the dark force animating the Paladin.

Using the mech as a spring board Izaak was able to kick himself free of the explosion that followed , tucking himself into a tight ball to avoid hitting his head on another as he rolled along the ground until he ended up in a crouch in the middle of the battlefield. His breath coming out in short huffs the bronze-haired teenager took a second to take stock of how his surroundings had changed over the last five minutes.

Everywhere he looked he saw Grimm, Geist-controlled golems and mechs or monster ants chewing down on anyone they could get their six legs on. _Figures, you can always count on bugs to make things worse. _In the distant skies he heard distinctively reptilians howling and the sound of leathery wings flapping. _Lovely, now we've got Wyverns too, all we need is a rampaging Nemean or Alpha Cretan and we'll have ourselves a real shit storm on our hands. _He couldn't see or smell any of his companions, which didn't bod well. Though the air was positively saturated with chemicals of all kinds and smoke the one undeniable thing his noise could pick up with the overpowering odor of blood. Looking back to the smoking remains of the weapons lab Izaak realized just futile their coming to this place was. _All we did was weaken our only hold out, trying to take back locations our enemy had already pillaged. _"I gotta find Olivia so we can get the hell out of here." He reasoned standing upright with his hazel-eyes grim and his face a dark frown.

_**CRACK! **_

Jumping out of the way at the last second he was treated to the sight of a rock-like fist burst from the ground. It connected to a barely held together mass of rock and metal animated by a Geist bearing an ornate mask with several red swirls around the edges.

"It's nothing personal, but I don't have time to deal with you right now." The Viking calmly and coldly told the Grimm switching Stórrdetta into its firearm form. The laser sight marked a red dot on the Grimm's chest which the fired rocket sped towards with amazing speed. To his irritation rather than take the hit the Grimm threw up its right arm to block the attack. Right before his eyes the rock and metal that composed the limb became jet black with red markings, expanding and taking the explosions. When the smoke cloud cleared he saw there wasn't a scratch on the limb. "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, I'm in a hurry."

Red-tipped spikes protruded from the right and left arms. Letting loose a feral roar the Geist slammed both into the ground causing an eruption of earthen spikes to speed towards the Viking. Not moving an inch the boy summoned his Semblance projecting a shield of gravity that canceled the attack. Taking Stórrdetta in hand he ran towards the Geist who answered his charge with one of its own.

* * *

_**Central Station, 4:34 PM…**_

"_WYVERNNNNNNNNS!" _

All across the frontlines soldiers and students alike cursed God, Oum, and every other deity they could think of as the winged reptiles flew over the skies above them, pelting the area with fireballs like aerial bombers. Entire patches of ground and hastily set up barricades disappeared in explosive clouds and concentrated blasts that left scorch marks along the ground. Returning enemy fire was easier said than down as the bombing had greatly disorientated everyone to the point any semblance of order on the battlefield was now gone. Everyone was now scrambling to do what they could where they could.

Pyrrha had to bite back the urge to scream every curse word in her vocabulary when she found her shots continuously bouncing off the Wyverns that wondered into her line of sight. Either they were out of range or their armor was too thick for her shots to penetrate, what they did succeed in doing was drawing the attention of the Grimm.

"You got a plan for this?" Cardin asked her having become her unofficial battle partner.

"Kill as many of them as we possibly can?" She responded.

"Wow, such a creative and tactically brilliant plan, exactly what I expected from the Great Pyrrha Nikos of Sanctum." The young knight chuckled.

The red and gold colored rifle continuously changed between a spear and sword as it cut and bisected ebony-colored scales protected by fire. The flame-laced mace devoured the flames of the Grimm and used it as fuel for each explosive blow it landed on the black bodies. Pyrrha and Cardin saw nothing but teeth, wings, and teeth, lots of teeth as they kept their backs to each other. All too quickly their faces became matted in sweat and black fluid as their weapons rose and fell, stabbed, pierced, and pummeled anything that came within their personal space.

In the eyes of the Grimm the two teenagers were a hated oddity, yes, both of them carried a small amount of fear within each of them: fear of dying, of lying loved ones, and failing, but it was tempered by something else. That something had the masked creatures snarling in fury and trying even harder to bring the two down. In response to that the Spartan and knight simply continued fighting, their bodies attaining more and more black stains upon them with every kill.

"Do you hear that!?" Pyrrha suddenly screamed as the decapitated body of a young Wyvern fell at her feet.

"Hear what?! Screaming? Explosions? The sound of countless people dying in agony!?"

"No! Not that, I mean that!"

It was amazing his eyes were still working decently between the heat and smog cooking the air. Cardin's image of the aircraft was blurry, but he could tell it was rather massive. He heard its loud engines more than he saw it as it trailed across the blacken sky. Focusing his deeming sight he saw a large black container attached to the haul of the ship, its size comparable to a home garage. "What the hell…" Right before his eyes the container begin to detach then fall through open air. As it picked up speed in descending Cardin felt yet another stone drop in his stomach. "Pyrrha," he warned placing both hands on his mace.

Pyrrha didn't know what was in the container, but she didn't plan on finding out. At her current level her Semblance could affect all metal within a twenty meter radius of her body, barely even a blimp on the overall battlefield, but enough for everyone to at least take cover under. While she focused on that Cardin called everyone in the vicinity over to take cover under the metal shield she was erecting. Neither of them knew what was coming, all that they had to brace themselves for it. At this point they'd given up on trying to stop the enemy from acting and just reacted. It was a shameful betrayal of the principals the redheads had been raised on, but they were out of options.

Beyond the metal cover the Spartan had erected the screeching of bolts could be heard followed by hundreds of shrill cries and bursts of hot air. Numerous pings and dings sounded off the cover causing small bucks. The assembled soldiers and students stared at the wall in wide fearful eyes noting knowing if it would hold or not.

"Could this day get any worse?" Russel whined feeling his own legs shaking.

"Considering what you just said, yeah, I'm betting it could." Cardin growled, his own hands shaking just a bit as he noticed the metal cover shake more and more as the dings and pings grew louder. Against his better judgement he looked over to Pyrrha; both of her arms were outstretched and her eyes were sealed shut. He could actually see traces of her Aura moving through her body as her Semblance was jacked up to its higher levels. It was a level of skill and concentration he couldn't even begin to fathom, the kind that his family had attempted to pound into his head only for him to refuse with every fiber of his being.

Without warning she cried out as her entire body bulked under a new strain. The eyes of Cardin and the others turned to the shield to find a massive red spot in the metal growing by the second. The sizzling and cackling of metal made it all too obvious what was about to happen.

No one could say or do anything when the shield burst. There was a brief shot of a massive black and red fireball the size of a car then everyone was rolling along the ground clenching themselves in agony while rock and metal cascaded over them like rain. Cardin and Russel were thrown back like rag dolls, their Auras trying and failing to observe the impact; meanwhile Pyrrha shot across the ground, her hair coming undone and spraying out around her as she came to a stop along the ground. Her bright red Aura fizzled and cackled before going completely dark just as her consciousness had.

For the second time that day Cardin felt blood rolling down the side of his pounding head, his wound had reopened and no doubt worsened thanks to the hit he'd taken. Head aching and he rolled over and attempted to push himself up. He coughed and blood fell from his lips like vomit, he concentrated on the sight and used it as motivation to push himself upwards.

The first thing he saw was a bird-like creature that stood at a little over one meter. If not for the orange glow around its body he wouldn't have been able to focus at all. He wiped the blood out of his eyes using his hand and attempted to focus again on the strange creature. Its beak alone was almost the size of his entire forearm. A pair of glowing orange eyes stared back at him with disinterest before realizing the human before it was still alive. An ear-screeching shriek left he creature then the flames surrounding it exploded in a shower of embers propelling it forward.

Cardin felt his left hand touch the handle of his trusty mace and instantly wrapped his fingers around the hot metal. Though his mind was still hazy he was clear headed enough to focus on the bird-shaped missile heading straight for him. The closer it got the deeper his sneer became until the opportune moment arrived.

_**BOOM! **_

The collision-born explosion incinerated the Grimm's head while Cardin's smacked against the hard ground yet again. His mace tumbled out of his hand as new pain coursed through his being driving his mental strength to near zero. _Why? Why in God's name did… you have to open YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH RUSSEL!?_

* * *

_**To be continued in Part 4…**_

**Finally, I can't remember the last time I was able to bust out two chapters at once. Definitely not easy when you're pretty much occupied the entire week, but totally worth it. For the next few weeks I'm going to be attempting to get out at least two chapters per update, mostly because I want to wrap up the current story arc. Counting the next chapter there's about five or four left chapters left to what I've dubbed the "Hellfire Arc" of this story. My goal is to have it finished by September before school starts back up and I really ended up swamped for free time. **

**To give a brief description of the Grimm introduced the last two chapters…**

**The "monster ant" is called a Pallottola, which in Italian means "bullet" or "slug". It's based off of the real-life **_**Paraponera clavata, **_**aka the bullet ant. As Jaune so painfully found out this chapter its carapace is incredibly sturdy requiring nothing less than an armor-piercing round to penetrate it. As the average ant can lift over a 50 times its own weight a Pallottola can as well, making it a miniature bulldozer. It uses its massive strength for ramming and on occasion biting, being fully capable of going head to head with a tank, winning, and walking away without a scratch. Like normal ants they can be found in forests and lowland areas, usually severing a queen (an Alpha). **

**The "monster bird" at the end is a Kelenken, based on the real-life species of "terror birds" that once roamed Argentina. Again, like its real-life counterparts it kills its prey by either ramming into it with is massive skull or grabbing it with its beak and shaking it until the prey's bones break. Now enhanced by PESTILENCE's tinkering it can become a flaming missile that can either explode on contact or penetrate anything in front of it. **

**That's all for now, see you all in about two weeks, hopefully! Leave any thoughts or constructive criticism in the reviews!**


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